MEMORANDUM 

To: Dr. Jeffery Jarman, President Faculty Senate; Ms. Kitrina Miller, President Student Body; Mr. Matt Houston, President University Support Staff Senate; Ms. Julie Scott, President Unclassified Professional Senate

From: Dr. Jay Golden, President-elect

Date: October 31, 2019

Ref: On Boarding Materials

cc: Provost Muma

It was a pleasure to briefly meet with most of you in person. I would like to take a moment and thank you for your support and kindness-everything I heard and expected from Shocker Nation. It is obvious that a great leadership team exists at WSU as evidenced by the strong progress the university is making in so many areas.

As I have mentioned in some of my talks, I am anxious to have the opportunity to hit the ground running which means taking the time to review and understand important background information. Of equal importance is to ensure that each of you have the opportunity to be able to communicate to me your insights and suggestions so that working together we can make Wichita State University even more impactful for our students and our region.

Attached are a set of questions to help me get caught up and importantly, to provide you the opportunity to offer up your insights and thoughts including how I can support you. I am eager to understand your vision and ideas regarding where you want to take the university. By providing these questions now, I am hopeful to provide you sufficient time to gather the requested information but also have the time to consider some of the broader questions I have put forward.

Your on-going leadership, partnership and input are critical to our success. I want you to know that you should feel empowered at any time to bring to me your ideas or concerns. Engaged listening, teamwork and transparency are key elements of my leadership style.

I strongly encourage you to engage the leaders and members in your organization and solicit their input. I will be coming back on campus at least twice for multi-day visits/meetings before officially start with the new semester. Either during one of those visits or once I arrive full-time in Wichita, I will schedule extended initial meetings with each of you to go over these materials and get to know one another better. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me by email at: president@wichita.edu

Finally, each of you has contributed to the incredible positive trajectory of WSU. I want to thank you for your hard work and dedication. I look forward to working with each of you and supporting you as we continue to move this wonderful institution forward.

SHARED GOVERNANCE

Engaging your team, please provide your written input on the following broad topics and feel comfortable to attach any supplemental materials:

WHAT IS GREAT ABOUT OUR UNIVERSITY

There are many things but, what are some of the wonderful aspects about Wichita State University including traditions? Are there programs that we should further emphasize and promote? How can the president play a role to support? 

ENGAGEMENT

I am eager to hear from you how engaged university leadership (not just the President) has been with you and those who you represent. This includes critical elements such as:

  • Shared governance
  • Strategic planning and establishing university priorities
  • Transparency
  • Approachability, active listening and responsiveness

What has been positive and what can be improved? Provide examples of engagement by prior Presidents that you have worked with that you would like to see continued and what additional engagement would you like to see from the new President?  

As the new president, what advice and requests do you have of me? Are there any specific requests of me in the first 100 days? 

CULTURE

How would you describe the culture of the university? This is a broad question which also requires an appreciation of how the university is perceived by:

  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Current Students
  • Prospective Students and their families and High School officials
  • Our peers in the state and region
  • Industry
  • Community Leaders

Is there a culture of willingness to change, adapt and be nimble or, is it a culture of “we can’t do it here or have never done it here so we should not do it here? Has there been too much change too quickly in the past?  

What advice would you provide to the new president? 

I have a few programs I would like to implement next fall and would appreciate your feedback. One you heard about which is my hosting students at the President’s House on Sundays. 

Another way I would like to build a stronger sense of community-is what is done at Elon.  https://blogs.elon.edu/admissions/college-coffee-one-of-elons-beloved-traditions/ and this video https://www.campusreel.org/playlists/7/videos/college-coffee 

I would like to send a representative from each of your organizations to Elon and other locations to learn and come back to WSU and help to create community-inclusiveness programs here. Opportunities to improve engagement between students, faculty, staff and leadership is imperative. Also, we need to help build a sense of belonging to our 1st year students as well as our new faculty and staff. 

PRIORITIES

What are the priorities of you and your members this academic year? 

CONCERNS

Are there any current and emerging “hot topics” that you think I should be made aware and what are your suggestions for addressing? This is obviously a broad topic. Please feel free to expand on any area spanning athletics, finance, morale, campus culture, infrastructure etc. 

FIRST 100 DAYS

I am going to have a very busy 100 days listening and learning on-campus and within our community. But, what would you like to see me pay special attention to during this time? 

INFRASTRUCTURE

I have followed from a distance some of the issues regarding efforts to improve infrastructure including the failed Shock the Future initiative. I would like your input on infrastructure needs of the university, priorities (be specific and provide a reason for the priority), and items that are not priorities but would be nice to see implemented.

 There also seems (from a distance) that there might not have been active participation by all the different constituencies at the University in prioritizing and communicating the different needs. How can the university more effectively ensure the broader WSU community participates and has a voice in such matters?

OUR JOINT FUTURE

Describe your hope of where we collectively take Wichita State University in 5-years.  

  • How would you like to describe WSU in 5-years?
  • What type of efforts/programs (of any kind) would make WSU stronger more impactful and better recognized by our peers?
  • What programs and culture in 5-years would lead to WSU being an even greater place for our:
    • Students
    • Staff
    • Faculty
    • Community