2018-2019 Phase One Proposals:
New Initiatives
Submitted: November 20 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
We propose the creation of a position to work with enrollment-related data in service of WOU's recruitment and retention efforts. This would include data relating to admissions, registrar, financial aid, business office, student success, and housing. This position would help determine what new student populations to recruit, determine what students are at risk academically to inform early interventions, what factors influence academic success to provide appropriate supports to students and find ways make WOU the most affordable public university in Oregon. In the past, WOU has paid outside vendors to complete data analysis projects on a limited basis.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
This is the first step in the initiation of a broader continuous improvement cycle for WOU’s enrollment marketing via the WOU website. This effort enables WOU to take corrective action to reduce the logjam of various problems, errors (e.g., broken links), and outdated content across the 9,000+ pages within WOU’s website. Taking this action will contribute to increasing WOU’s ranking in search results when student-prospects are seeking academic programs online, as well as enable WOU to begin to better conform to accessibility standards (WCAG 2AA).
This proposal specifically requests $77,000 funding under Marketing (MKT902) to gain the technical online marketing skills relative to tactical implementation of necessary improvements for search engine optimization (SEO), quality assurance metrics (QA), and the initial rollout of accessibility coding of website content. The preferred plan is to recruit a “limited duration, temporary position”; for 1.0 FTE, the estimated cost of salary+OPE is expected to be in the range of $77,000, based on postings for similar jobs in the Seattle-Pdx marketplace. This function/role will have pre-defined goals and metrics for performance. In the unlikely situation that recruitment may not be successful, then the requested budget will be applied to obtain the same services from an external agency that provides the same range of technical online marketing expertise.
Evidence #1: Role of Google (and its algorithms) is primary, pervasive and undeniable.
Google’s goal is to improve results found by those who use their search engine.
Globally, Google is primary source of desktop and mobile internet searches (~80 to ~96%), and is used by over 90% of traffic to wou.edu. Google’s algorithms evaluate sites for being ‘useful and relevant’ and lowers sites in search results when its algorithms indicate weaknesses in a site’s quality assurance or SEO.
Evidence #2: WOU’s online marketing has unnecessary barriers related to prospects' Google searches.
In general, four out of five searchers will click one of the FIRST 3 results (excluding ads) on Page 1 of results. But, only about 6% of searches using words relevant to WOU will even show up on Page 1. Additionally, ~ 75% of searches using words relevant for WOU will NOT show up until Page 4-10 of the search results. Our low ranking in search results is as much or more a matter of how Google evaluates our site as it is our website’s content or design.
Evidence #3: WOU is currently understaffed to tackle the backlog of corrective actions needed.
WOU only has 2 FT website personnel; one for web programming/analyst, and other for web design/layout. Ongoing workload leaves no time to tackle this challenge, which is what gives rise to the current issue. However, without a concerted effort to address these current liabilities, wou.edu will further drop lower in the search results for people seeking what WOU offers.
Part of WOU’s low ranking is due to historically-accrued quality assurance issues that must be addressed, such as ~2300 broken links, ~16,000 potential misspellings, and nearly 700 broken images. These are in addition to the improvements needed for “search engine optimization” (SEO) in the near term. Furthermore, WOU fails 141 of 168 accessibility checks, and has over 224,000 priority issues waiting to be reviewed and/or addressed relative to accessibility standards.
Skilled staff (instead of student labor) is desired because of the need for prior SEO experience in an online marketing context, and the ability to exercise independent judgment in determining possible improvement solutions. For example, some of the errors listed above could be due to outdated page text, linked documents, or subsidiary webpages that have not been accessed in some years, all of which require informed decision-making to choose the best corrective action.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
Enrollment is essential for sustainability in a university. Here at WOU, striving to increase enrollment not only keeps the institution alive, it keeps Western’s heritage alive.
I am proposing that WOU collaborates with the Statesman Journal (SJ) and other online and print media to include content based on the WOU campus and community. Ideally, one employee from MarCom and one from Athletics could be assigned to contact the SJ to provide much more visibility to WOU. This would be essentially free advertising; the cost associated with this initiative would be the employee’s time that would be spent corresponding with various media agencies.
Initially, WOU could have an event, “Media Day” as an outreach to local media, invite all local media including Salem, Keizer, Portland, Albany, Corvallis, Eugene, and continue with a contact at each media company to provide weekly events and articles.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
In a recent survey—Today’s Learner: Student Views 2018 (Cengage/Morning Consult):
“Students Sacrifice Food for Textbooks: Nearly half of current and former college students (43 percent) say they’ve saved money by skipping meals to afford course materials.
Minority Students Are Disproportionately Impacted: Minority students are more likely to report taking fewer classes to save on textbook costs.
Textbook purchases Increase student stress: Eighty-five percent of current and former students say that their textbook and course material expenses are financially stressful, more so than meals and food (63 percent), healthcare (69 percent), housing (73 percent) and barely less stressful than tuition (88 percent).
Students Divert Time from Studying Looking for Cheaper Options: Eighty-six percent of students spend a few hours a week searching for affordable course materials options.”
TEXTBOOKS FOR COURSE RESERVES
In order to address the problem of high cost of textbooks for students, this proposal would make available all textbooks for course available to be checked out from the library for a limited two hour period. To support this program the library would need:
One copy of every text book for each class
Two copies for classes over 30 students
One copy for each section of a course with multiple offerings a term.
E-books with multiple-user licenses would be purchased where possible.
Textbooks would be purchased through the University bookstore.
The initial funding for the program would be higher for the first term books are purchased but would be lessor in future terms as required textbooks are often in use for several years at a time and new copies wouldn’t need to be bought for every class / every term. Instead, future terms would need to be purchases for books that term not already in the reserve collection.
The initial funding budget is based on required textbooks listed on WOU bookstore website (130 books listed are required out of 325 classes).
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
September 2019 marks the end of nine years’ worth of coordinated comprehensive response and prevention to gender-based violence at Western Oregon University (WOU). For three grant cycles, the WOU CASA (Campus Against Sexual Assault) program has effectively and efficiently utilized federal funds to provide critical prevention and response services to WOU students, staff, and faculty. Due to the program’s innovations and success, WOU is the only campus accepted for three grant cycles. While that is an incredible feat, campuses are only allowed three grant cycles. This presents a problem of how to confirm students, staff, and faculty continue to receive comprehensive gender-based violence prevention and response. Throughout the 9-year period, WOU has institutionalized many important functions provided by the grant such as a professional position at Abby’s House (to be a full-time position next year), New Student Week Sexual Violence Prevention speaker and programming, mandated sexual violence online module for new students, responsible employee trainings for staff and faculty (including student employees) among many others. From all accounts, the WOU CASA program has truly shifted campus culture. The question which remains; how can that culture survive if the key element holding together disappears? The short answer is it cannot. Unfortunately, the most critical aspect provided by the grant that has yet to be institutionalized is the project director position along with a training and prevention budget. This is a position large enough that current staff or departments cannot absorb it. The project director currently leads the WOU CASA steering committee and subcommittees, coordinates prevention, response, and trainings, and manages data collection and strategic planning. While these may seem like small tasks, each role precipitates larger changes within the fabric of WOU. The only way to confirm cost effective gender-based violence prevention and response is to fund this position along with its training and prevention budget. Currently the WOU CASA grant pays for not only the project director position but also has a training and prevention budget as well. This proposal also seeks funding for the project director position along with a training and prevention budget, which costs up to $100,000 per year (0.5 FTE = $57,500 [$37,500 FTE + $20,000 OPE], $20,000 for travel, trainings, professional development related to GBV response and prevention, $22,500 for Prevention materials, marketing, speakers). This proposal would be best in full to confirm the full ability of the position to provide training and prevention that individual departments do not currently possess. If there is a concern about the proposal amount, FTE, or other aspects, there may be areas to adjust the proposal.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
WOU Textbook Affordability Initiative* Budget Proposal 2018
This proposal provides financial incentives and promotion and tenure credit for faculty to adopt open textbooks or other open educational resources (OER), with the intent of moving Western Oregon University (WOU) to a zero-cost textbook campus.
In February 2016, the Student Public Interest Research Groups, released their now seminal report on textbook prices, “Covering Costs” (https://studentpirgs.org/reports/sp/covering-cost). The report claims that between 2006 and 2016, “...the cost of a college textbook increased by 73% - over four times the rate of inflation. ...Individual textbooks often cost over $200, sometimes as high as $400.” As textbook prices rose, various groups reported additional troubling statistics:
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 in 10 students didn’t purchase a textbook because it was too expensive (https://www.chronicle.com/article/7-in-10-Students-Have-Skipped/128785/).
One in five college students has skipped or deferred a class due to the price of the required learning resources (http://assets.cengage.com/pdf/wp_oer-evolving-higher-ed-landscape.pdf).
60% of students have delayed purchasing textbooks until they’ve received their financial aid.
