A STRATEGIC PLAN

FOR THE DIVISION OF

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
CO NTENTS
4 Vision and Mission
6 Organization of the Division
6 Operating Principles
9 Goal 1
11 Goal 2 and Goal 3
13 Goal 4 and Goal 5
14 Key Performance Indicators
VISION
The Division of Academic Affairs will successfully and inclusively promote excellence in instruction, learning,
research, scholarship, creative activity, outreach, and engagement in support of the University’s aim to bring
Wyoming and Western intelligence, energy, resolve and innovation to the economic, social and environmental
challenges of today and to create a thriving, diverse, equitable and sustainable world for tomorrow.

MISSION
The Division of Academic Affairs oversees and provides leadership for all academic personnel and programs,
enrollment functions, education of students and comprehensive internationalization at the University of Wyoming.
The Division assumes responsibilities for:
• Recruitment and retention of students who will have encountered the frontiers of scholarship and creative activity
and who will be prepared for the complexities of an interdependent world upon graduation as well as gainful
employment or graduate school;
• Recruitment, retention, and professional development of outstanding faculty and academic leaders in order to build
and sustain expertise and excellence among academic personnel in all aspects of their work;
• P romote and embrace continuous improvement by guiding development of academic programs, and curricula,
supporting diverse modalities of instruction, and monitoring for academic quality and student success;
• Promotion of interdisciplinary approaches to academic work and student learning;
• Sustaining a workplace environment that values and manifests diversity; internationalization, free expression,
academic freedom, personal integrity and mutual respect;
• Guidance of comprehensive internationalization efforts, including growing faculty engagement in international
teaching and scholarship, internationalization of the curriculum, enhancing student and scholar mobility, and
deepening international collaborations and partnerships.
• Sustaining and elevating academic standards, integrity and reputation.
• Helping to build a better resourced and more highly functioning university by growing enrollment, pursuing
alternative revenue streams, enhancing academic management functions, improving budgeting and planning, and
embracing transparency and shared governance in operations and in development of policies and procedures.
• Direction in collection, analysis, and dissemination of data to inform academic decision-making.

The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs’ team carries out these responsibilities through collaborations
with the academic deans and directors, academic unit heads, university committees, taskforces, the faculty, as well as
other divisions of the university. We hold that mutual responsibility, accountability and respect among our units and
our people drives our success

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ORGANIZ ATION
OF TH E DIVISION
Kate Miller
Provost and Vice President

Wilma Varga Nasser Albeiruti

Asst to the VP Executive Director for
Budgeting & Planning

Sandy Roller
Andrea Hastings-Arrollo Business Manager,
Office Assoc, Sr Executive

Claire Zheng
Accountant

Tami Benham-Deal Anthony Ogden James Ahern Anne Alexander

Kyle Moore
Vice Provost Associate Vice Provost for Associate Vice Provost for Associate Vice Provost
Associate Vice Provost for
Academic Personnel Global Engagement Graduate Education for Undergraduate
Enrollment Management
FTE - 2 FTE - 13 FTE - 2 Education
FTE - 57
FTE - 60

Marianne Wardle Carrie Hesco Michele Peck Shelley Dodd

Director, Art Museum Director, Global Program Coordinator, Jo Chytka Director, Admissions
Engagement Office Sr. Director, ACES

Ivan Gaetz (Interim) Shelley Jewell Eric Penicka Lane Buchanan

Director, AHC Director, Education Information Specialist Lt.C Tom Haas Registrar
Abroad Army ROTC

Mark Lyford Debra Hintz

Director, Ellbogen Frederica Seuss Lt.C Samuel Sharer Director, Scholarships &
Center for Teaching & Director, English Air Force ROTC Financial Aid
Learning Language Center
Vacant
Vacant Jill Johnson April Heaney Director, Transfer Relations/
Wyo Institute for Director, International Director, LeaRN Success
Humanities Research Students & Scholars
Vacant
Pilar Flores
Aneesa McDonald Strategic Initiatives Coordinator
Director, SEO
Information Specialist

Justin McDonald August 2018 Erika Helgeson

Program Coordinator, Sr.
Asst Research
Scientist

OPERATING We:
• Approach all decisions with the students’ perspective at the

PRINCIPLES
forefront.
• Craft an environment where innovations are realized.
• Draw on data to drive continuous improvement.
• Advance disciplinary and interdisciplinary academic excellence
• Communicate clearly and dependably to all of our stakeholders
• Deploy our resources responsibly and strategically
• Prioritize the economic and educational needs of the State.

