Vision
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will be a national and international leader in providing transformational and empowering educational experiences.
That future will be achieved through a culture of collaboration and connectedness. Four strategic themes emerged through institution-wide conversations:
Enhance the value of a UW-Whitewater education
Create an inclusive environment for student success
Advance co-curricular experiences
Deepen a culture of collaboration
Themes
Four themes capture the broad and aspirational priorities of the institution in the next five years.
Enhance the value of a UW-Whitewater education
From communication and problem-solving ability, to critical thinking and intercultural competence, our students will develop valuable skills throughout their academic journey at UW-Whitewater that make them engaged citizens and outstanding candidates for careers and advanced education opportunities. We will achieve post-graduation outcomes consistent with an exceptional liberal arts education.
Create an inclusive environment for student success
Channeling our core value of inclusivity, we will recruit, retain and graduate students from all backgrounds. We will model the very best “people-first” delivery of our mission, where employees are approachable and responsive, spaces are welcoming, and students feel deeply connected and supported. To meet the ever-changing demands of the higher education landscape, we will adapt our program delivery models to address students’ desire for accessible and flexible programs of study.
Advance co-curricular experiences
To parallel our high-quality academic programs, we offer and promote highly effective co-curricular, outside-of-the-classroom programs that enhance the student experience and contribute to learning. We will initiate best practices in advising and support services university-wide to ensure consistent quality across our institution. We will expand our ability to identify and address barriers to students enrolling in, continuing or finishing a program — with the goal of driving students to successful and timely program completion.
Deepen a culture of collaboration
Driven by a shared institutional purpose to transform lives, we will build robust partnerships across colleges, divisions, departments and the broader region to collaborate on projects and initiatives, to advance ideas, and to share and grow resources. With people as our most valuable resource, our workplace will serve as a regional exemplar by cultivating positive employee morale and supporting overall wellbeing for faculty, staff and students. We will identify issues and opportunities that arise and address them in a proactive and timely manner.
Strategic Plan Framework 2026-2030
The Strategic Plan Framework visualizes the core pillars and cross-functional strategies that guide our institutional progress. This model reflects our commitment to data-informed decision-making and purposeful direction as we extend our strategic timeline to 2030.
Action Items
We are extending the timeline for six action items that require additional time to bring to scale. These continuing priorities remain critical to our long-term success.
We will strengthen and elevate the one-stop student support experience by providing streamlined access to critical services that help students achieve their academic goals.
2025-2026 Year End Update
Phase 2 of the One Stop was successfully launched and identified areas growth and development, built on feedback gathered from students and campus stakeholders, following its launch in 2024. A significant milestone was the relocation of the One Stop into its new home within the Warhawk Connection Center (WCC), increasing its visibility, accessibility, and capacity to meet the evolving needs of students.
The integration of the HawkCard Office into the shared One Stop space further streamlined access to many of the services students use most frequently, creating a more seamless and convenient experience. Throughout the upcoming year, students will also benefit from an expanded portfolio of support services, including Financial Aid drop-in assistance, Financial Literacy, Success Coaching, scholarship management, and academic standards support through the addition of a full-time Scholarship Manager and the Coordinator for Academic Standards.
To strengthen alignment with institutional student success initiatives, One Stop leadership transitioned to reporting directly to the Director for Retention, Student Success & Advising within the Division of Strategic Enrollment, Retention, & Marketing.
Co-leads:
- Matt Mallin, Assistant Director of One Stop
- Angela Meldonian, Executive Director, University Center
We will establish a task force to examine specific student success opportunities. Initially, this group will review registration holds and our student debt trends as we work to enhance student social mobility.
2025-2026 Year End Update
During the 2025–2026 academic year, UW-Whitewater continued to improve student success processes by enhancing housing assignments and advancing scholarship process improvements. A collaborative effort between Student Affairs, Enrollment & Retention, and University Branding & Communications redesigned the housing assignment process, resulting in earlier assignments, improved communication with students and families, and better alignment with SOAR and the overall enrollment process. The housing application was also enhanced to allow students to select a dining plan and indicate parking needs, streamlining onboarding and improving coordination across campus. Progress also continued improving the scholarship process through a comprehensive review and collaboration with Information Technology Services to identify the data and system enhancements needed to support more automated scholarship matching based on student qualifications. This work provides a foundation for future improvements that will further streamline the scholarship experience for students.
Co-leads:
- Aaron Axelsen, Deputy Chief Information Officer
- Jeremy Smith, Director of Admissions
- Maria Glorioso, Assistant Director of Residence Life
We will further develop an aligned advising approach that integrates consistent processes, shared expectations, and data-informed practices across the institution. By emphasizing communication, relationship-building, and the use of proven resources, we will support a cohesive advising experience that promotes student success.