More than a quarter of all students report they never purchase course materials (https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/02/07/open-educational-resources-offer-exciting-possibilities-though).
This disheartening news indicates many students are being forced to make choices that are in direct opposition to their success in the classroom. Switching from an expensive, traditional textbook to an open textbook or other OER would save WOU students hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
Moving the University to a zero-cost textbook campus meets two of WOU’s institutional priorities: growing enrollment and making WOU the most affordable public university in Oregon.
In addition, according to a recent large scale study from the University of Georgia, (http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdf) students who use open textbooks instead of more expensive commercial products “get significantly better academic results”. Courses using open textbooks also saw the number of students who withdrew or were awarded D or F grades (DFW) decreased.
A zero-cost textbook campus would meet another of the University’s institutional priorities, improving retention.
*This proposal would work in tandem with the Textbook for Course Reserves Budget Proposal. As more courses adopt open textbooks or other OER, we would need to purchase fewer textbooks for course reserves.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Having choices when considering law school requires a good GPA and good LSAT score. Western students are disadvantaged in the LSAT process because many cannot afford the expensive and time-consuming LSAT courses more privileged students take. The weekend LSAT course at WOU gives students the opportunity to develop strategies for the LSAT and the law school application context that incorporate the materials and personal instruction from a professional LSAT instructor.
This course has been offered on an ad hoc basic for years. The Career and Service Learning Center, private contributions, and scholarships from the Student Enrichment Program have made the cost affordable to students. This was once subsidized by ASWOU but logistics of that relationship became too complicated.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Community Engagement
Proposal:
We should have a stronger presents in the Portland school district area. This way more people will be aware of WOU before they have to choose which college to attend.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
IR Analyst. WOU created an Office of Institutional Research approximately one year ago and hired Dr. Abdus Shahid as its director. At the outset, Dr. Shahid was charged with creating the office, realigning WOU’s data integrity, and establishing dashboards for the Board of Trustees and the University. With a new baseline on campus established, Institutional Research does not have the capacity to pursue all of the analysis requested by various units on campus. In a paradigm where evidence-based decision-making is required to stay a step ahead, Dr. Shahid requires someone to assist with analysis. WOU needs to move beyond mere data collection and focus on the integrity of the data it collects and how to deploy that to its advantage in both internal and external venues. A keen, nimble ability to analyze data—particularly given legislative requests and the HECC’s outcomes-based funding model—is necessary for survival. Without capacity in these areas, other campuses will fill vacuums—from HECC to external foundations—of WOU which could take advantage. Scarce resources require evidence-based decision-making. Evidence-based decision-making requires additional capacity in this increasingly important office. The ongoing funds listed above includes salary, OPE, and a modest amount for S&S.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
) Paralegal/Executive Assistant for Vice President & General Counsel. After budget decentralization efforts in FY2018, many aspects of contracting and procurement were reorganized to the Office of the Vice President & General Counsel (VPGC). Currently, the VPGC is responsible for the Board of Trustees, legal services, government affairs, human resources, institutional research—and now, to a substantial degree, contracting and procurement. The reassignment of procurement to the VPGC’s office, while well-advised from a compliance perspective, has created a substantial workload shift for both Ryan Hagemann and Carson Campbell. Further, the VPGC is the only vice president on campus—and the only General Counsel among the seven public universities—without an executive assistant assigned to the position. This requested position attempts to tackle both issues: necessary assistance with moving contracts and procurement along in a timely manner and providing indispensable calendar and administrative management for the VPGC’s various units, particularly government affairs and the substantial burden managing a legislative session creates. Without this position, compliance and timely completion of the hundreds of contracts required annually for the university, not to mention, proactive management of WOU’s legislative outreach, will suffer. The ongoing funds listed above includes salary, OPE, and a modest amount for S&S.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
An increasing number of older individuals and students with delayed enrollment are returning to higher education. Many are balance numerous different roles while attempting to gain their education. Interestingly, in many different studies, to be considered a "non-traditional student" they must be over “the typical age” and generally are parents. We argue that the focus needs to be on the roles that students are balancing. These students are not only balance their school work, but also their work and family lives (Gilardi & Guglielmetti, 2011). It is not uncommon to have a 20-year-old student who is working, going to school, and caring for an elderly grandparent. In our pilot study, we found that age was not a significant predictor of many stressors but the number of roles a student had was. In this study we will collect qualitative and quantitative data focusing on the needs of our students as well as stressors, support mechanisms that are currently in place and where WOU might be lacking, and mental and physical health measures. Additionally, we will assess how the university can enhance student success by helping them adapt and adjust to the rigor of a university environment to their already busy life.
Consequently, we would like to expand on our pilot study that was conducted nationally and focus on students at Western Oregon University specifically. As a secondary step in our study we would like to use our national data and compare WOU students to a sample of non-traditional students across the country (via MTurk). Unlike other studies, we are not going to use age as an exclusion, or whether the student has children or not, but rather the roles that they engage in.
The budget would include funds for:
- 2 Research assistants to assist with recruitment, data cleaning and analysis, and writing/publishing manuscripts
- PI would travel to Association for Psychological Science and present at the Teaching Conference
- Due to the length and depth of the survey, each participant would receive a $5 gift card for
participating.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
When an employer looks at 15-20 or more applications for a job, sometimes it is a single distinguishing factor that separates one applicant from the rest of the applicant pool. By bringing Dr. Paul Ekman’s deception detection program to our campus, we feel this program could be that one memorable factor for our students.
As educators, we are aware that one of the most critical contributors to student success and employability is access to contemporary cutting-edge research-based education. To that end, we are proposing we bring an exclusive summer nonverbal deception detection graduate certificate training program to WOU. As this is a strictly licensed program, we would be the exclusive, authorized provider of this training in the PNW. WOU would operate as the delivery system for the course, but the certificate would be issued by Dr. Ekman and the international training group, Emotional Intelligence Academy (EIA). EIA is the global, sole authorized provider of Dr. Paul Ekman approved training.
Furthermore, to serve our students, this program can be taught multiple times as needed over the summer. The program could be set up as a HUM 400/500 level class, primarily for graduate students, but available to upper level students with a faculty recommendation. As an added bonus, as a graduate program, it may be eligible for HEC funding.
During the summer, not only would we be able to run this course for our students, but on a separate week, we would be able run this program as a graduate-level continuing education program for professionals. The continuing education course professionals would be part of an inclusive package that includes training, room and board (breakfast and lunch), parking and access to the HEW center.
Considered to be an expert in deception detection, Dr. Ekman worked with EIA over a period of two years to develop this specialized training that gives participants skills and competencies in two areas: 1) communicating effectively and compassionately with others and 2) the ability to accurately evaluate truthfulness and credibility. Both parts of this course are designed to contribute to our student’s personal and professional success. While one can easily see the application of this program for students in our Criminal Justice program, it has wider application throughout the professions. EIA has conducted company trainings in this same program for Jack Daniels, Citibank Europe, Abbott, National Health Service, Emirates, Disney, and Vodafone, to name a few. Trainees for this program come from all over the world, including Russia, Latvia, Croatia, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Australia, Dubai, Bahrain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A sample of professions that have been represented at these trainings include: human resources, forensic accounting, professional trainers, police, military, private and public security, and forensics.
Additional readings on the value of certificate programs:
Anonymous. (n.d.) School of Continuing Education. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. http://www4.uwm.edu/sce/resources/pm/TheValueofCertificatePrograms.pdf
Bosworth, B. (2010). Certificates Count: An Analysis of Sub-Baccalaureate Certificates. ERIC, ED536837 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED536837
EIA Group. https://www.eiagroup.com/
Gonzalez, J. (2012). Certificates Rise to 22% of Postsecondary Credentials Awarded, Report Says. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Certificates-Rise-to-22-of/132143/
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Background/Context for the Need
Advising is inconsistent in LAS in terms of quality--some faculty are not particularly engaged in the process while others are. This inconsistency results in multiple problems: students who are not assigned a good advisor often have 'lost credits' because they take classes they may not need; students are not able to explore options that might lead to faster completion of a degree; and students facing academic or personal problems may become overwhelmed and decide to drop out since they do not have a strong connection with an advisor who can help them find appropriate assistance.
Proposal
Each department will choose one faculty member who will be the department advisor (1 class released time per year). The advisor will be responsible for advising majors and transfer students and will communicate with the department chair (responsible for web presence) in terms of publicizing important changes on the site.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
I propose that WOU implement a referral process for students who apply. When a student applies, they identify the student who referred them. Upon enrollment, the referring student would get a payment (tuition remission, food court dollars, etc...). Upon enrollment the 2nd year, the referring student would get another payment. We would turn our 5000 students into active recruiters -- with prebuilt social media relationships, etc...
There may be complications with 'paying' students (NCAA, etc...) but I think we could find a way to make this work.
This program might be able to be extending to faculty/staff who also could recruit.
