Report details second successful year implementing strategic plan

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—A report detailing the second successful year of implementing WMU's 2012-15 Strategic Plan has been published online.

The Year Two Year-End Report on Progress and Outcomes is available at wmich.edu/strategic. It details the progress made during the second year of the strategic plan, which is known on campus as The Gold Standard. In addition, the report discusses technological changes that have resulted in more efficient data reporting, as well as tracks the University's planning maturity.

Jody Brylinsky, associate provost for institutional effectiveness, says instead of focusing on the wide array of unit initiatives being implemented, the 2013-14 year-end report aims to show how the results of divisional key performance objectives have been impacting WMU's institutional effectiveness measures and progress toward achieving each of the University's five strategic goals.

"The University should be proud of its growth in utilizing strategic planning for continuous quality improvement," Brylinsky says. "The report reflects a number of significant outcomes from key initiatives implemented in 2013-14."

With this fall's shift to the 2014-15 academic year, the University has moved into the third and final year of its initial three-year strategic plan. Brylinsky says major efforts this year will be to communicate successes more broadly to both internal and external communities and to conduct analyses in preparation for revising the plan for 2015-20.

The Gold Standard

The Gold Standard is a strategic planning document that serves as a guide for decision-making, a lens to make clear WMU's direction and a key to measuring WMU's successes.

Year-end reports reflect the impact associated with work done annually to ensure that the University is learner centered, discovery driven and globally engaged—the plan's three main tenets. They also detail some of the specific strategies the University has embraced to achieve the plan's five major goals, which are to:

• Ensure a distinctive learning experience and foster success of students;
• Promote innovative learning, discovery and service;
• Advance WMU as a major research university;
• Ensure a diverse, inclusive and healthy community; and
• Advance social, economic and environmental sustainability practices.

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