Supporting Student Success and Academic Excellence

June 15 Update

Dear Colleagues,

This spring, Provost Rob Winningham initiated and convened a College Restructure Taskforce composed of WOU staff, faculty, and administrators. The aim of the Taskforce is to recommend an equitable and sustainable academic structure that utilizes existing resources. Efforts to capitalize on division and unit-specific knowledge are reflected in the Taskforce’s constitution. Nonetheless, Taskforce members are focused on the totality of WOU’s academic programs and do not serve as division-specific representatives. Please feel free to reach out to any Taskforce member if you have questions or want to provide input. We also encourage you to share your ideas and questions using the form linked below.

At our June 15th retreat, the Taskforce:

  • discussed our collective SWOC analyses (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges) and identified a range of issues and concerns that motivate our work;
  • brainstormed communication strategies for sharing information with the campus community;
  • strategized in breakout groups (Steering Committee, Communication, Workload/Equity, Current Structure & Comparators);
  •  and established an agenda, assignments and addressed logistical needs for the next meeting on June 29th.

To minimize the burden on Taskforce members, the Communication Committee will be issuing updates via email from the Provost’s Office and posting these regular meeting summaries to the Taskforce webpage: http://wou.edu/provost/rtf/

As mentioned previously, we have also created a Google form where you can anonymously share input and ideas with the Taskforce. We encourage you to take a few minutes (or more!) to share ideas, examples or concerns you would like to make sure the Taskforce considers. The knowledge, expertise and perspectives of the entire campus community are critical to the college restructure effort.

College Restructure Feedback Form

June 13: Campus Update

Dear Campus Community,

The purpose of this email is to provide an update on the College Restructure Taskforce. Meetings were held on April 11th, May 6th, and May 27th. During this time, the taskforce examined its charge (an overview is provided below), discussed the process and timeline for proposal completion, developed ground rules for the taskforce, started collecting data, formed working groups, and set a tentative agenda for the June 15th retreat. The Taskforce will address additional communications-related topics e.g., where to find information about the work, how to submit comments, and more in the near future. We appreciate your continued interest and will keep you apprised in the coming weeks.

Thank you,

College Restructure Taskforce

 

January 2022 overview of charge to College Restructure Taskforce

At present, our academic programs are organized into two colleges, a structure arising more from history than strategy. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has eight divisions spanning traditional liberal arts and sciences along with professional and pre- professional programs. The College of Education has three divisions that encompass far more than educator preparation programs. This structure served us well once. But over time, and through the evolution of programs and student interests, this structure may have created silos and workload inequities for academic program leaders, faculty and staff. As we consider developing new programs at new degree levels (e.g., professional doctorates), now is the time to re-examine, re-align and re-balance WOU’s academic programs so that our structures serve our current needs and position us to thrive in the future.