Cost to WOU:
Time: Some work would have to be done in the business office, and computing services.
Money: If the incoming class were 1000 new students, then the maximum payout would be $100,000.00
Realistically it would be much less than 1/4 of that ($25,000.00). Each new student enrolled provides around $10,000/year.
The break even point is 3 students!
This is a very small investment for a potentially large reward.
Strategic Plan Alignment:
IV. Accountability - 3.3 "Utilize web presence, social media and other forms of media to expand the university's visibility"
V. Sustainability & Stewardship - 1.1 "Meet enrollment targets through effective recruitment and retention efforts."
This type of program is used very successfully in private schools and other organizations.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
I propose the WOU design and implement a discount/incentive for families sending more than one student to WOU. This could be implemented for families with student attending simultaneously (making college more affordable), or for younger siblings (keying off of the President's remarks to recruit the whole family to WOU), or multi-generational (attracting 2nd and 3rd generation students to a WOU legacy).
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
I propose that WOU hire a newly-graduated student as an entry-level programmer that will focus all of their time and attention on the online admissions application, the recruitment tools, social media, etc...
WOU needs the online application rebuilt. Having this done by a young post-student will allow us to tune the application for 17 and 18-year-olds.
Next, Admissions recruitment database isn't really integrated into other WOU systems. This position could tie that recruitment data into application and ultimately the warehouse - for advanced reporting and analytics.
Finally, this person could help connect these tools with our Social Media presence - streamlining the communication and application processes!
I believe this would result in increased enrollment by targeting our recruitment and application systems to our target audience by someone near that age.
The position would report to UCS, but be housed in Admissions - giving them access to existing expertise, but being close to the users they support.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
A number of very specific classes at WOU should be shifted to tuition-free status. These would include any class tied to a:
1) internship
2) practicum
3) thesis or senior project
4) student job (like PLUS team or Peer Mentors)
5) non-academic program -- ie. all the ICS classes
It's unfair to charge students tuition for these classes. In the case of the ICS classes, Adry Clark and other teachers are already on salary at WOU, so tuition isn't necessary.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
Studies regarding the psychology of decision-making (Lafley, A.G. and Martin, Roger L., 2017) and brand loyalty (Rakuten Marketing 2017) have suggested that among other factors, people favor the familiar when making important selection decisions. WOU serves a high population of first-generation students and families and must ensure that its college enrollment process uses as many familiar and understandable steps as possible. Admissions staff and WOU faculty have worked to create friendly and personal interfaces at WOU events such as school visits and Preview Days. For many students these interfaces enhance the most important ways that students and parents gather information to support a college enrollment decision. According to the 2014 Social Admissions Report by Zinch, 86% of new students use a college’s web page and other online resources in their college search process.
Students of all ages have become increasingly dependent upon their smartphones to go online. A 2015 study by the Pew Research Center found:
• younger adults (ages 18-29) are heavily dependent on their smartphones
• low-income households rely on a smartphone for online access
• minority communities are significantly more dependent upon smartphones.
Smart phones, tablets and many PC’s use tiles (icons for different applications) to organize programs and access points. These graphical symbols are the familiar and trusted ways to access online information and applications. The WOU portal, while highly functional as an interface, is not familiar to students or family and can add confusion or frustration to potential students, much like traffic signs written in Arabic or Gaelic would create confusion for most Oregon drivers.
Enrollment Growth
Creating a friendly and tailored initial online experience to prospective students will support recruitment of students. The Classlink® software will enable the Office of Admissions to guide students through the enrollment process by being able to create a digital landing spot that uses tiles (familiarity) in a customized manner so that tiles such as FAFSA, WOU Scholarships, Housing, Preview Day Registration, or WOU videos can be placed on the prospective student’s landing page. The tiles can be added or removed to nudge students to take action on upcoming deadlines or opportunities.
Increase Retention
This software can be used for current students as well. Creating a more familiar and friendly digital interface increases student affinity and connection to WOU. The use of tiles will also reduce the confusion that can occur when someone has to access a digital tool such as the portal in a sporadic manner. More familiarity and less confusion supports student retention.
Benefit to faculty and staff
Classlink® will also be available for use by faculty and staff at no additional cost.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
On behalf of the Veterans Resource Center I am requesting $20,000. In 2017 Andrew Holbert in collaboration with Dr. Gary Dukes submitted and received a $86,700 grant request to the state. The focus of this grant request is to recruit and maintain student veterans at WOU the grant requested support for necessary upgrades in technology, provide orientations for veteran students, online education model for faculty and staff, receptions for veteran students and events which have become traditions that highlight and appreciate the student veterans at WOU. Events include the Memorial Day banquet, the student veteran graduation dinner and new this year the veterans appreciation breakfast.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Community Engagement
Proposal:
We are proposing initiatives that support President Fuller’s goals for increased enrollment and retention, and will make transformative educational experiences more affordable to students. High Impact Practices (HIP) and Experiential Learning (EL) are highly correlated with retention according to NSSE, and evidence shows prospective students are attracted to universities that offer hands-on learning. At the same time, the cost of participation in EL can be prohibitive to students and for programs to be effective, they require capacity and institutional support.
EL is defined as learning from experience or learning by doing. Learners are immersed in an experience and then encouraged to reflect about the experience to develop new skills, new attitudes, or new ways of thinking. Service learning, internships, research, independent study, creative projects and study abroad are examples. Offering effective EL requires capacity building and thoughtful design. WOU is currently at the beginning stages of forming an accessible experiential learning program, but lack of capacity, institutional and financial barriers to students, and lack of staffing prohibits progress. The Strategic Plan’s Values section commits WOU to “Connecting students with communities through engagement in service, experiential learning, creative problem-solving opportunities and co-curricular collaborations.” We propose investing in initiatives that build on current programs, such as PURE and Alternative Break, develops faculty and staff capacity to design an experiential learning environment at WOU, and minimize barriers to student participation.
In summer of 2018, Interim Provost, Rob Winningham, approved requests to fund bringing EL experts on campus, who would help provide a framework for designing an EL environment at WOU. He also agreed to fund subsequent showcases and workshops. These efforts need to be complemented by sending faculty and staff for more in depth training and for building incentives for EL pilot programs. Finally, WOU needs to start to build infrastructure to support EL efforts more systemically.
Proposed one-time initiatives for funding - total $18,000:
1. Send a small group of faculty and staff to an Experiential Learning Leadership Institute in Utah in June, 2019 (registration and travel $8,000)
2. Create pilot EL programs for Fall, 2019 ($10,000 for seed grants in 2019-20 AY budget)
To make EL at WOU more affordable and increase access to EL, we propose the following annual funding - total $40,000:
1. Increase access to community engagement by providing $10,000 annually to run three regional Alternative Spring Breaks
2. Increase access to external internships: Provide $10,000 annually to augment Internship Fund, which provides competitive grants for internship
3. Increase access to undergraduate research – Provide $20,000 annually for research related travel, for Sophomores and Juniors to increase their engagement and investment in working with WOU faculty.
In order to facilitate EL efforts we request ongoing investment in labor and operation cost - $73,000
a. $8,000 for student labor to support Academic Excellence Showcase operations as well as expanding PURE’s outreach to students through the year. Student work is more affordable than the 80-120 hours of labor current professional staff and librarians invest in helping make AES happen.
b. $2,000 administrative and outreach costs
c. $63,000 for 1.0 fte Experiential Learning Program coordinator
Total request $131,000.00
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Hamersly Library Faculty
Proposal:
Sue:
WOU Textbook Affordability Initiative* Budget Proposal 2018
This proposal provides financial incentives and promotion and tenure credit for faculty to adopt open textbooks or other open educational resources (OER), with the intent of moving Western Oregon University (WOU) to a zero-cost textbook campus.
In February 2016, the Student Public Interest Research Groups, released their now seminal report on textbook prices, “Covering Costs” (https://studentpirgs.org/reports/sp/covering-cost). The report claims that between 2006 and 2016, “...the cost of a college textbook increased by 73% - over four times the rate of inflation. ...Individual textbooks often cost over $200, sometimes as high as $400.” As textbook prices rose, various groups reported additional troubling statistics:
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 in 10 students didn’t purchase a textbook because it was too expensive (https://www.chronicle.com/article/7-in-10-Students-Have-Skipped/128785/).
One in five college students has skipped or deferred a class due to the price of the required learning resources (http://assets.cengage.com/pdf/wp_oer-evolving-higher-ed-landscape.pdf).
60% of students have delayed purchasing textbooks until they’ve received their financial aid.
More than a quarter of all students report they never purchase course materials (https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/02/07/open-educational-resources-offer-exciting-possibilities-though).
This disheartening news indicates many students are being forced to make choices that are in direct opposition to their success in the classroom. Switching from an expensive, traditional textbook to an open textbook or other OER would save WOU students hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
Moving the University to a zero-cost textbook campus meets two of WOU’s institutional priorities: growing enrollment and making WOU the most affordable public university in Oregon.
