Weather -- What Else is there to Talk About?

Just kidding! The past couple of weeks have been a relatively quiet time for the strategic planning process as we continue to gather data from our community.  Here is a quick update on the process.

If you did not see the interview about the WSU strategic planning process, with my co-chair Ed O’Malley, in the February 15 edition of the Wichita Business Journal, make sure you check it out.

The WSU student subcommittee is analyzing the results from the WSU Student Town Hall meetings. We are excited to learn what the students heard from their colleagues. 

Recently, Steering Committee members engaged in Roundtable Discussions with various groups around campus. Those of you who attended are much appreciated.

We geared up for our third town hall meeting, but that’s where the weather interfered. We cancelled our February 20 town hall. Now we plan a combined campus community and the larger Wichita community town hall for:

Thursday, February 28, 2013, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM, WSU Metropolitan Complex, Multipurpose Room

We hope to see lots of you at the combined town hall. It will be exciting to get a mix of campus and community participants. This town hall will be the last group opportunity to participate in the strategic planning process before a two-day Steering Committee retreat scheduled for late March. (More about the retreat in a later blog post.)

Enjoy your weekend and I look forward to seeing you Thursday, February 28, 2013!

Join the Discussion - Add Your Voice

If you have not checked out the WSU Strategic Planning Initiative website, you should. Right now, there is a terrific video that stars our WSU student subcommittee for strategic planning. They all look like stars!

The video is promoting the WSU Student Town Hall meetings. These meetings are designed to give WSU students the opportunity to voice their opinions about the future of WSU. The Student Town Hall meetings are set for:

Monday, February 11, 2013, 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM, Hubbard Hall, Room 208 (Greek night)
Thursday, February 14, 2013, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, CAC Theater
Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM, Ahlberg Hall, Room 200

If you are a student, please take the opportunity to attend. If you know students, encourage them to attend.

We also have two February Town Hall meetings set for the campus community and the larger community:

Campus Town Hall: Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM, WSU Metropolitan Complex, Sudermann Commons

Community Town Hall: Thursday, February 28, 2013, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM, WSU Metropolitan Complex, Multipurpose Room

At these meetings we’ll ask you about your big, bold, exciting visions for WSU and discuss the work of the Steering Committee on mission and core values.

I know that everyone is busy. It is difficult to make time in our schedules to attend another meeting or event. But please remember that this initiative is important to the future of Wichita State University, and consequently to your future as an employee, student, or community member. Please join us and add your voice to the initiative.

Collaboration: What does it mean?

We enjoyed an energized meeting with the WSU Center Directors yesterday (January 31, 2013). The lively discussion and insightful ideas are tremendously beneficial to our strategic planning data gathering process. The notes from the meeting will be available on our website—wichita.edu/wsustrategy—as soon as they are transcribed. 

One item of discussion, among many, was the vital importance of collaboration. This topic has surfaced at many of our meetings and town hall events. The Steering Committee is considering what role this concept should play in WSU’s strategic plan. What does it mean, specifically for WSU? How should it be addressed in WSU’s strategic plan? What phrase or term should be used to describe it? One phrase we’ve tossed around is “interprofessional collaboration.” Some people like it; others think there must be a better description. What do you think? 

• How should collaboration at WSU be defined? 
• Is there a term or phrase that captures this definition?
• How can we go about fostering collaboration at WSU? 

We would love to hear your thoughts please.