Dear Colleagues:
With Spring Break nearly upon us, I wanted to give you a quick update on where we are with our efforts to update Voiland College’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan.
As you recall, Voiland College is undergoing a year-long initiative to update our college’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. Our new, five-year plan will identify the ways in which our college can better serve the public good and meet the future needs of the state of Washington and beyond. This effort is important because it provides us with a sense of direction and outlines measurable goals for each of us to work toward. It will also help guide our day-to-day decisions and evaluate our progress as we move forward.
I want to thank those of you who recently completed our VCEA Strategic Planning Survey. We are currently analyzing all of the terrific feedback you have provided us, which you can view online.
The results have been interesting. For example, the top three priorities (both overall and for each group of (1) faculty and staff, (2) students, and (3) members of the various college advisory boards) are to:
- Provide a quality undergraduate education that prepares students for the modern-day workforce
- Attract and retain a superb faculty
- Foster excellence in the teaching / learning experience
Our opportunity now is to further refine what each of these statements, and others, mean for us as members of the Voiland College. To gain further agreement on these points, we will host VCEA Strategic Plan workshops, to be held later this Spring. In the workshops, you will be invited to share your ideas and opinions on how we operationalize the values that were identified via the first survey, how we identify what makes WSU unique, and where we should focus our energies to accomplish the goals identified.
Workshops have been scheduled to create opportunities for all of the members of the community to participate. While you may attend any of the workshops offered, we recognize that folks in similar roles may have similar focus areas. Thus, we’re created sessions in which participation by a given group will be encouraged. Each session will also be offered via Zoom so that individuals from multiple locations may join together to share. Refreshments will be provided.
To enable the workshop facilitators to more effectively manage these sessions, we ask that you RSVP for the session of your choice.
Workshops are scheduled for the following dates:
| Date | Time | Focus Group | Location** | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Mar 13 | 9-11am | Staff | Pullman | Carpenter 521 |
| Mon, Mar 23 | 1-3pm | Faculty | Pullman | Carpenter 521 |
| Tue, Mar 24 | 9-11am | Everyone | Pullman | Carpenter 521 |
| Mon, Mar 30 | 9-11am | Everyone | Pullman | Carpenter 521 |
| Fri, April 3 | 8:30-10am | Everyone | Tri-Cities | Floyd 138 |
| Tue, April 7 | 10:30-12 | Everyone | Vancouver | VECS 201M |
**All sessions will offer a zoom option for those who would like to join remotely. Zoom info will be sent to your workshop. Please RSVP at least 24 hours in advance.
Again, your viewpoints and feedback are critical to the success of our efforts. Thanks for sharing your time and insights to ensure Voiland College is focusing our efforts to realize the greatest impact.
Sincerely,
Mary Rezac (she/her/hers)
Dean, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture
Washington State University
Email: mary.rezac@wsu.edu
Phone: 509-335-5593
Twitter: @VCEA_Dean
vcea.wsu.edu