Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management

• Develop and implement a comprehensive enrollment plan.
• Develop a diverse mix of students with academic potential for completing high quality programs.*
• Strengthen existing and develop new academic programs.
• Strengthen the retention, graduation, and placement outcomes of students.*
• Improve the functional integration and communication among campus support services.

Applied Learning and Student Development

• Provide students, by graduation, the opportunity to blend academic knowledge and applications in and beyond the classroom.*

• Provide additional opportunities for students to participate in international and/or multicultural experiences.*
• Require all Western graduates to complete an applied learning experience or student development activity that includes, but is not limited to, internships, practica, faculty/student projects, campus employment, or some form of cocurricular activity.

Information Technology

• Provide efficient technology support services for faculty, staff, and students; improve technical communications within the framework of the campus and community.*
• Establish a funding plan for continual upgrade and replacement of information technologies, electronic library services, and operational resources to support the activities facilitated by the information technology infrastructure.
• Use and improve the capabilities of the technology infrastructure and accessibility of digital and electronic information.
• Provide a centralized location on campus for collaborative technology support and information delivery.

Facilities and Grounds

• Enhance the grounds to ensure continuity of landscaping, preservation of natural environments, and a welcoming campus for all.
• Ensure that campus buildings are inviting and aesthetically pleasing by addressing the existing and potential benefits of our building designs.
• Address future renovation and construction needs, ensure preventative maintenance, and preserve the condition of buildings and grounds.
• Address ways in which facilities and grounds may enhance teaching and learning.
• Enhance student life and campus community through addressing needs in student life and other common areas.

Image and Advancement

• Prepare a long-range marketing plan for Western.
• Communicate the “Western Advantage” to existing and new audiences.
• Market Western as an institution that sets the standard for excellence in student development and community leadership.*
• Create a development plan to meet the Foundation and the Alumni Association short-term and long-term goals. Integrate the mission of the Foundation and the mission of the Alumni Association with our strategic planning process and foster resources associated with these missions.
• Generate increased financial support and investment through partnerships with businesses, corporations, government agencies, individuals, and public and private foundations.

Community Service and Community Partnerships

• Provide leadership for projects and programs that enhance the lives of the people in the community, especially through integrating the strategic planning processes of the St. Joseph community and the region into institutional planning.*
• Collaborate across campus and with regional, national, and international organizations to provide additional service opportunities for individuals and groups associated with Western.
• Increase the participation of Western students, faculty, and staff in community service activities.*
• Increase public awareness of university-community partnerships and of the service contributions of Western students, faculty, and staff.*
• Prepare students with the appropriate knowledge, abilities, skills, and ethics necessary for success in the workplace.
• Participate in workforce development for the region.

Planning and Budgeting

• Review the Western environment, structure, priorities, and resources to ensure that we remain effective at our mission and adaptive to the forces of changing conditions.
• Develop timetables and processes for planning by all units that will ensure effective planning within units, integration of plans between units, and reliable forecasts of units.
• Develop and maintain a management information system that brings together student, staff, and financial data in such a way as to improve policy analysis and development, budgeting, reporting, and decision-making.
• Pursue core funding commensurate with the current size, mission, and character of Western so that the benefits of our comparative efficiencies can continue to be provided to students without compromising quality.
• Continue to focus on educational value per dollar.
• Develop capital revenue sources that will allow continued investment in educational technology, structures, grounds, and equipment that will protect existing assets through maintenance and modernization.
• Coordinate institutional goals and activities to extend and expand benefits to the region.