2025-2026 Year End Update
During the 2025–2026 academic year, the Advising Model strategic plan workgroup made significant progress toward developing a stronger institution-wide advising model by establishing foundational assessment practices, enhancing advising resources, and supporting campus-wide implementation of new advising technologies. Participation in the NACADA Assessment Workshop guided the development and revision of several key assessment tools, including a professional advisor performance evaluation aligned with NACADA Core Competencies, a revised Academic Advising Student Survey, a new Academic Advising Survey for faculty and professional advisors, and an evaluation of advising assessment opportunities within Navigate. The group also completed the transition of four-year plans into the University course catalog, improving accessibility and consistency for students and advisors. In addition, the team facilitated a common advising tool, Stellic, to adapt to common advising practices while maintaining flexibility to meet the unique needs of each academic unit. Throughout all these initiatives, the workgroup remained focused on creating a cohesive advising framework that enhances the student experience, supports informed decision-making, and balances institutional consistency with the autonomy necessary for colleges and departments to best serve their students.
Co-leads:
- Marissa Greuel-Hainstock, Director of Retention, Student Success, & Advising
- Kristin Plessel, Associate Provost
We will review and improve pathways for students who transition from other institutions to UW-Whitewater. One focus will be to help students who are completing their associate degree at Rock County along their pathway to a four-year degree.
2025-2026 Year End Update
During the 2025–2026 academic year, UW-Whitewater continued to strengthen transfer pathways by updating policies and processes to align with UW System Policy 135 and Wisconsin Act 15. These efforts focused on improving existing articulation agreements, transfer credit review procedures, and general education requirements to create a more seamless transfer experience. Outreach to feeder institutions also expanded significantly, with transfer recruitment events increasing from 26 to 60 and continued engagement through virtual programming and a regular presence at Blackhawk Technical College. Recruitment and communication efforts were enhanced through expanded use of Slate tools, helping maintain an average transfer application processing time of fewer than seven days. The university also launched a new non-resident transfer scholarship beginning in Spring 2026 and simplified the change-of-campus experience by replacing the SOAR requirement with a more flexible workshop. Beginning in Fall 2026, consistent general education requirements across the Whitewater and Rock campuses will further clarify transfer pathways and support student success.
Co-leads:
- Dave Hahn, Assistant Director of Admissions and Transfer Coordinator
- Sarah Harvey, Solution Center Director, Integrated Studies
- Kari Pahl, Assistant Dean, College of Business and Economics
We will advance growth, innovation, accessibility, and student success by enhancing the quality and experience of fully online programs and online courses within face-to-face programs.
2025-2026 Year End Update
During the 2025-2026 academic year, the Online Council leaders worked with the provost on a redesigned focus for the online council that will continue to address the needs of online students, as well as faculty and professional staff who work with them. The group is also pleased to report that the prior year’s pilot of offering a section of New Student Seminar (INTRAUNV 104) for online students was a success and the class will be offered each fall moving forward. Another achievement that grew out of a survey administered by the Council was the institutionalization of regular meetings for professional advising staff and faculty who work with online students.
Co-leads:
- Andrea Ednie, Associate Dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies
- Corey Davis, Professor of Communication
This committee, comprised of representatives from all employment categories, will help the university achieve its goals related to employee compensation and benefits.
2025-2026 Year End Update
During the 2025–2026 academic year, the university continued to advance its strategic commitment to employee compensation by investing approximately $4.2 million in salary and benefit improvements. Building on the work of the University Compensation and Benefits Committee, the university implemented a data-informed compensation framework that established consistent benchmarks across employee groups and guided targeted salary adjustments. This work supports equitable and competitive compensation while providing a sustainable framework for future compensation planning. Future efforts will continue to focus on addressing minimum wage and salary compression as resources allow.
Co-leads:
- Brenda Jones, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative Affairs
- Pieter deHart, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Institutionalized Action Items
Between 2023 and 2026, the university successfully completed and institutionalized nine strategic plan action items that are now part of our standard operations. These achievements have built a strong foundation for our ongoing strategic efforts.
The Chancellor’s Committee on Student Success has focused on strengthening support for students' basic needs by developing a centralized repository of resources and creating a dedicated Basic Needs website to serve as a primary resource. The committee also began identifying meaningful data and metrics to better understand student needs, inform decision-making, and guide future planning. As this action item has been successfully institutionalized, these efforts are now integrated into our standard university operations; moving forward, the focus will remain on increasing awareness and utilization of the Basic Needs website while continuing to develop strategies for data collection to ensure our resources are consistently aligned with student needs.
