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University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Strategic Planning Goals Progress Report 2012-2014

A Special tribute to WARHAWKS for an amazingseason of play in 2013-2014 year: (1) winning a record six National Championships, (2) achieving unprecedented trifecta in the NCAA sports history, and, (3) achieving best finish ever, second place in the 2013-14 NCAA Director’s cup (highest in UWW history).

Final Report:

Summary of Accomplishments: 2012-2014 UWW Strategic Planning Goals

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater presents a two-year strategic plan at the beginning of each biennium whichrecognizeskey priority areas and goals to advance campus strategic mission and values. This processis in line with the Higher Learning Commission’s guidelines requiring institutions to engage in effective strategic planning on a regular cycle. The 2012-2014strategic progress report,herewith, highlights goals and progress on each of the five strategic priorities, celebrates accomplishments on several benchmarks, andoutlinesfuture recommendations and action plans for considerationin the subsequent biennium and beyond for continuousinstitutional effectiveness. As such, the five broad strategic themes are tied with clearly defined goals and benchmarks which have beenthe campus road map for planning and achieving success. The campus has embarked on an ambitious, outcome-based, planto achieve goals in the current 2012-2014 biennium related to: Programs and Learning, the Scholar Educator Community, Diversity and Global Perspectives, Regional Engagement and Professional and Personal Integrity. During the course of two years,several university-wide working teams, comprised of representatives from multiple campus units,have been at workplanning and undertaking various initiatives in an effort to advance the goals. Thus, the report is a collaborative effort of team leaders and a broad array of campus constituents.

The content is organized into four sections under each goal:executive summary, measures and accomplishments, future themes/goals/recommendations, supporting material and links to navigate easy reading.

PROGRAMS AND LEARNING

Goal I: Review the current academic program array (undergraduate and graduate), adjusting program size and creating new academic programs that align with the university mission, resources, evolving workforce, institutional plans for growth, and projected state, regional, and national needs.

Measure: Did each academic college review its program array? YES

Team Leader: Greg Cook, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Team members: Christine Clements, Dean, College of Business & Economics; Katy Heyning, Dean, College of Education & Professional Studies; David Travis, Dean, College of Letters & Sciences; Mark McPhail, Dean, College of Arts & Communication; John Stone, Dean, Graduate Studies & Continuing Education

Other participants: College assistant and associate deans, department chairs, department faculty and staff.

Frequency of the meetings: Goal leaders discussed the project at many of the bi-weekly meetings of the Deans Council.

Executive Summary:

The academic community within all four colleges and the school of graduate studieshas been in discussions from fall 2012 through spring 2014,reviewing their academic program array. The Academic Affairs Staff had a retreat in August 2013 to address these issues, with each of the five Deans issuing short summaries of their program array analysis and planning. Enrollment data for the last ten years were available for each major, emphasis, minor, and graduate program, and these data were reviewed within the academic departments and considered in relation to the campus mission, student demand, market analyses, regional needs and other available information. Summaries (measures and accomplishments) from each college are provided below. Overall, the largest areas for potential growth are in health-related fields (health science, health management, and health education), and the trends indicate further development and growth of academic programs that are interdisciplinary in nature and/or represent global or international issues.

  1. Measures and Accomplishments:

1. College of Arts and Communication

College of Arts and Communication
Measures / Recommendations
Maintain / All programs
Increase /
  • Media Arts & Game Development
  • Art & Design
  • Graphic Design
  • Dance
  • International Journalism
  • Music Education

Decrease / None
Eliminate / None
Add /
  • Creative Enterprise
  • Sports Communication & Production
  • Interdisciplinary MSE in Digital Media & Game Development
  • Revise the graduate program in Communication

Summary Statement: Although enrollments in the college have remained stable for the past decade, the college has made significant contributions toward supporting increasing enrollments across the university at large. Both GENED 110: World of the Arts (with a 44% expansion of available seats over the period of review) and COMM 110: Introduction to Human Communication (with a 22% expansion of available seats) have grown in response to increasing demands of the university’s general education curriculum. The Music Department has also contributed significantly by providing the Marching Band as a service to athletics programs and as a General Education-physical education (GP) course.

