2023-2028 WSU Pullman Strategic Plan

Goal 1: WSU Pullman will provide a safe and exceptional residential undergraduate, professional, and graduate student experience that supports the success of and provides opportunities for all Cougs. 

Objectives: 

• Create a student experience that prepares Cougs for life beyond WSU.
• Establish a campus-wide seamless approach to student support, both in and out of the classroom.
• Prioritize degree programs that continue to meet the needs of society and student interest and foster post-graduation success.
• Ensure that WSU Pullman’s academic policies remain informed by best pedagogical and student success practices.
• Work across academic and student affairs to develop a comprehensive, campus-wide program that builds out-of-the-classroom experiences to prepare students for a lifetime of learning.

Anticipated Metrics:

• WSU Pullman first-year student retention rates
  • Including sub-metrics for first-generation, Pell-eligible, and students of color
• WSU Pullman four- and six-year undergraduate graduation rates
• Annual number of doctoral degrees awarded at WSU Pullman

Goal 2:  WSU Pullman will capitalize on its residential campus status to build upon a campus environment that fosters student personal growth, development, and safety.

Objectives: 

• Ensure that all students have access to resources to meet their basic needs, including, but not limited to housing, food, technology, safety, and support services.
• Invest in the comprehensive and holistic health and wellbeing of all students by providing services and resources that are accessible, inclusive, and contribute to the success and ensure the safety of our diverse student community.
• Provide faculty and staff with the resources they need to effectively serve and support students effectively.
• Develop a sense of belonging and affinity to WSU Pullman though increased community building opportunities.

Anticipated Metric:

• WSU Pullman student engagement satisfaction rate

Goal 1: WSU Pullman will foster an environment that encourages innovation, partnership, and disciplinary, inter- and transdisciplinary scholarship, establishing the campus as a hub of expertise in diverse areas of scholarly inquiry.

Objectives:

• Ensure that WSU supports a diverse portfolio of research, including basic, applied, and engaged scholarship, with an emphasis in cultivating areas of unique campus expertise.
• Increase engagement of faculty and students with industry partners and other external stakeholders.
• Enhance a sense of community that promotes and celebrates scholarly inquiry and external engagement.

Anticipated Metric:

• WSU Pullman research expenditures.

Goal 2: WSU Pullman will promote a culture that recognizes and celebrates the diverse forms of scholarship that lead to the betterment of society.

Objectives:

• Enhance recognition of the scholarly impact of faculty service, teaching, outreach, and community engagement.
• Promote the role of the arts on the WSU Pullman campus.
• Communicate research outcomes in accessible ways that include helping stakeholders understand the importance, value, and potential application of fundamental research, and helps market the campus and its people.

Anticipated Metric:

• Number of WSU Pullman faculty awards, prizes, and commissions.

Goal 1: WSU Pullman will recruit and retain a diverse workforce that advances its land-grant mission of serving the public good.

Objectives: 

• Implement effective recruitment and retention strategies, utilizing practices designed to secure a more diverse candidate pool and new hires.
• Promote inclusion, diversity, equity, and a culture of belonging for faculty, staff, and students.
• Enhance existing networking and mentoring programs to ensure employee success.

Anticipated Metric:

• Pending comprehensive review of the recently released Employee Engagement Survey and COACHE Survey results.

Goal 2: WSU Pullman will establish a working environment and ethos that supports the wellness of all employees and creates enhanced opportunities for professional development and career advancement.

Objectives: 

• Develop a compensation structure that is competitive, equitable, and tied to employee performance.
• Collaboratively coordinate a comprehensive suite of training programs that are presented in an accessible manner and made available to all employees.
• Coordinate a program that supports (fiscally and logistically) professional development opportunities for employees.

Anticipated Metric:

• Pending comprehensive review of the recently released Employee Engagement Survey and COACHE Survey results.

Goal 1: WSU Pullman will foster a warm and inclusive community that welcomes students, faculty, staff, visitors, and alumni to the Palouse, and provides them with lifelong learning opportunities and sense of belonging.

Objectives:

• Invest in the ongoing revitalization efforts of Pullman and the surrounding community.
• Support and encourage local business development through alumni relationships.
• Continue to nurture collaborative partnerships among the University, the City of Pullman, Whitman County, and local business and healthcare partners.

Anticipated Metric:

• Number of WSU Pullman students participating in community engagement (service, service-learning, educational outreach).

Goal 2: WSU Pullman will serve Pullman, the greater Palouse region, and beyond through our land-grant mission of research, education, and outreach to support the common good.

Objectives:

• Create ongoing engagement opportunities with key community stakeholders to continually develop and refine the ways in which WSU Pullman can best contribute to the social and economic development of the Palouse.
• Improve social and industry connectivity between the University, Pullman and Moscow communities, and the region.
• Foster the Palouse region as a gold standard for rural community arts.

Anticipated Metric:

• Percentage of WSU Pullman course that utilize service-learning in their curriculum.

Goal 1: WSU Pullman will foster an accessible physical and cultural environment that promotes collaboration and innovation, and addresses the global challenge of achieving environmental sustainability. 

Objectives: 

• Address significant and growing deferred maintenance by consolidating functions, optimizing underutilized spaces, and ensuring that the campus footprint is an appropriate size for its functions.
• Develop a master plan that addresses campus circulation challenges and barriers to access, enhances information technology, and considers future demands that will meet the needs of a diverse body of faculty, staff, and students. 
• Create a series of physical learning hubs or communal areas throughout the WSU Pullman campus to facilitate communities of diverse learners.
• Ensure availability of and access to appropriate facilities that enable success in scholarly activity.

Anticipated Metric:

• Percentage of WSU Pullman laboratory spaces, classrooms, and conference rooms equipped for accessibility and virtual collaboration.

Goal 2: WSU Pullman will align resources, processes, and policies with strategic priorities in an inclusive, well-articulated, and publicized process that is facilitated by the analysis and interpretation of data.

Objectives:  

• Create a simple, transparent, inclusive, and accessible process to engage stakeholders in assessing facility and infrastructure needs.
• Prioritize improved data quality and collection processes, ensuring that all employees have access to, and understand how to utilize, the WSU’s data resources.
• Ensure that all strategic decisions are data-informed.
• Prioritize transparent and open communications, both internally and externally.

Anticipated Metric:

• WSU Pullman percentage of space utilization per capita.