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 GOAL ON E
Increase recruitment, retention and degree
completion for all students

• I mplement, assess, and refine a marketing and management strategy to improve recruitment and substantially grow
enrollment of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.
• Develop, assess, and refine a professional advising program based on national best practices.
• Expand programming for the first-year experience, increase availability of high-impact learning opportunities, and
implement co-curricular transcripts.
• L ead a continual focus on academic management, to include: streamlining the class schedule, improving course
availability, and implementing routine degree planning for students, to enhance retention and reduce time-to-
graduation.
• Support students entering UW from the community colleges, the workforce, or after a hiatus, by providing more
pathways to completing a Bachelors’ degree.
• Recruit, retain, and support a diverse and inclusive student body by ensuring a welcoming environment and
promoting a sense of belonging and community on campus.
• Support the success of graduate and professional students through new services provide by an Office of Graduate
and Professional Education.

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS STRATEGIC PLAN | 9

 GOAL T WO
Recruit and retain a diverse community of
outstanding faculty and academic leaders and
foster their professional development

• Collaborate with university partners to recruit and retain high performing academic personnel from a diversity of
backgrounds
• Provide opportunities and resources for career development and advancement at all academic levels
• Establish the Institute for Innovation in Instruction and Assessment (I3A) by integrating the Ellbogen Center for
Teaching and Learning, the Office of Distance Education Support, and University Assessment
• Support faculty and collaborate with the Office of Research on professional development and training for faculty
related to grant writing, including facilitation of development of proposals to major interdisciplinary funding
programs.
• P rovide explicit incentives in faculty workload and evaluation documents to better reward and promote
interdisciplinarity, internationalization, entrepreneurship, and community engagement.
• Foster and reward outstanding performance by instituting and conferring a series of excellence awards for faculty
and academic leaders annually.

GOAL TH REE
Promote and embrace continuous improvement
by guiding development of academic programs
and curricula and monitoring them for academic
quality, productivity, and student success

• Use the Higher Learning Commission reaccreditation process as an opportunity to foster institutional effectiveness
and continuous improvement.
• Support systematic external review of academic units to use as a basis for evolving the portfolio of degree programs
and certificates.
• Evolve a portfolio of innovative programs and certificates that prepare students for careers of importance to the
region’s economic and social well-being
• Expand distance offerings of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees and certificates, including
completion degrees designed for students with substantial college credit.
• Infuse career readiness into academic advising, curriculum and the student experience.

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 GOAL FOU R
Sustain and elevate academic standards,
integrity and reputation in an environment
that values and manifests diversity,
internationalization, and mutual respect

• Collaborate with University partners to elevate expectations for research and creative activities.
• Create a strong culture of scholarly activity across disciplines by supporting existing areas of strength as well as
leading edge areas of opportunity.
• Collaborate with University partners to support tech transfer, intellectual property, and patent development
• Develop the Honors College
• Revise existing policies and integrate best practices into an honor code, in collaboration with Student Affairs.
• Grow enrollment of international students and engagement of faculty international teaching and scholarship, as well
as increase student participation in education abroad

GOAL FIVE
Build a better resourced and more highly
functioning division

• Collaborate with University partners to design and implement an incentive-based budget model
• Partner with the UW Foundation to create or increase endowments and programmatic funding for academic
centers, and graduate education.
• Improve business practices throughout the Division
• Establish Standard Administrative Policies and Procedures that are based on sound principles, provide clarity and
are relevant and meaningful for contemporary university.
• I mplement communication processes, incorporating Universal Design, that provide timely, accessible, transparent
information to academic units, students, faculty and staff.
• Collaborate with University partners on institutional data governance to ensure accurate, accessible academic
data that is easily integrated across the University’s information systems and support strategic decision making in
academic units.
• Develop and implement annual department and college “scorecards” to measure progress.