2. College of Business & Economics

College of Business & Economics
Measures / Recommendations
Maintain /
  • All BBA majors (except, perhaps General Management)
  • M.B.A. (Business Administration)
  • M.P.A. (Accounting)

Increase /
  • Water Business
  • D.B.A. (Doctorate of Business Administration)—new for Fall 2014
  • M.S. Applied Economics—new for Fall 2014
  • M.S. Environmental Safety & Health

Decrease / None
Eliminate /
  • Considering merging General Business and General Management Majors. If so, this would lead to some of the suggested management-related areas referredto below as emphases.

Add /
  • Health Care Management
  • Not-for-Profit Management
  • Business Analytics (possibly)
  • The Finance Department is evaluating its curriculum against Certified Financial Planning (CFP) certification to identify gaps in the curriculum, with a plan to develop curriculum to close the gaps.
  • Explore: M.S. Finance
  • Integration of creativity and innovation into the business curriculum, perhaps as a joint effort with faculty from the college of Arts and Communication.

Summary Statement: Prominent interests emerged in health care management, social entrepreneurship, and not-for-profit business. Developing programs that would attract more female and under-represented minority students has been a focus. In addition to developing new programs, it should be noted that current academic programs are constantly evolving and improving in response to new knowledge in the disciplines, changes in the business environment, and accreditation demands. Another important consideration is that the MBA market (nationally) is not expected to grow, and enrollments are generally down in most MBA programs due to the increasing number of available programs. Strategic development and expansion of other graduate programs will be important.

3. College of Education and Professional Studies

College of Education and Professional Studies
Measures / Recommendations
Maintain /
  • UWSSLEC (library media program)
  • Secondary Education programs
  • All current programs in HPERC
  • PE Major with Licensure
  • Athletic Coaching Education minor
  • MSE-PD with Health, PE and Coaching Emphasis
  • All programs in Special Education
  • M.S. Counseling
  • M.S.E. Special Education

Increase /
  • All cohort licensure programs such as Gifted and Talented program (graduate), Standards and Assessment (certificate), International Study Abroad (travel study linked to iGEM), Urban Education (currently module, would like minor)
  • Early Childhood Education – area of need in the U.S.
  • PE Major with HHPR emphasis
  • Health promotion minor
  • Recreation and Leisure Studies Minor
  • MSE-PD with an emphasis in HHPR
  • BSE in CC:LD/EBD and BSE in CC:CD (Special Education due to high need in the state and nationally
  • M.S. Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
  • M.S.E. School Business Management
  • M.S. Communicative Sciences and Disorders

Decrease /
  • Elementary education: steer students into other majors of high demand

Eliminate /
  • M.S.E. Business & Marketing Education
  • Possible elimination of higher education emphasis in Counselor Education (now that we have HELEAD emphasis in MSE-PD program)

Add /
  • Digital Media and Learning major (interdisciplinary)
  • Create a School of Allied Health Professions (interdisciplinary, cross campus)
  • Pre-health general education science major with introduction to clinical practice that entails some pre-professional rotations (Communication Disorders and others)
  • Speech Assistant major
  • Add STEM or STEAM emphasis in secondary and elementary, perhaps a new minor
  • Computer science education minor for some areas leading to licensure
  • Strength and Conditioning minor, certificate and emphasis
  • Gerontology emphasis
  • Exercise Science, Sport Management and Personal Training emphases, minors or certificates
  • Board Certified Behavior Analyst program at the Master’s Level (Special Education)
  • M.S.E. Digital Learning
  • Certificates or emphases in Counselor Education in LGBT, trauma, grief, aging populations
  • Web-based counseling program emphasis
  • Explore: Ed.D. Counseling
  • AuD program in Communication Disorders (shortage area)
  • EdD in Higher Education with tracks in Sports Administration and Student Services

Summary Statement: Many of the educational futurists suggest that we will be offering fully online teacher education programs with flexible and transferrable credits, and programs leading to PK12 online teaching certification. They also anticipate moving more programs INTO the PK12 schools with parents, teachers and administrators being the instructor of record for students who are residents/interns in the school over a full year period. There’s an increasing need for dual licensure (with one license being content specific and the other being special education specific) in all majors and minors.

