A glossary of terms to help as you use the strategic planning dashboard. 


Mission target 

One of three desired impacts of WSU in the state of Kansas. The following mission targets represent major components of our mission statement. Each mission target, or driver, includes strategies and tactics that may be categorized as follows: 

  • Economic - Can include research and scholarship activities (e.g. discovery and creation of new knowledge) along with developing, advancing or maintaining partnerships (e.g. industry and community collaborations addressing key needs)
  • Education - Can include student-centered activities and initiatives (e.g. applied learning opportunities, interdisciplinary curricula, new academic programs, recruitment, retention, etc.)
  • Cultural - Can involve the customs, arts, social practices and achievements of Shocker Nation, including but not limited to diversity and inclusion-related activities, campus community initiatives.

Goal

Broad, aspirational primary outcome that addresses an identified need. WSU's strategic plan includes goals centered on the following:

  1. Student Centeredness - Promote holistic student success through a supportive learning environment in which all of our students—past, present and future—continually thrive and grow. 
  2. Partnerships - Advance industry and community partnerships to provide quality educational opportunities and collaborations to satisfy rapidly evolving community and workforce needs. 
  3. Research and Scholarship - Accelerate the discovery, creation and transfer of new knowledge.
  4. Campus Culture - Empower students, faculty, staff and the greater Wichita community to create a culture and experience that meets their ever-changing needs. 
  5. Inclusive Excellence - Be a campus that reflects and promotes—in all community members—the evolving diversity of society. 

Strategy

Approach to achieve a goal. Associated with the five strategic planning goals. You may or may not have strategies associated with each university goal. 

Initiative

A specific unique strategy for your area of work. 

Tactic

Concrete, "actionable" initiatives or projects that can be assigned to specific individuals or teams and tagged with completion dates. Specific measures for strategies.

Metric

A system or standard of measurement. 

  • Output - If you accomplish your planned activities, then you will hopefully deliver the amount of product and / or service that you intended. 
  • Outcome - If you accomplish your planned activities to the extent you intended, then students will benefit in a certain way. 
  • Impact - If these benefits to students are achieved, then certain changes in organizations, communities or systems might be expected to occur. 

Data source for impact

Place or method of data collection (evidence). Identifies sources of evidence to substantiate or document progress. Common sources may include annual accrediation reports, CIM usage, Catalogs, Program Review Reports, Rosters, data from OPA, etc. 

Funding

If a funding source was / is needed to report progress on this tactic, then choose the category that best represents the majority of the funding source. If the tactic is completed by using current resources, such as faculty and staff time and / or service only, then please select "internal labor."

Progress Terms

  • "Update SPI – Status to In Process" Team has actively started working the SPI
  • "Update SPI – Status to Cancel" Team has decided to not perform this SPI
  • "Update SPI – Status to Complete – Meets Expectations" Team has decided to close a successful SPI which met the expectations of the team
  • "Update SPI – Status to Complete – Does not meet expectations" Team is closing a successful SPI that did not meet one or more of the expectations
  • "Update SPI – Continue SPI into Next Year" Team has determined the SPI is valuable and can finish the SPI in a minimal period of time
  • "Update SPI – Close current SPI – Successful and Spawn New" Team has determined that the SPI was successful and would like to do the exact same SPI the next year.

Reporting

  • Review - Not yet looked at by the Strategic Planning Committee. Will not show up in SPI counts. 
  • WSU SPI - Wichita State University Strategic Planning Initiative. This shows up in reporting. 

  • Departmental Only - Local initiative not included in the Strategic Plan. Will not show up in SPI counts.