In addition, according to a recent large scale study from the University of Georgia, (http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdf) students who use open textbooks instead of more expensive commercial products “get significantly better academic results”. Courses using open textbooks also saw the number of students who withdrew or were awarded D or F grades (DFW) decreased.
A zero-cost textbook campus would meet another of the University’s institutional priorities, improving retention.
*This proposal would work in tandem with the Textbook for Course Reserves Budget Proposal. As more courses adopt open textbooks or other OER, we would need to purchase fewer textbooks for course reserves.
Submitted: November 18 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
We propose to pilot a first-year cohort of students interested in STEM and other quantitative fields who need to start their college math at MTH 095.
The cohort would take a block of courses together in the fall term: (1) MTH 095 and MTH 111 (8 credits of rigorous mathematics to prepare for STEM disciplines); (2) FYS 201 (4 credits); ICS courses, if eligible; and additional credits to reach a minimum of 15 credits. Students will also have scheduled study labs and faculty will hold office hours coinciding with those study labs. The aim is to provide students with a strong start to their STEM career at WOU, prepare them for Winter science trailer courses, and perhaps most importantly provide them with a student-based community of practice to support their transition to college. The cohort would take WR 121 in Winter, and WR 122 in Spring, and engage in group activities to continue the cohort experience through their first year.
Funds are requested for: (1) Fee remissions for participating students, (2) program development, (3) peer mentors, (4) group activities, and (5) support for program assessment. We propose to run this program in 2019-20 and 20-21, and evaluate its effectiveness at retaining students at WOU generally, and in STEM and other quantitative disciplines. The evaluation is a precursor to determining if the program should be expanded, adjusted and/or discontinued.
The DFW (non-passing rate) in MTH 111 is consistently over 30%. MTH 111 is an essential foundation for many STEM fields, and if students are not proficient in MTH 111 by the end of their fall term, first-year, they will fall one-year behind in pursuing a STEM degree. Often, rather than fall behind, students who otherwise have the capacity to succeed in STEM disciplines will change majors. This may be especially true of students of color, first generation students, and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who bring many strengths but require additional support to navigate the entry into college-level STEM studies.
Submitted: November 17 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
As WOU faces growing enrollment challenges, it is essential that we address the needs of an increasingly diverse population. This is reflected throughout our institutional priorities and strategic plan. This proposal requests an Upward Bound Retention Specialist position to support these priorities. Funding this initiative will leverage existing resources and build on the proven success of the Upward Bound program.
Upward Bound is a college prep program for low-income and first-generation high school students. Funded primarily by a grant from the US Department of Education, our current efforts are limited to the scope of the grant and serving high school students. These efforts are successful (as evidenced by a postsecondary enrollment rate over 85%); yet there is untapped potential for supporting WOU’s priorities in additional ways.
This proposal supports the following initiatives:
1. Increasing retention of WOU students;
2. Increasing affordability for WOU students; and
3. Increasing the number of diverse staff at WOU.
This proposal supports retention of not only Upward Bound (UB) alumni enrolled at WOU, but also of students who were not in UB themselves. UB provides high-impact learning opportunities for WOU students as tutors, mentors, summer RA’s, and enrichment class teachers. UB also provides hours needed by WOU students to fulfill practicum, internship, and volunteer hours. The need for these opportunities continues to grow in a way which cannot be supported by the grant. Because UB serves underrepresented youth, working with UB gives students skills that are in extremely high demand - particularly for students in Education, Social Science, Behavioral Science, and Humanities. There is a much greater need for additional opportunities, training, supervision, and intervention for participating students than our staff can currently provide. This proposal would increase the number of opportunities available and coordinate them in a focused and intentional way to improve student success. This would allow a greater number of students to participate, and would amplify the effect these experiences have on student success and retention.
Increasing these opportunities also addresses the issue of affordability. Providing hours for practicum and internship credit helps students complete a full class load and graduate in less time, saving them money and graduate with less debt. As a local program, students also do not have to travel or pay other expenses in order to earn hours with UB, as they do with other programs. Hours provided by UB also impact affordability through student scholarships. Many scholarships, including the WOU Diversity Commitment, and Bilingual Teaching Scholarships require students to participate in a number of volunteer hours in order to keep their scholarship. Providing hours through UB helps students keep their much-needed scholarship dollars. UB also helps students earn additional scholarships from private and outside sources which use such experiences as selection criteria.
This proposal also addresses the critical need for more diverse staff at WOU. There are currently six bilingual staff members in Student Affairs who are alumni of the Upward Bound program. While this number may not sound substantial, it is a huge proportion of the bilingual staff within the division, representing the “grow your own” potential of UB. It is not a coincidence that UB alumni, who first became members of the WOU community as 9th graders, return to work at WOU. These UB alumni work in departments critical to student recruitment and retention: Admissions, Financial Aid, Housing, Multicultural Student Services and Programs, and the Student Enrichment Program.
Submitted: November 17 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Proposed Project: To develop a new Student Research Fund to support faculty-mentored student research in the academic disciplines across campus. Funds will be used for a combination of stipends, supplies and services, and travel in support of research and presentation of findings at relevant conferences in the academic disciplines.
Project Cost and Timeline: a three-year phased project, with evaluation benchmarks, to develop and implement a sustained Student Research Fund. Year 1: $100,000 pilot phase to set up funding process and solicit research proposals from an inaugural cohort of faculty and students; concluded with annual evaluation and review of program efficacy. Year 2: $150,000 continuation phase to refine process and build faculty-student cohorts; concluded with project evaluation and review of program efficacy. Year 3: $250,000 full project implementation with annual project evaluation and review of program efficacy.
Project Need and Justification: Currently WOU has no consistent, formalized funding stream or mechanism to support student research and travel. These activities currently happen in an ad hoc, decentralized manner, with inconsistent opportunity funds from individual grants, at the Division and College level, the Foundation; or no funding at all. Faculty have a method to support research and travel through Faculty Development Fund; Administration has internalized budgets for training and travel; athletics / student clubs have IFC funding for activities and travel; but the academic side of the equation has no formalized financial support of faculty-mentored student research and related travel.
This UBAC pre-proposal idea envisions adapting the Faculty Development Fund model, to create a "Student Research Fund", with annual proposal cycles and funding categories. The focus will be on student research, stipends to support research and faculty mentoring, funds to support data collection / field travel, and funds to support conference travel to present findings. This will be purely academic-related, with a focus on academic-related research support for students (stipends, supplies and services, travel).
The proposed 3-year phased approach to project development and implementation, with annual program evaluation and review, will provide the opportunity to demonstrate program efficacy on an annual basis, with step-wise benchmark deliverables to aid in the budget-decision process in determining whether the program is viable as it develops. After three years in demonstration mode, the ultimate goal is to institutionalize a sustained annual funding stream to support faculty-mentored student research at WOU.
Budget Rationale: A simple back-of-the-envelope calculation for initial budget estimate follows below, assuming a funding range of up to $5000 per project.
(7 LAS Divisions + 3 COE Divisions) x (5 projects/division/year) x (up to $5000 /project) = $250,000 annual budget.
Depending on the scaling and scope of proposed research projects, it is estimated that a range of 50 to 100 students per year could be partially or fully supported by the proposed Student Research Fund.
Submitted: November 16 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
WOU’s Staff Senate proposes the creation of an Assistant Director of Internal Communications to improve internal communications at Western Oregon University, which will increase student retention as a result of faculty and staff longevity. Staff Senate has spent time over the last year discussing several missed opportunities of internal communication at WOU. We believe our institution’s struggle with internal communications is a major issue that cannot be solved unless we devote significant resources to creating a new culture that values and engages in effective internal communication. A full-time person in this position with expertise in change management, higher ed communication, and organizational leadership will move us forward together as we strive to fulfill our strategic plan and institutional priorities.
Submitted: November 16 2018
Priority: Academic Excellence
Proposal:
The Master of Arts (MA) in Organizational Leadership (OL) provides opportunities for students to develop leadership skills that can be applied to business, government, nonprofit, or educational settings. The program includes instruction in organizational planning, leadership principles, communication, creativity and innovation, team building, conflict resolution and mediation, communication and other critical management skills and competencies. Students will not only grow as professionals through action-based learning, but they also make a positive impact on their communities and workplaces through a practical application of cumulative skills.
The MA in OL is scheduled to receive the final approval from the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) in April 2019. Approval from NWCCU is the last step in approval process for a new Masters degree program. Once approved in April of 2019, the MA in OL program will begin a marketing and recruitment campaign designed to attract new students to Western Oregon University. The MA in OL program will be officially offered starting in the fall term of 2019. The MA in OL program will require a budget to:
1. Ccompensate faculty for teaching in the program, including both the Masters degree program as well as First Year Seminars in the General Education program
2. Pay for services and supplies related to program management
3. Support continuing faculty development
4. Compensate a half-time program assistant
5. Compensate the program coordinator
6. Support the development of new online and hybrid courses
Failure to receive adequate funding will result in WOU being unable to offer the program.
