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.

Strategic Planning -- A student/alumna perspective

Leslie Garren is a guest blogger this week. Leslie is a graduate of WSU with a degree in Strategic Communication from the Elliott School of Communication. She is currently pursuing her MBA. As part of her studies, she is assisting the Strategic Planning Steering Committee with data analysis, documentation of the process, and her insights as a student. Please enjoy reading her thoughts!

Are students excited about strategic planning efforts? While it is true that WSU students are immersed in balancing full-time jobs with full-time studies, I’ve found that students absolutely do care about the future of WSU.

MYTH: WSU students simply commute to WSU for classes because it is convenient. There is no “school spirit.”

I can prove you wrong. As a current graduate student, undergrad alum, university employee and past high school guest student, I’ve seen Wichita State through a couple of different perspectives. Not one experience has disappointed me.

I sit in the classrooms, I walk on the campus, I work with the faculty, and, I can tell you first-hand, WSU has a student body and faculty that are full of Shocker spirit and pride. During projects I work on in my coursework and during discussions I participate in during my lectures, I can clearly see; WSU students are learning because they desire to learn. They desire to strive for excellence. What does this say about WSU? We are the go-getters for the Wichita metroplex. We are the future. Wichita State enables us to make our future as bright as we desire to make it, not just for us as individuals, but for the Wichita community and state of Kansas, as well.

It is time for WSU to outgrow the label that we are in some way “inferior” to others. Students know their aspirations for quality education are bold, they are proud of these efforts. Our strategic planning committee has received advice to dream big and go bold. Are students ready for such changes? Ha, dreaming big and going bold is what got us at WSU in the first place! We are ready.

Data Gathering - Breakfast Meetings

Breakfast meetings! Those of you, who know me, know that I'm not a morning person. Consequently, the idea of me hosting 17 breakfast meetings in a relatively short period of time is probably unexpected. How did this idea take hold? 

Ed (my co-chair) and I started identifying what people needed to be heard from in the strategic planning process. We set up various methods of gathering information from key people—town hall meetings, small round table discussions, website comments, survey, visit to Topeka with Kansas Board of Regents.  

The WSU College Deans are key leverage points at the university. We decided to host individual breakfasts with them (and President Bardo's Executive Team). These meetings turned out to be informative and beneficial to our process. The Steering Committee members receive a one-page summary of each of these breakfast meetings, as one piece of the large data gathering effort in which we are engaging.

How can you be heard? Attend one of our upcoming town hall meetings. As they get closer, I’ll discuss what we will talk about at these meetings. Please put them on your calendar!

Until next time …