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Washington State University
Washington State University Office of the Provost

Initiatives

COACHE Survey

WSU is participating in the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) faculty job satisfaction survey, operated by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The COACHE survey is a powerful instrument, facilitating data collection on faculty work and life concerns, benchmarked against peer institutions. Created and operated by faculty, the data will be used to identify needs and opportunities to improve faculty recruitment, retention, and work/life quality. Questions assess career- and tenure-track faculty views on university policies, practices, and working conditions such as tenure and promotion, climate, workload and support, compensation and benefits, and global satisfaction. The survey also will allow us to identify equity gaps in all those categories and to address those gaps more effectively.


Launch into Learning

This initiative focuses on getting students off to a good, fast start in their academic journeys, lowering barriers to success, providing specific tools for academic assistance and providing resources for ongoing help. The Office of the Provost and Student Affairs, in collaboration with advisors, ASWSU, colleges, Enterprise Systems Group, Institutional Research, the Registrar’s Office, the University Student Success Council, and others are developing information and tools to promote and facilitate deeper academic engagement in the first week of class. These include improved real-time information for enrollment management, communication efforts to new and continuing students to help them navigate registration, financial aid, waitlists and more, assistance for faculty and encouragement to make syllabi available sooner, more academic programming during Week of Welcome (WOW), and more, ongoing preparedness support throughout each academic semester. Assessment data connects student participation in the programming with improved levels of class attendance, retention rates, and semester GPA. This information continues to guide further development of orientation events and new student outreach, Week of Welcome, and coordination of student support into the first weeks of the semester.


Strategic Plan and Progress

The WSU System Strategic Plan for 2020-2025 provides a clear blueprint forward in Washington State University’s pursuit of becoming one of the nation’s leading land-grant universities. The plan acknowledges the changing environment in which WSU – and every other higher education institution in the country – operates today in terms of funding models, the impact of technology, and the changing demographic of our student body. It also places  emphasis on accountability, transparency and institutional effectiveness.


Promoting Academic Ways to Success

The success of WSU students is fundamental to our success as an institution. The Provost’s Office, in collaboration with numerous faculty, staff, and administrative offices throughout the university have developed a new initiative to help foster student success. Cougar PAWS – Promoting Academic Ways to Success – focuses on strengthening the academic preparedness of incoming students; supporting faculty innovation and excellence in teaching; and providing the technology and other tools that support student success.