4. College of Letters and Sciences

College of Letters and Sciences
Measures / Recommendations
Maintain / All programs currently offered except the ones listed under increase, decrease, or eliminate. It is important to note that several of the programs are evolving as interdisciplinary. This means, the campus should allocate additional resources to support shared programs, a paradigm shift in the way budgets are allocated.
Increase /
  • Engineering (Physics)
  • Legal Studies (Political Science)
  • Asian and Japanese Studies (Sociology, Geography, Foreign Languages)
  • Environmental Science (Geography, Biology)
  • Computer Sciences (Computer Science)
  • Public History Emphasis (History)
  • Liberal Studies (Philosophy & Religious Studies)
  • Geographic Information Science Emphasis and Certificate (Geography & Geology)
  • Geology Emphasis (Geography & Geology)
  • Professional Writing Emphasis (Languages & Literatures)
  • Film Studies Minor (Languages & Literatures)
  • Family Health Studies Minor (Sociology)
  • Race & Ethnic Studies Minor (Women’s Studies/Race & Ethnic Studies)
  • Philosophy Minor (Philosophy & Religious Studies)
  • Integrated Science & Business (Interdisciplinary)

Decrease /
  • Physical/Environmental Track in Geography (due to Environmental Science Major)
  • Anthropology
  • Forensics
  • Creative Writing/Literature
  • Public History Certificate (replacing Public History Minor)
  • French and German Majors (lack of student interest; national trends)

Eliminate /
  • Physical/Environmental Emphasis in Geography
  • English Writing Education (Languages & Literatures)
  • Gender and Ethnic Studies Certificate (Women’s Studies)
  • Forensics Minor (Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology)
  • Psychological Sciences Emphasis in Psychology
  • Public History minor (History)
  • Ecology Emphasis in Biological Sciences
  • Applied Math (Mathematics)

Add /
  • Behavioral Health Emphasis (Psychology, Interdisciplinary)
  • Health Studies/Sciences Major or Minor (Sociology, Interdisciplinary)
  • Water Science Major or Minor (Biology, Chemistry, Geography & Geology, Interdisciplinary)
  • Linguistics Emphasis (Languages & Literatures)
  • Chinese Studies Minor (Sociology; Languages & Literatures)
  • Professional Spanish minor (Languages & Literatures)
  • Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Emphasis (Biological Sciences)
  • Nanotechnology Major (Physics, Chemistry, Biology)
  • Applied Statistics and/or Actuarial Math Emphasis (Mathematics)
  • Biomedical Engineering Major (Physics, Biology, Chemistry)
  • Green Chemistry Emphasis (Chemistry)
  • Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Emphasis (Chemistry)
  • M.S.W. (Master of Social Work)
  • M.S. Computer Science
  • Explore: M.S. Applied Science (or Nanotechnology)
  • Explore: Psy.D. Psychology

Summary Statement: Many programs are now aligned with the LEAP goals and embedded within the fundaments of high quality liberal education. In cases where programs were not considered robust, this was attributed to a lack of necessary resources and/or excessive demands on faculty workload not allowing them to focus sufficiently on all programs. Three L&S programs are accredited (Chemistry, Social Work, and the graduate program in School Psychology), and programs within those departments are designed to balance fulfilling the mission of the university and college while also fulfilling the requirements of their respective external accrediting agencies.

The COLS appears to be moving towards five distinct areas of anticipated program growth and development during the next 10 to 20 years. These are:

(1)Programs with more of an applied emphasis (Applied Statistics, Biomedical Engineering), including application towards local interests (Legal Studies, Public Policy).

(2)Programs with more of a skills-based emphasis to better prepare students for jobs in high-skilled positions immediately following graduation (Nanoscience, Computer Science and Linguistics).

(3)Programs with a pre-professional and pre-graduate school emphasis which prepare students for being as competitive as possible in getting admitted to medical or graduate schools (Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Emphasis in Chemistry, Professional Spanish).

(4)Programs that are interdisciplinary in nature to prepare students for positions that require a wide range of knowledge and ability to work as part of a large team with a broad range of expertise.

(5)Programs with an environmental and resource sustainability focus (Green Chemistry, Environmental Science; Water Science).

