CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Board of Trustees July 26, 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Baccalaureate Task Force
In April 2016, President Gaudino called for the creation of a Baccalaureate Task Force to define undergraduate student success at Central Washington University by answering the following questions: • Why should students choose to pursue their education at Central rather than at other universities? • What does it mean to earn a baccalaureate degree at Central Washington University? • To what extent does Central’s General Education curriculum serve the needs of today’s undergraduates and prepare them for post-baccalaureate success? • In what ways are students fundamentally different after their experiences with the CWU community: faculty, staff, administrators, and other students? • How do the answers to the above questions impact CWU’s Strategic Plan, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities reaccreditation, and future academic planning for the variety of demographic groups served through the University Centers, online programming, and on the Ellensburg residential campus? Together, the Office of the Provost and the Faculty Senate created the Baccalaureate Task Force which, in turn, created and charged eight primary work groups: • Academic Advising (jointly appointed) • Developmental Programs • Faculty Professional Development • Honors (jointly appointed) • Interdisciplinary Programs • Online and Multi-Modal Learning • Transfer Students • University Centers The reports submitted in spring 2017 and spring/summer 2018 offer answers to the questions above and key aspects of the communication CWU should emphasize to students and key stakeholder groups. Why should students choose to pursue their education at Central rather than at other universities? In a time of increased competition for students among public, private, and for-profit institutions, asking why students should choose CWU is key to developing a successful strategic enrollment plan that includes consideration of recruitment, retention, and persistence. It is important to realize that students do not choose CWU once. Rather, once enrolled, they choose to return to CWU term after term, year after year. Therefore, it is important to ask and answer: “Why do students initially choose CWU over other options, and why do students continue to choose CWU over other options?” Based on the work groups’ reports, answers to these two questions center on the following: CWU recognizes that an increasing percentage of our students are traditionally under-represented in postsecondary education. They are often the first in the their family to attend college; from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, including many who are eligible for federal Pell grants; and are more and more diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. Both national and local research has shown correlations between these factors and student attrition and the failure to complete baccalaureate degrees. Students should choose CWU because faculty, staff, and administrators are committed to providing students every opportunity to succeed and earn a bachelor’s degree—no matter students’
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