Submitted: November 16 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
LAS Division-Level Intervention Teams
As WOU creates the infrastructure to support affordability and retention, we must not overlook one of our current weak points: faculty advising. This proposal is in direct response to the complaints of multiple students at the most recent Tuition and Fees Advisory Board forum where students described the long-standing pattern of inexpert LAS faculty advising and its impact on students’ finances and time to degree completion.
Three challenges for many divisions include the following:
(1) too many junior and senior faculty members do not know how to advise students strategically, which means our students are going into more debt and taking longer to complete requirements, which increases their frustration, along with the likelihood they will drop out;
(2) there is no official mechanism to communicate and seek system-wide solutions to the challenges that deter students from graduating on time and with less debt; for example, (a) the universalized Monday through Thursday 10:00-4:00 course-schedule window make timely degree completion impossible and (b) the burden placed on the students when navigating services like financial aid and the registrar make many students feel alienated and frustrated; and
(3) no process is in place that helps departments recognize majors who have fallen into the murky middle and may be likely to drop out.
Therefore, this proposal requests the following:
1. a dedicated advisor in each primary area in LAS to ensure that all majors are receiving correct and consistent information for degree completion and to gather information regarding system-related obstacles faced by advisees;
2. a communication framework to guide meetings between a dedicated advisor and the department/division course scheduler to ensure that courses are scheduled according to evidence-based students’ needs;
3. an intervention framework to guide the department/division as a team in identifying murky-middle students within the major and mentoring them; and
4. a plan for assessing the impact on student success.
Submitted: November 15 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
We are proposing a $294,260.00 increase to athletic scholarships, so that all WOU sports can be funded at 60% of the NCAA maximum allowed equivalency.
The NCAA has established maximum equivalency (scholarship) guidelines for Division II institutions. Every sport has a maximum limit of equivalencies they can offer. The GNAC (Great Northwest Athletic Conference) conducts surveys each year to find out what schools are awarding in equivalencies. Currently, WOU awards the lowest amount of equivalencies in every sport with the exception of baseball, where we are next to the lowest.
Submitted: November 15 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
We are proposing an increase in FTE for the Assistant Sports Performance Coach. The position is .5 FTE and we would like to make it 1.0 FTE. The Athletics department has the ability to fund 70% of the cost of increasing the FTE. This request is for the remaining 30% of the personnel cost, estimated at $5,687 per year.
Currently, the Sport Performance division of WOU Athletics is comprised of two people at 1.5 FTE. The function of the division is to train student athletes to prevent injuries and increase performance. Sports Performance trains 325 student athletes during the academic year and 150 student athletics during the summer. Work days for the Sports Performance staff range from 10 to 12 hours, it is not unusual for a Sports Performance coach to work 70 hours during the week. Coaches also work most weekends during the academic year.
Submitted: November 15 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
We propose to expand Salem operations to 18 courses per term to include: A path through General Education, AB in Liberal Studies (also serve as electives), MA in Organizational Leadership, course work in support of Criminal Justice, Business, Professional Writing, and Early Childhood Education. We include lease costs for the space, 50% FTE for a site director, S&S funds for building technical capacity.
Note: Budget request represents the cost of all courses; anticipated revenues with modest enrollments averaging 8 students per course are $350K.
Submitted: November 15 2018
Priority: Academic Excellence
Proposal:
This is just a thought for helping reward our students for keeping a High grade average. If kids see inventive about getting good grades it gives them spark of doing something right in a crazy world of college. Ive seen this spark in my own kids watching them grow up and become Adults. Simple things in life make a huge impact on kids now days. When they get free things it goes out in the social media network like wild fire and will become a goal for a ton of kids with high grades and push the ones close to that to excel with just a bit more effort.
Examples
1. Free meal or Meals
2. coffee credits
3. money towards school as a credit
4. shopping spree at a local store of a set dollar amount
5. general help might include something like a car issue or needing help getting home for holidays ect.
6.earn extra credits towards their course of study
7. pretty much any type of computer, tablet, or study related electronic needed to help aid them in a process of getting better grades.
8.simple panel of people there for moral and psychical support
As you can see the ways of helping support our students are endless and will make a postie impact that will spread like wild fire.
Submitted: November 15 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Western Oregon University emphasizes diversity as a matter of institutional priority and an integral component of academic success. To intentionally support the goal of achieving HSI status, efforts to recruit and retain a diverse campus community are well under way. A foundation has also been set for supporting the recruitment of diverse staff. However, what is missing, at this point, is the intentional retention of the diverse unclassified staff after they begin employment at WOU.
As supervisors of diverse staff who support diverse student populations at WOU, we are increasingly frustrated by our limitations in the area of annual (or even intentional but periodic) salary increases for our unclassified employees. As we hire and professionally develop outstanding staff members, we tend to watch our best employees seek employment at nearby institutions solely because of the salary/promotion growth potentials that are not clearly available at WOU.
According to the WOU Diversity Statement, resources will be allocated to diversity initiatives, and one such initiative that has been identified is the retention of staff.
This proposal requests a mechanism to be instituted that invests in unclassified staff persons who choose to stay at WOU.
Submitted: November 15 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Our student population is increasingly non-traditional, first generation, and struggling to balance personal needs with their educational goals. Though our students are facing new and varied challenges, there are also more tools available to help them navigate those challenges and thrive academically as well as personally. We propose that WOU invest in student schedule planning and registration software that will support the institutional priorities of Student Success and Stewardship, as outlined in WOU’s current strategic plan, by streamlining the registration process to support retention and graduation. Such software would be effective in:
1. Identifying multiple course schedules that address the individual education and personal needs of a student. The frustrations that students face when they cannot create a schedule that works with their other restraints results in lack of persistence and negative feelings towards the college experience. Utilizing registration software to do this work more quickly and effectively will reduce the roadblocks in students progressing towards degree completion.
2. Supporting registration pre-planning for students and advisers. Pre-planning allows students to be prepared when their registration time ticket opens and can reduce the amount of frantic visits or e-mails to various departments on campus during registration week.
3. Streamlining registration through the ability to save primary as well as alternate plans, which can be used directly in registration.
4. Improving affordability by increasing average student credit hour enrollment by identifying and facilitating registration in full productive schedules.
5. Shifting the purpose of advising appointments from registration planning to more holistic advising and mentoring discussions.
6. Providing access to data and reporting functionality that is currently not available.
7. Allowing the institution to use data to better assess student needs and how well our course offerings are poised to meet those needs in the long and short term.
8. Integrating with existing university registration systems and mobile platforms.
9. Reduce barriers caused by students who are unable to create class schedules that align with their other responsibilities (e.g., work and family-related responsibilities).
Submitted: November 08 2018
Priority: Community Engagement
Proposal:
There is a need to be addressed: low-enrollment. There are quality programs in the university that put WOU in a unique position to recruit future students. One such area is the linguistics department’s TEFL minor program. Because I had lived abroad, I searched for TEFL programs in Oregon when determining which school I would attend. The TEFL minor drew me in and the linguistics department kept me here. The linguistics department is effective. The professors use modern teaching methods and tailor their lessons to the need of the class. They are teaching, not guarding the gates to their discipline. The quality of the program naturally attracts students within WOU, but more needs to be done to boost exposure of the TEFL program to high-school-aged students through social media channels, on-campus and online advertising, etc. Social media is driving a societal trend towards travel and novelty, WOU is in a unique position to market its TEFL program to future college students who have aspirations to see the world.
(This endeavor doesn’t need to be large-scale, instead it might be easily incorporated as a 1hr/week assignment under a CiP internship or like-program already in place. Or, at the very lowest level of engagement, some extra flyers and a web element on the WOU landing page and well-designed information page.)
Submitted: November 01 2018
Priority: Academic Excellence
Proposal:
Through our menu of educator programs, the College of Education is poised to become the premier higher education partner for school districts, Education Service Districts, and other educator workforce development agencies in Oregon. Early 2019 will bring an infusion of state resources focused on educator workforce development from the Oregon Educator Advancement Council and Western’s educator programs stand ready to partner and deliver programs in ways aligned to our high standards for excellence in educator preparation. According to the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA), 28% of the educator workforce is eligible to retire right now meaning that we sit at the brink of a massive shortage of qualified educators in our state. Our goal is to be diligent and designed in our efforts to help meet those workforce demands and we will do so through strong partnerships and regional collaborations.
