The Student Success and Experience Working Group report outlines bold ideas to improve student success and the student experience at WKU. The vision is for WKU to have an inclusive, supportive learning environment where student success is the central focus. Key ideas include ensuring every student graduates, develops life skills in intercultural competence, social responsibility, and inquiry, and completes an academic, financial, and professional plan in the first year. The report also recommends linking all positions to student success, requiring high-impact practices, and making the costs transparent to students. Feedback on the ideas is welcomed.

1. Student Success and Experience
Working Group
December 6, 2017 Report
Co-chairs: Martha Sales & Jerry Daday

2. Vision for Student Success & Experience
• WKU students are the center of an inclusive, supportive, and
personalized learning environment that prepares them to lead
successful, productive, and fulfilling lives
• Student success should not be what we do at WKU
• Student success should be who we are at WKU

3. Bold Ideas for Student Success
• Every student admitted to WKU will graduate
• Our commitment is to create a supportive, personalized experience; remove
bureaucratic barriers
• WKU students will develop and grow a professional identity rooted in three
life skills
• (1) Intercultural competence; (2) Social and personal responsibility; (3) Inquiry and
analysis
• These life skills are integrated into everything we do
• Courses, academic programs, applied learning experiences, student affairs programming,
student employment
• WKU faculty and staff commit to modeling and living these life skills every day
• Please note: we are still working on definitions for these skills

4. Bold Ideas for Student Success
• Every WKU student will complete an academic plan, a financial plan, and a
professional plan by the end of the first year
• Every WKU Student will know the cost of 4 years of attendance upon
admission (tuition, fees, housing and meal plans, etc.)
• Lock cost of attendance by cohort; full transparency; essential for academic, financial
& professional plan
• Every WKU position will be linked to student success
• Explicitly articulated at the beginning of EVERY job description
• Contributions to student success will be used as a metric in the annual review
process and in T&P for faculty
• What have you done to contribute/promote student success?

5. Bold Ideas for the Student Experience
• Every WKU Student will complete High-Impact Practices (HIPs)
• Research shows these provide applied learning experiences; build community among
students, faculty, and staff; instill the development of soft skills; & increase student
success & retention
• Suggest one HIP for each year of enrollment
• Two could be coordinated centrally by university: First Year Experience & Learning Communities
• Others offered by departments in AA and SA (e.g. project based learning; undergraduate
research; service learning; study abroad; internships; capstone experiences)
• Importance/necessity of inclusive excellence (everyone must participate)
• Participation in HIPs must be tracked (e.g. electronic transcript; e-portfolio)

6. Some items in our parking lot
• Any plan must be flexible and adaptable to meet the diverse needs of
• Online learners, Adult learners, Transfer students, International students,
Students at regional campuses
• Are we offering the right courses at the right time in the right format?
• Is flextime possible? Can offices be open earlier/later?
• How can we engage alumni and parents in student
success/experience?
• Bookend experience (recruitment – enrollment – graduates/alumni)

7. Some items in our parking lot
• One commonality for ALL students is the academic/course experience
• Student success rests on high quality instruction and + interactions between
faculty-students
• How can we ensure students have transformative experiences in the
150 hours outside of the classroom?
• Can the academic calendar be adjusted to help students with
employment?
• Fall Semester – Mid-August to Thanksgiving
• Spring Semester – Early January to end of April

8. Important Disclaimer
• All of the information in this presentation should be considered
working ideas and strategies
• The SS&E Working Group welcomes . . .
• New ideas & strategies not contained in this presentation
• Comments/feedback on ideas & strategies contained within this presentation
• Please submit your feedback on the WKU Strategic Planning website:
• https://www.wku.edu/strategicplan/input.php
• If you have specific questions, please contact jerry.daday@wku.edu or
Martha.sales@wku.edu