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS STRATEGIC PLAN | 13

KE Y PERFORMANCE GOAL 2: Recruit and retain outstanding faculty and academic leaders and foster their
professional development

IN DIC ATORS* Performance Indicator Baseline 2022 Target

Number of professional None 8 new modules, 2 new
development modules for faculty per year
GOAL 1: Increase recruitment, retention and degree completion for students and academic administrators
available through Taleo/
Performance Indicator Baseline 2022 Target WyoCloud Learn

Enrollment and retention of 13% 17% Implementation of electronic Paper process Enterprise-wide
underrepresented students * performance evaluation and implementation
review processes
Enrollment of transfer students * 967 1200
Integration of programs and Separate Units Institute fully
Retention rate for FTFT and 76% 80% services, and operational operational
transfer students * readiness of the Institute for
Innovation in Instruction and
Increase FTFT enrollments 1551 1850 Assessment (I3A)
annually *
Number of faculty hired for 0 ?
4 and 6-year graduate rates for 25.8%/54.4% 33%/60% the purpose of contributing to
undergraduates * interdisciplinary research and
learning
Time to degree base on time of 2.7 years 2.5 years
entry into junior-status and/or Promote interdisciplinary Investigate Policies in place
time of transfer to UW teaching and reward leadership
of interdisciplinary programs
Fully operational Advising Centers Planning Implemented
Annual awards from Office of 4 8
Number of Ph.D. students 582 634 Academic Affairs to faculty, staff
and administrators recognizing
Overall graduate and 2,578 2,835 excellence
professional program enrollment

Asterisks in these tables indicate metrics relevant to the Division of Academic Affairs that also appear in the University Strategic Plan.

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Goal 3: Promote and embrace continuous improvement by guiding development Goal 4: Sustain and elevate academic standards, integrity and reputation in an
of academic programs and curricula and monitoring them for academic quality, environment that values and manifests diversity, internationalization, and mutual
productivity, and student success respect

Performance Indicator Baseline 2022 Target Performance Indicator Baseline 2022 Target

Maintain Higher Learning Accredited Reaccredited with Changes in external recognition Invest in a database 1 decile improvement
Commission Accreditation no concerns or of scholarly work * from baseline
deficiencies indicators

Degree programs created, 195 8 New academic Campus climate and Fall 2018 Campus TBD from survey data
substantially modified, or programs; 4 modified environment * Climate Survey
dropped* or eliminated
Income bearing IP licenses* 2-3 per year 5 or more per year
Increase number of academic 30 35
programs available at a distance External research funding awards $95.33 million external $115 m annual
with focus on completion and expenditures* awards/$106 M in
expenditures
Enrollment at a distance (Online 1813/212 2000/350
and UW-C) Number of international students 800 1050
(undergraduate and graduate) *
Number of programs reviewed in 0 7
IAPR annually Number of faculty and student 425 total: 650 total
participants in programs abroad * 395 students/
Promote interdisciplinary Investigate Policies in place 30 faculty
teaching and reward leadership
of interdisciplinary programs Percent of graduates with 4% 8%
honors credential*
Promote intentional Investigate Policies in place
internationalization of the Develop Academic and Social Underway Implemented
curriculum, students, personnel Honor code
and research

Percentage of undergraduate and 32% 70%

graduate programs that achieve
Tier 1 status for assessment of
student learning activities

Experiential and co-curricular Institute 25% of graduating

transcript* seniors

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Goal 5: Build a better resourced and more highly functioning division

Performance Indicator Baseline 2022 Target

Implementation of incentive- Beginning Completion
based, decentralized budgeting
system*

Deployment and full utilization Underway Completion

of Enterprise Management
Systems*

Growth of University endowment* $450 M $650 M

Overall Enrollment* 12,366 13,500

Number of endowed faculty 36 60

positions*

Develop new approaches Beginning Complete

for investing funds from the
Wyoming Excellence Endowment
that provide greater flexibility
and impact

Endowment directed toward TBD 10% increase

academic centers and graduate
education

Standard Administrative Evaluate Complete revisions

Policies and Procedures that
clarify, specify and formalize
expectations, criteria and
processes related to job
descriptions, annual performance
evaluation, and reviews for
reappointment, tenure, promotion
fixed term, and post-tenure. *

Routine use of a scorecards to Develop, FY20 Enterprise-wide

evaluate annual performance of implementation
academic units

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uwyo.edu/strategic-plan