Educator programs are prepared to continue and expand on several key efforts including: (a) partner with community colleges to build clean and expeditious pathways toward degree completion and licensure in all educator programs; (b) open pathways for degree completion, licensure, and endorsement programs to working professionals and educators outside the Willamette Valley; (c) deliver regionally-situated programs that may include degree completion, licensure, and endorsements; (d) expand existing programs into new markets in partnership with Education Service Districts including Lane, Willamette, Linn Benton Lincoln, Clackamas, Northwest Regional, Douglas, and Columbia Gorge ESD’s (these ESD footprints serve 60% of Oregon children and employ a corresponding percentage of Oregon educators); (e) leverage Measure 98 funds in Career and Technical Education to develop dual-credit educator pathways similar to the successful Willamette Promise program; (f) open the only on-line/hybrid Special Educator program in Oregon, and; (g) expand the already successful Bilingual Teacher Scholars program to all 197 Oregon school districts.
Each of these seven initiatives will require investments of time, energy, and resources on the part of Western Oregon University. Each of them, however, will yield new students in educator pathways. Again, the goal of the College of Education is to become the premier higher education partner in educator workforce development in Oregon. The contexts exist to support this growth and innovation and the return on investment is significant. We look forward to demonstrating that ROI in round two of these budget proposals.
Submitted: October 29 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I've long felt that we shouldn't charge students a graduation fee. I believe it's $50. There's simply no reason to take money from students in advance of one of the best days of their young lives. Eliminating this fee wouldn't technically "cost" any money, but it would result in less money being collected. And that's okay. I suspect the fee disadvantages the Foundation as it tries to cultivate new donors among recent grads. Let's cut it and send the students out with our blessing and congratulations. They have to pay for their robes and pictures and other things. The least we could do is not charge them a fee to participate in the ceremony honoring *them.*
Submitted: October 29 2018
Priority: Academic Excellence
Proposal:
I propose that students have the option to buy a parking pass term by term. This year I paid $87 for a pass that I will only be using through winter term due to early graduation. By allowing students to pay for only the terms they need the pass for, you can reduce the cost to students. Additionally, more students might be incline to purchase a one term pass. If the full year pass provides a discount than buying each term individually, students who are here for the full year will continue to purchase the year pass.
Submitted: October 25 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
I would like to provide more funding towards the community garden.
Submitted: October 25 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
As a WOU graduate and employee, the spouse of a WOU graduate and possibly the mother of a future WOU graduate I would like to propose that we make parking passes family parking passes. And by that I mean when you by a primary one plus one or more secondaries that can be on campus at the same time. I know we have had multiple siblings attend at the same time, parent-child attend at the same time, plus employee and spouse or child attend school. Which if they all do not have the exact same schedule they have to purchase two primary parking permits. I know other colleges in the state treat the parking permits as family permits, and if you want to be recognized as one of the most affordable 4-year colleges that is one in-expensive way to help with that.
If I had two kids that chose to attend the same college but I had to pay for two parking permits because they had different class schedules but may overlap I would be furious that you are already getting my children's tuition money. It would not cost anything to implement it, yes it would cause you to lose at little from not double charging the same family from two parking permits, but showing you care about affordability to families would help in the long run.
Submitted: October 23 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Give out more scholarships based on grades and financial need rather than diversity. There are many of us that our parents make enough money to not be eligible for many scholarships, but not enough to cover the entire cost of schooling.
Submitted: October 23 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Offer lower tuition rates for Students who stay for 3rd and/or 4th years. This would provide and incentive for students to continue on for 4 years. This likely would offset the cost of losing students after first 2 years by maintaining enrollment for 3rd and 4th years.
Submitted: October 22 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
1. The university should step down their funding for athletics. This adjustment can be made by going from a D2 school down to a D3 school. If we were to downgrade our divisions across the board, our student athletes would be able to compete with schools with similar enrollment numbers. They could also reduce their funding by requesting less money from the IFC. Right now, WOU athletics receives 1.3 million dollars from IFC funding. That money would be better spent expanding accessibility to students with disabilities, students of color, students with a weak financial background, and students in unique situations such as DACA and undocumented students. The proportion of students needing direct support from the university is significantly larger than the student athletes.
2. Parking permits should be offered at a reduced rate for on campus students. Out of state students rely on their cars for transport to the city for essential groceries and healthcare, and parking could be greatly improved if all students were offered a $50 all year parking permit. WolfRide is unreliable and cannot help students outside of the small service area.
3. The university should have to re-do their ADA compliance check. Many buildings are difficult for wheelchair bound students to access. Accommodations for students with disabilities need to be made a priority. Their ability to access a building should not limit their education. Teachers need to receive training on invisible and visible disabilities and appropriate accommodations. Able bodied students aren't the only ones deserving of an education.
4. Valsetz needs to be audited for allergy labeling and food safety. This audit should be comprehensive, including an audit of student employee practices, campus dining faculty practices, and corporate recommendations. The individuals who decide on the campus budget should also put themselves in the shoes of students with serious nut allergies, students with gluten allergies, and vegan/vegetarian students who need to be watchful of cross-contamination. They should also be audited for fiscal accountability, as wholesale pricing is advertised but not reflected.
This university has a responsibility to its students, and if that responsibility were reflected by university policy our enrollment wouldn't be as poor as it is.
Submitted: October 21 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Community members have long recognized that students parking off-campus leads to significant congestion and competition amongst community members and students for parking in front of downtown businesses. Efforts by Monmouth parking enforcement has perhaps helped students become savvier about where to park in order to avoid a ticket. But this ignores the driving force behind why students avoid parking on-campus: high parking pass costs. I propose a simple solution: allow more flexible/affordable parking pass options for on-campus and off-campus residents.
It’s true that WOU does offer parking passes at lower costs than other universities- parking passes for OSU students, for instance, can cost students up to $522 for the year. But between text book prices, tuition, and living expenses, students at WOU have difficulty affording $99 a year for parking passes, outside of loans and scholarship funding.
I propose monthly parking rates: approximately $8.25 a month, allowing students to retain parking passes for the entire academic parking year at affordable rates. At a rate of $8.25 a month for a hangtag, students could pay up to $99 a year, spread out in a manner more feasible to student funding/income. Students would still retain the option of being able to purchase an annual pass, either as a hangtag or as a sticker, all at once. A monthly parking rate could be extended to faculty and staff as well. Further research could determine whether, after canceling a subscription, students should be asked to return a hangtag or retain their hangtags and simply have the tags rendered invalid until the subscription is resumed.
Submitted: October 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I noticed that every 5 terms the promissory note for our WOU tuition goes up. Instead of changing the promissory note every 5 terms have it change every 4 years. Given that it is a 4 year collage. Some people take longer to go to school given the fact that the cost is high as is, and childcare is high as well. Which means they have to go to school part time, work 30+ hours a week to keep health care benefits, and keep the cost of childcare down. Which hinders their performance in class time not allowing for enough adequate study time.
Furthermore, if western was to update their dorms or eliminate them completely and build townhomes (Like they have) in place of, it would give the campus a more “Homey” feeling. And space for students to study. The dormitory is tiny, crammed, and dark. Students complain that the cost of what they pay to live in a dorm is not what it should be, and that they could spend the same amount if not less on a studio elsewhere. Furthermore, if western was to add in a parking garage in two of the major parking areas, this would eliminate students being late to class, but increase the number of parking available for students and faculty, it will also increase the lots available to build more units to accommodate the growing population.
Additionally, as it stands childcare costs are $1000+ for an infant 3months-1 year, $800+ for toddler 1year-3years and more if they aren't potty trained, an extra $25-$50 a month, and ages 3-5 the cost is $600+ a month. Western should try to partner with some sponsors to get the cost of childcare discounted, and discount it for western students. Not only that, but possibly open up a preschool/childcare on campus, that would allow the students going to school for teaching to "Internship at" at a lower cost. In addition, the childcare/preschool should be open from 6am-7pm, which increases the revenue that western receives. But also increases the amount of time a student can study. Having students "Internship" for the childcare/preschool would keep the cost down for western, as well as the students. It would save on the cost for money going out, which would help on the costs to keep electric, water, food, and other products needed for the daycare/preschool center.
In conclusion, keeping the promise note and having child care/preschool combined would increase the chances of students wanting to go to western, which increases the revenue for western, but also attracts more individuals to study at western. Given that western is known for its teaching program and business program. It would be a great way to help eliminate the low graduating rate, as well as increasing the grades and satisfaction of students.
Submitted: October 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Add child care for children 0-3 years old.
Submitted: October 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Free Parking. We all want it.
Submitted: October 19 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Proposing to bring the Wolf Store back. Something that was its own thing, or employing someone who is full time at allegro would be extremely beneficial to sales due to the people who arrive at allegro but don't want to buy anything because of the coffee line being so long.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Western Oregon University is the nearest public university to our state's second largest city, Salem. As such, it is critical that WOU connect students who commute from the Salem metro area to the education they need to get ahead. For non-traditional students, flexibility in course offerings are an important part of balancing school and other adult responsibilities like caring for family, working (often full time) and other obligations. By offering more courses online or in a hybrid format, we can help educate people who would otherwise not be able to attend college. As a non-traditional student myself, I found it difficult to move beyond my associate's degree, and ultimately had to quit my full-time job in order to attend school here because the online course offerings are so limited. Similarly, evening classes are rare or non-existent.
