A draft of the strategic plan for WKU for 2018 to 2028 has been released in an email to students, faculty and staff. 

The plan was created over the last year, with six working groups meeting throughout the year and several forums held for public input. 

According to the draft, “Several common messages resonated throughout the process and these have helped to formulate the final Strategic Plan.” Some of those themes were WKU being a “student-centered university,” relationships at the university being “central to the success and pride of being a Hilltopper,” and the importance of the staff and administration at WKU in order to create “the Hilltopper experience.”

“With the growth of WKU over the past twenty years, change became the norm, but students remained the focus,” the draft reads. “Nevertheless, the growth led to increasing separation and specialization, resulting in the development of silos of learning and student assistance…a general attitude in the strategic planning process was that WKU needed to regain a more centralized focus and reiteration of our core values in an open, transparent, and accountable fashion.”

The draft of the plan has several targets that it will focus on, including “our people” and “our community.” Under each of those headings, there are plans outlined for several subheadings, including students, work environment and work culture, and WKU as a regional university.

For students, a goal set is to “enroll a diverse body of students who are prepared for the Hilltopper experience,” which includes establishing a “cost of college,” establishing recruitment practices and establishing a support network. Additionally, the draft outlines plans to work with the Kentucky Community and Technical College system to “prepare students who are not four-year college ready for entry as juniors and “commit to student completion and success.”

A full copy of the draft of the strategic plan is available above this story.