Since its Fall 2024 launch, Success Coaching has established its identity and built strong relationships with key campus partners, including: Academic Advising & Exploration Center, Academic Recovery, Center for Students with Disabilities, University Health & Counseling Services, First Year Experience, CARE Team, and others. In addition, “Success Coach Recommended” alerts within the Navigate program allow faculty/staff to help signal students who would benefit from services.
Success Coaches have now become increasingly involved in retention efforts, providing support and outreach to identified pockets of students who may be showing indications of risk for staying enrolled. For FY 2025/26, Success Coaching recorded 848 student appointments with over 200 unique students, doubling output from its first year. Due to staffing changes, two new Success Coaches will soon be replacing the original team to carry on this important work.
In 2023, UW-Whitewater launched the Warhawk Success Conference, a free professional development opportunity for faculty and staff. Since its inception, the conference has brought faculty and staff together to highlight impactful work across campus, foster collaboration among departments, and promote shared learning focused on student success. The conference has demonstrated steady growth in attendance, scope, and engagement, expanding from 96 attendees and six breakout sessions in 2023 to 136 attendees and 16 breakout sessions in 2026. Each year, the planning committee selects a conference theme that aligns with timely topics that impact student success. Ongoing funding has been secured to support the conference, and planning for the 2027 conference will begin this summer.
From 2023–2026, the Curricular Innovation Workshop provided a cross-campus forum for faculty, staff, students, alumni, and external partners to explore academic innovation at UW-Whitewater. Over the three years, the workshop focused on curricular innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, the implications of artificial intelligence for teaching and learning, and pathways into and through the university, including transfer, dual enrollment, and partnerships that support access to UW-Whitewater programs. This work has since been institutionalized through the university's ongoing commitment to academic innovation. Faculty are now developing a new academic plan to guide innovation across the university, while departments continue to update their curricula through regular planning and curriculum processes. Because this work is now embedded in ongoing practices and structures, the workshop is considered complete and will not continue as a stand-alone annual event at this time.
The General Education program implemented a new assessment system to evaluate student achievement of the General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs). The system uses embedded Canvas rubrics aligned with the GELOs in CORE general education courses, providing a consistent process for collecting direct evidence of student learning. During the 2023–2026 strategic plan period, three terms of assessment data were collected, analyzed, and reported, establishing the process as a regular component of general education assessment. Moving forward, assessment results will be reported annually to the General Education Review Committee and incorporated into the program review process to support continuous improvement.
As of today, all campus departments post all on-campus jobs in Handshake to ensure students are aware of and have the opportunity to apply for all positions on campus. UW-Whitewater Human Resources and Career Services have been collaborating to ensure this requirement is met by all campus departments.
Additionally, an ongoing Student Employment Committee has been established to enhance the quality, accessibility, and effectiveness of student employment opportunities at UW-Whitewater. The committee updated and launched the Student Employment Guide in Canvas in Summer 2026 for incoming students to learn more about on-campus employment. The committee has also updated the Student Employment Manual.
The Universities of Wisconsin System transitioned to a new Finance and Human Resources system, Workday, which provides enhanced reporting capabilities and greater visibility into the financial health of UW-Whitewater. The University Strategic Planning and Budget Committee continues to receive regular updates on the campus budget, forecasts, and the FY27 budget. Key metrics will continue to be shared to promote transparency, support informed decision-making, and foster a shared understanding of UW-Whitewater’s financial priorities.
From 2023 to 2026, the Chancellor’s Leadership Council institutionalized a campuswide approach to leadership, change management, and innovation by creating a shared structure for moving from discussion to action. Through recurring sessions, action-based leadership programming, divisional projects, and strategic plan-aligned retreats, CLC strengthened leaders’ capacity to identify barriers, test feasible ideas, and advance cross-functional solutions.
This work is now embedded in UW-Whitewater’s leadership culture and operating practices. CLC has helped normalize constructive dialogue, shared ownership, and disciplined follow-through while framing innovation as value creation rather than idea generation alone. The Council now provides an ongoing mechanism for aligning leadership development, strategic priorities, and institutional problem-solving. As a result, the action item is complete and sustained through regular leadership routines, strategic planning conversations, project development processes, and expectations for campus leaders to support innovation, manage change, and move institutional priorities forward.
Over the past three years, this group successfully implemented and hosted dedicated listening sessions for key university stakeholders, focusing on employees in year one, alumni employees in year two, and retired faculty and staff in year three.
This work has now been fully institutionalized into ongoing campus structures; the newly established Department of University Relations and Alumni Engagement will sustain this momentum by hosting regular roundtables with campus leaders and alumni. Additionally, the new Department of Advancement is set to embed these practices into its annual operations by hosting an annual get-together for retired faculty and staff. Finally, regular employee interactions and open engagement continue to be encouraged and practiced dynamically by Chancellor King to sustain a culture of consistent feedback.