Online courses help these students with affordability in several ways.
1. Commuting. Online courses reduce commuting expenses. Salem is about 20 miles away from campus. Gasoline, vehicle maintenance, and parking all contribute to a student's overall budget for school. Online courses also reduce environmental impacts that we all pay a price for.
2. Time cost. If the student chooses to use public transit, it is at least two hours of their day. A student driving to school from Salem would spend about an hour or more each day. Both of these reduce the student's availability for work and other important obligations. This leads to other expenses like daycare expenses, even beyond not being able to work certain shifts. This is particularly difficult for people in service jobs that often require more flexibility than white collar jobs. Since the whole goal of education is to lift people out of those situations, this is an important consideration.
3. Opportunity cost. If I had been able to continue my career while attending school, I would not have missed the opportunity to earn money, skills, and experience. I understand the value of a degree, so that was a choice I made, but many people do not have the luxury or opportunity to make the choice between the career they have and the career of their dreams.
Since Chemeketa in Salem offers an extensive catalog of 100 and 200-level online courses, WOU should be providing online courses for 300 and 400 level classes.
Additional budget should be allocated to developing a more robust online program. Additionally, online courses should not have an extra fee.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I am a first-generation college student and I do depend on aid to go to college.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I am proposing that colleges become more affordable for students for the future.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
Have staff training on disabilities and ODS. Staff needs to have a better understanding and caring for students with disabilities on campus. Teachers need to know how to fill out the accommodation when students sign up form the with ODS. Teachers need to respect students who get services and be willing to work with them. WOU used to have a training every year but we do not any more and that it hurting our students with disabilities. We have to not only worry about our classes but getting teacher to sign the paper work and understand where we struggle.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Require all classes that have more than one scheduled class time to have an evening class option. I have a newborn, and there is no childcare for kids under 18 months. Having an evening class option allows my spouse to work during the day while I take care of my child, and go to class at night when she is off work.
Submitted: October 17 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I am a non-traditional student,returning to school after a long hiatus. My challenge, being a full-fledged grown-up and attending school, is that time is not on my side. All my classes seem to be offered during the day, which is also normal work hours for me. However, I don't make enough money to pay for school, even working full-time so I need student loans to fund my degree, which means I need to have at least 12 units. This term, I went from 40 hours a week to 25 because the classes I need are only offered at 1 time this term, but I need all of them so that I can stay on track to graduate in June 2019.
When I was in school previously, this was before internet, we had classes we could watch on the local cable channel (which would now be online or hybrid courses) and a plethora of evening classes to choose from. This allowed those who worked 'regular'9-5 sort of jobs the flexibility to work on their degree. There are plenty of instructors who have some online element to their classes and use Moodle quite effectively already,but because not many of the local colleges offer night classes, it might be beneficial to offer some of those hybrid classes at night and offer some 'regular' classes at 6pm or 7pm to allow people to add that education to their life outside of their normal business hours.
Submitted: October 17 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I prospose that we do an Oregon promise grant here in Western Oregon University.
Submitted: October 17 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Perhaps we already do this, but we should recruit more heavily at Central High School in Independence. Perhaps we could have CHS students take our low-level Math and English courses, helping them better prepare for their first year as freshmen. Perhaps we could offer increased remissions for local students, let them know they can live at home to save money, have our Financial Aid staff help them with the FAFSA and help them identify scholarships they may be eligible for (in English and Spanish for Hispanic students).
Submitted: October 17 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Provide Housing and Dining Scholarships to Low Income Students: allow a population of low income students to live in the dorms and eat on campus for free. This could assist these students in 3 ways: lower the cost of their education by having their housing costs covered; eliminating the possibility of food insecurity which is a real and growing problem in higher education; students living on campus are more likely to graduate.
Submitted: October 17 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
Not sure this is what type of ideas you were thinking of... but, no harm in adding to the pile...
I went to Minnesota State Moorhead for my final year of college and the only reason I transferred there was that they eliminated out of state tuition. I believe it was a 2-3 year trial and I'm not even sure how well it worked, but it would seem that a trial like that could work at WOU. If not the entire U.S., but at least for California.
I don't know how much we market down there, but low student-teacher ratios has to be a selling point against many large Cal/CSU schools... There are a lot of Californians that would really like to get out of state for a few years, but no incentive when in-state at CSU schools are fairly low. If WOU can get closer to matching those rates and market to populations, that is an enormous potential for new students.
Overall... I haven't see where WOU is marketing itself even in Oregon about the selling points of the place
XX-to-1 ratio
90 minutes to the coast
90 minutes to Portland
90 minutes to Mt. Jefferson
Efficiencies
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
I propose we conduct a feasibility student and survey of interest for the following program:
WOU will allow staff to trade a yearly increase for a comparable amount of vacation time.
Said differently, a staff member could opt out of a 5% increase in their salary, for an additional 2 weeks of paid vacation each year (those numbers are just an example).
This is a very complex suggestion, and may not be possible/feasible. Many positions may not be eligible as they can't take additional vacation time.
The proposal would save salary cost, OPE, retirement, etc.... -- allowing those who participate to work a modified schedule (38 hours/week, one month off, etc...). It wouldn't really cost the University anything -- but could keep the cost of salary/OPE down, making college more affordable.
Submitted: November 19 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
I propose that WOU sell used IT equipment at the WOU bookstore at a discount. Equipment like monitors, mice, keyboards, etc.... could be sold with little to no cost to WOU. The bookstore already has a POS system in place. Students could get used equipment at a significant discount - making college more affordable.
Submitted: November 18 2018
Priority: Academic Excellence
Proposal:
Thanksgiving break should be a full week for students who need to travel long distances. OSU starts New Student Week the same time we do, but theirs only lasts two days. They then start classes that same week so that they can have a longer Thanksgiving Break. We should do the same.
Submitted: November 16 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I am proposing that all transfer transcripts and articulations be centralized. That there would be a one stop shop for transfer students to go to, regarding their transfer credits and how they are applying to their academic program.
Currently, transfer students who have transfer credit they wish to have applied to their program have to meet with each individual department that has authority to create those exceptions. It is incredibly burdensome to send students around campus to find the various departments and people they need to speak with in order to have their college credits apply appropriately to their program. This will obviously become easier with the new general education, as with the core curriculum all exceptions will be made by the general education committee. However, without having evaluated transfer credits and how they will fit within the new general education, there is going to be a massive amount of students needing exceptions made and for courses to be evaluated.
Also, transfer transcripts are processed in two different offices on campus, depending on the student's status. If the student is being admitted, it is processed in Admissions. If it is a matriculated student, it is processed in the Office of the Registrar. This is problematic for multiple reasons. First, students don't know where they need to go if they have questions regarding their transfer credits. Staff and faculty typically don't know where to send students to ask those questions. Second, there are procedural differences in how those transcripts are processed depending on which office processes them. As it is not centralized, there is not one overarching authority to ensure consistent processing.
Submitted: November 15 2018
Priority: Community Engagement
Proposal:
Creating day camps designed for the in-service school days for Central School District. Offer these camps for the community K-12 students. Charge a fee that is competitive with other daycare resources and less than an average days lost wages. The camps could focus on STEM, Sports, Music, Art and Culture. Have students run the camps.
Submitted: November 12 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Before fall term began several offices and their personnel (LAS, HR, etc.) temporarily relocated to the library due to toxic environmental conditions due to roofing projects. Maybe this could become an "annual event"?
From a library staff perspective, mid-August to mid-September is very slow, very little traffic in the library. Hosting the temporary relocation of offices, their services appeared to centralize services that benefitted potential, new and transfer students. Additional bonuses are that the students were not "building hopping", they spent quality time in the library, and campus offices, personnel were able to get to know one another better and the services each provides.
Submitted: October 28 2018
Priority: Academic Excellence
Proposal:
I believe that expanding the graduate programs at WOU would both attract and retain students to the university. The competitive advantage at WOU offered through affordability would be would be extremely attractive for students interested in graduate degrees from competitive schools like OSU, UO, PSU and other local private colleges whose tuition prices are costlier. Many schools use graduate programs as cash cows to provide funding for the school which creates an absurdly expensive cost of attendance for the benefits received. WOU can capitalize on this opportunity by offering a lower-cost alternative to the competition (offering programs that don't burden students with extensive debt allows WOU to differentiate from competitors).
If it were possible, I would love the opportunity to get my graduate degree from WOU, however, the school does not offer any programs of interest following undergraduate opportunities.
Bringing graduate students to WOU would also increase the quantity and quality of research produced by students and faculty. Professors would have the opportunity to work with graduate students to complete projects that could be invaluable to the university.
