background. The challenge CWU faces is determining which students will derive the most benefit from which particular resources, and how we can optimize the cost-efficient use of limited resources. CWU also recognizes that an increasing percentage of our students lack the necessary academic preparation to be “college-ready.” A growing number of our incoming first-time, full-time freshmen are testing into developmental math and writing. We also know that many of our incoming students lack the necessary reading comprehension skills to be successful in college courses. 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’ level of prior academic preparation or success. Again, a key challenge CWU faces is determining which students will derive the most benefit from which particular resources, and how we can optimize the cost-efficient use of limited resources. What does it mean to earn a baccalaureate degree at Central Washington University? Earning a baccalaureate degree at CWU involves becoming a member of a welcoming community that realizes the importance of both academic and social integration and how a sense of belonging and connectedness, both academically and socially, can support students’ persistence to degree completion. CWU enables academic integration through developmental programming in math and writing and implementation of the new General Education Program (discussed further below). Central supports major and degree exploration and selection using CAPS+, which helps students develop clear expectations about what it will take to earn a particular degree. CWU also engages students through experiential learning, including undergraduate research, education abroad, academic service learning, community engagement, and leadership opportunities. CWU needs to continue to provide and enhance where possible these academic integration opportunities. In particular, CWU needs to create a more robust, less confusing system of university-wide advising based on the combined efforts of staff advising and faculty mentoring. CWU enables social integration through orientation and onboarding of first-time, full-time freshmen and transfer students; through community-building in the residence halls and living/learning communities, and through numerous student organizations and groups. Because so many of our students do not have parents or other family members who are college-educated, CWU needs increasingly to emphasize programming that helps diverse students navigate the higher education “space and place” – especially at what has been a predominantly white institution. CWU also needs to increase its emphasis on programming that provides students opportunities to develop self-efficacy and resilience, and to have more and better interactions with students about career, graduate, and professional school preparation. It is insufficient to help students to earn a bachelor’s degree if they do not have a clear pathway forward after degree completion. Our responsibility to our students does not end once they earn their diploma. It is also important to note that academic and social integration are necessary for all CWU’s students: first- time, full-time freshmen; transfer students; non-traditional students; students living on the Ellensburg residential campus or in the immediate area; students taking courses at University Centers and instructional sites around the state; international students; and online/multi-modal students as well. CWU will need to address the resource challenges – human, technological, structural, and financial – in meeting the needs of these many, different types of students. To what extent does Central’s General Education curriculum serve the needs of today’s undergraduates and prepare them for post-baccalaureate success? The CWU community realized the current General Education curriculum does not best serve the needs of today’s students and, in AY2015-16 attempted to redesign the GE program. Unfortunately, like multiple attempts over the previous two decades, that attempt was not successful. Rather than giving up on GE
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