Stakeholder Survey Preliminary Report p. 4

We also have a remarkably dedicated and supportive Board of Trustees. Again, that is not always the norm in American higher education. Here, we have friends who, most certainly, will fulfill their Constitutional and statutory responsibilities but are doing so with Western's success as their paramount motivation. That is my strong conclusion. But, as further validation of this important institutional strength, also consider the related commendation that the accreditation team recently shared concerning the Board and their engagement.

Ours is a campus that values relationships. That is a strength. We see it, for example, in the way faculty and students prefer to work together. That is a defining element of our approach to excellence in education. Importantly, personal relationships underlie the strongly positive feelings our alumni and supporters statewide report having about Western. And, recognizing this important strength will help untangle, as mentioned at several points later in the report, the frustrations that also result when relationships do not meet expectations or compound the challenge of reaching decisions transparently.

When it comes to strengths, there was also frequent mention of specific programs — many, many programs. I will not list them all here I came away, though, with this fundamental conclusion: our greatest strength has been our ability to maintain excellence across the campus. While talking to colleague presidents around the state, I would sometimes hear of their need to redirect resources that had been spread too thinly in order to build on areas of excellence. I believe we have a significant strategic advantage here and I put it this way: were a student to throw a dart at our catalog and thereby pick her major (undergraduate or graduate), she could be assured that the resulting random choice would rank among the very best if not the very best available in the state. I have never before been part of a university where I would make so bold an assertion.

Challenges

One challenge was mentioned far and away most frequently: building a relationship of trust, shared direction, and community among those who are the university. The need to build strong, positive relationships between "the administration" and the faculty was mentioned even more often by those identifying themselves as "administrators" than it was mentioned by faculty. Needs for openness, transparency, trust, healing (in the aftermath of the faculty contract negotiations), effective participation in decision-making, and meaningful involvement of governance were all mentioned. Other relationships requiring attention were also identified ranging from detailed descriptions of tensions between professional staff and classified colleagues to "a more hands on approach with the students is needed by the administration."

Previous | Next | Last