More students than ever are searching for graduate programs as they are becoming a common job requirement. The implementation of these programs could be done with existing faculty members, and would have an especially unique and passionate implementation if these faculty members were heavily involved in the development of modern, relevant, and interesting courses.
Submitted: October 25 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
As a Education Advisor in SEP, I specifically work with low-income and first-generation students and students with documented disabilities. These are the students our school will increasingly attract as we move to become the most affordable 4-year state college.
One of the biggest concerns that I have is the quantity of complaints I am receiving about students inability to access their financial aid award or determination due to backlog in the FinAid office. If we are to become an institution that bases our reputation on affordability, attracting students who come from low-income and first generation backgrounds, then we absolutely have to increase our capacity to do so. We must have a reliable capacity to serve students in the area that they depend on to attend college: efficient and accurate processing of their federal aid.
I propose increased staffing in the Fin. Aid. office in the form of additional FA Counselors, Bi-Lingual FA Counselors and staff who processes FA applications. As the saying goes, "Build it and they will come...". It appears we need increased capacity in the FA department to accommodate students who are solely and primarily dependent on federal aid, scholarships and institutional aid.
This is a retention issue, an academic/student success issue and also an excellence issue. So many of our students persist through challenging financial, familial and personal challenges and may not initially apply for aid at the most opportune time. This in and of itself is a bi-product of deeper socio-economic issues. I am concerned that students are experiencing additional barriers and trauma in the pursuit of receiving financial aid and feel defeated and disenfranchised as a result - a retention issue.
I propose that along with becoming the most affordable state institution, becoming the most efficient processor of FA in the state goes hand-in-hand with affordability.
Submitted: October 25 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
Absence reports go to an online system, no more paper.
As well as all NTT contracts go to online, no more paper.
(digital signatures, sign in verification)
Submitted: October 23 2018
Priority: Sustainability and Stewardship
Proposal:
Require parking passes only during school days and hours. M - Friday 7am - 6pm. This would allow a reduction in the need to monitor parking after those hours. Plus the community would appreciate it for free weekend parking. Create the ability to sell premium reserved spots. People can pay a premium for these spots and require that no state funds can be used for this purpose. Create zone parking so those who want to park closer to the heart of Campus have to pay more than those who park further away. Put metered parking all along Church Street. If you want to park for free you can still do so but further away.
Submitted: October 23 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
My proposal is to eliminate the football program on campus and replace it. The football program takes up a large portion of the budget and with the loss of a conference team in Humboldt State, the travel budget only stands to increase. Further, the football program plays all of its games in a round robin which makes for very boring football to watch. I personally spoke with athletic director Curtis Campbell (on behalf of The Western Howl) and he spoke about how poorly funded our athletics are and how they are unable to offer many scholarships to athletes.
I believe we should cut the football program and instead reinvest the money saved into club sports and other athletics. Western has a proud history of athletics and I believe it stands to benefit from offering more sports on campus. By better funding club sports, it would allow Western to attack untapped markets on the entire west coast. Recruiting rugby and lacrosse players is nearly unheard of for universities on the west coast, which would allow Western to gain a competitive edge. If Western recruited these sports it stands to grow enrollment and save money due to the cost of running a rugby and lacrosse program being a fraction of the cost football programs.
Increasing the funding to club sports via cutting the football program would not only boost marketing of the school, but make Western more desirable to perspective students. The more sports are offered the more opportunities a perspective student has to choose Western. The club sports department is already growing and by investing more funds into club sports, it wound only benefit the school. 11 club sports are currently offered. With more funding Western could easily double that number. And the more sports there are, the higher probability there is for a student to get involved or the higher probability of a perspective student seeing a game.
The football team only plays a handful of games in other locations. If you think of the football team as a marketing tool, the school is throwing money into a program that is barley seen. Instead, if Western spent that money on 20 different club sports, not only would the school save money due to most club sports being very cheap to run, there is a much higher odds of a perspective student seeing a game.
Athletics in general are a great way to advertise the school as well as keep students involved and enrolled. If students are involved with a sport they would be more likely to stay at the school as well as maintaining a higher GPA in order to keep participating in that sport.
Submitted: October 23 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Reconfiguring Banner to automatically post tuition beginning the first day of registration for the next term.
Submitted: October 21 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
given that financial make up of our students. i think it is irresponsible to spend so much money on sports.
im not saying we should give up on sports, but i do not think that it is a focused for most students here on campus. as the cost of maintaining out school goes up, so does our athletics. i think it is a bad use of our funds and my tuition money.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I feel as though the dorm halls of Ackerman residential hall should have curtains or some kind of blinds that can be used during the hours of the day that have the most sun. I live on the 4th floor of Ackerman and myself and my hallmates cannot sit comfortably in the community room (living room) without the sun blinding us. Even if the curtains or blinds were of low quality, we would be ever so fortunate to at least have protection from the sun. Also an issue in the halls, are the chairs that are used at the main table/desk in the community room. They are of poor quality and offer no lumbar support or any support for that matter. I feel as though if these needs were fulfilled, the current and future residents would healthier and happier.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
Western Oregon University is known for supporting first generation students. There needs to be more involvement from academic advisers and financial aid advisers. Summer term has many holes that students learn about after the fact and are left feeling hopeless with thoughts/actions of dropping out due to financial distress because of lack of knowledge or input.
Submitted: October 18 2018
Priority: Community Engagement
Proposal:
I believe that we need to lower the cost of tuition and fees. One way that I was thinking is if we need so many different student clubs and organizations, rather than have students pay the IFC fee that is over $300 lowering it to under $100 and make it more competitive to get those funds. Also having athletics raise tickets price for general public members, and making students pay $1 or $2 to get in. We should also keep tuition lower by instead of having two tuition choices for students incoming to school, we set a 4-year price for each class incoming to WOU so that students are not having to pay more money per credit.
Submitted: October 17 2018
Priority: Accountability
Proposal:
New Student Week should be condensed to a single day or the weekend prior to classes starting. WOU has the longest and most extensive New Student Week program of all the universities in Oregon, and the funds, time, and manpower used to prepare and execute this process could be better served elsewhere. We could cut costs to all students by condensing New Student Week to its most fundamental elements.
Submitted: October 17 2018
Priority: Student Success
Proposal:
I would like a systematic inquiry into one particular expense item and, therefore, the high price that students pay for their education: WOU's involvement in NCAA Div-II.
Through the years that I have been at WOU--this is my 17th year--I have not come across any formal cost-benefit analysis by the institution that looked into whether spending the huge amount on Div II athletics is worth it. My understanding (or hypothesis, if you prefer) has always been that it is not.
In the summer of 2010, The Statesman Journal reported the following statement by a previous president:
[Quote begins] Since moving from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2000, Western Oregon University has been adjusting to the economic realities of competing at a higher level. More money was needed for scholarships, travel and increased investment in facilities, such as the new Health and Wellness Center opening this year, that will relocate the football team from the Old PE Building on campus. [Quote ends]
Occam’s Razor principle offers a different adjustment to the economic realities: put an end to the financial disaster that the NCAA Division II requirements cause, and return athletics to the ranks of the NAIA.
Such a practical response would have then precluded the multiple millions of taxpayer and student dollars that went into an expensive facility that is far more luxurious than most local gyms, and for which students are now mandated to pay a fee every term, whether or not they patronize it.
Instead, the university spent multiple millions on the facility, and taxes students with a fee every term, whether or not students use it.
That was when I decided to cancel my small monthly contribution to the WOU Foundation and, thereby, stop enabling such wasteful and unnecessary expenditures. I have since then directed my charitable contributions to other causes and institutions.
A small school like ours can easily function as a public version of liberal arts colleges like Willamette or Lewis and Clark (Div III.) The two other regional universities--SOU and EOU--participate in the NAIA league. There is no mandate of any sort that WOU should be a Div.II school. Promoting the importance of health and wellness among our students does not require the extensive investment in Div-II NCAA. In trying to develop the whole person, WOU should focus on intramural sports and engaging with neighboring schools. All these go to the heart of what a university ought to do: educate students—not entertain them.
If WOU wants to continue to spend on Div II athletics, then it should demonstrate through a cost-benefit analysis that the pricey investment pays plenty of dividends for students and taxpayers. Again, my hypothesis is that such an analysis will show it is not worth it to students and taxpayers like. Most college athletic departments are a net drain on the budget. If WOU were not spending money from every student's fees on athletics, that money will be available for the only services that should matter: Student Learning and Success.
A final point: Even in the Div II structure, the time demanded from student-athletes makes them weaker students than they can be. Last week, yet another student talked to me about the huge time commitment and, therefore, the student's decision to withdraw from athletics and to forego the scholarship dollars. To provide the student more perspective on this serious issue, I sent the student this commentary: https://t.co/DyxqpTmYNz.
I hope the institution's resource managers will seriously rethink the huge institutional investment in athletics.
400 Bad Request
400 Bad Request
nginx/1.21.4