5. School of Graduate Studies

Summary Statement: Over the next 10-20 years, the most successful graduate programs will target themselves professionally at addressing:

  • Societal evolutions (e.g., geriatric population);
  • Job sector growth in areas related to service industriesthat cannot be exported, including hospitality services, construction, car repair, social services, and healthcare.
  • Job sector growth in areas related to knowledge industries that use knowledge and innovation to create tangible and intangible values, particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, new media, and education.

The planning process for future master’s-level programs at UW-Whitewater, in particular, should address these principles:

  • Designed to be market responsive and ready programs —addressing a need and dissolving perhaps as quickly as they are created.
  • Designed for short-term (7-10 year academic life spans).
  • Positioned to the entrepreneurial nature (most likely of a single faculty member).
  • Funded exclusively through self-supporting tuition revenue models.
  • Rethinking what it means to be a “graduate faculty” member (skill set and qualifications to look for when hiring futuregraduate faculty members).
  1. Looking forward: Future themes/goals/recommendations

Overall themes across the Colleges:

  • More interdisciplinary programs.
  • Add programs related to health: health science, health management, health education.
  • More global, international emphasis-matching workforce needs.

Other issues to address in developing the UW-Whitewater program array:

  • Regional needs and student demand
  • Achievement gap
  • Average credits to degree
  • Baccalaureate (LEAP) learning outcomes
  • High-impact educational practices

Next or further steps:

  • Develop a process for ongoing review and improvement of the academic program array
  • Engage campus representatives to develop an academic plan to guide future development
  1. Supporting material and links: Click here to view the report from goal group.

Goal II: Develop a comprehensive approach to improved advising that promotes an integrated learning and enhanced general education experience, consistent with our campus LEAP initiative.

a. Measure: Review current assessment of advising? Reviewed

1. AAEC surveys

2. NSSE surveys of freshmen and seniors

b. Measure: Define “comprehensive approach to improved advising”: Defined

c. Measure: Identify “best practices”: Identified

d. Measure: Establish criteria to evaluate advising according to best practices in a way that is consistent with LEAP: Developed new outcomes for assessment that are consistent with LEAP

Team Leaders: Deb Heiber, Advising Council; Pam Tanner, Advising Council

Team Members: Tracy Arneson-Baker, Advising Coordinator, COEPS; Debra Heiber, Director of Advising and Advising Coordinator COLS; Bob Mertens, Associate Dean and Advising Coordinator COAC; Eric Roche, Senior Advisor and Advising Coordinator COBE; Pam Tanner, Director of AAEC and Advising Coordinator

Other participants: Jan Olson, Asst. Dean, COBE; Tom Karthausser

Frequency of the meetings: Several meetings over the two-year period

a.Executive Summary: (Comprehensive Advising)-Advising, like learning, is a broad and complex construct that can occur in many places and forms from admission to graduation. An integralmissionof the university is to serve its diverse student populationachieve their educational goals through effective advising. Aspects of advisingare integrated throughout a student’s educational experience beginning with recruitment, orientation, student services and activities as well as in the formal advising structures with the institution. The institution strives to provide well-balanced, holistic academic advising to its students, nonetheless.

For purposes of this study, the group did a comprehensive review of academic advising for currently enrolled undergraduate students within the formal advising structures in the institution: the Academic Advising and Exploration Center (AAEC) and the four undergraduate colleges Arts and Communication (COAC), College of Business and Economics (COBE), College of Education and Professional Studies (COEPS), and the College of Letters and Sciences (COLS); Elements examined were how advising varies among students levels: freshmen (up to 24 earned credits and upper level students (sophomores 24 credits, juniors 60 credits and senior 90 credits).

The Learning Outcomes for Academic Advising (Appendix A) were established in 2005, when the advising coordinators began assessment activities following the assessment model of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA). These advising outcomes define advising within a framework of mutual goals for students and advisors: encouraging student responsibility, providing effective advising interactions, and creating positive affective outcomes. The group has reviewed all available advising assessment data and has been identifying best practices for all aspects of a student’s advising career, attempting to capture a “comprehensive” view of the students advising experience from Plan-It Purple to graduation.