P a g e 1 College of Business and Public Administration Strategic Plan Every unit at Eastern Washington University is expected to develop a strategic plan that are aligned with the overall mission of the University. The Strategic Plan of the College of Business and Public Administration (CBPA) has its origin in two main sources including the 2013 AACSB Standards of Accreditation and the mission of Eastern Washington University which states: EWU expands opportunities for personal transformation through excellence in learning The Strategic Plan of the College of Business and Public Administration (CBPA) The Process The College of Business and Public Administration initiated a process of reviewing and renewing its Strategic Plan in 2016-2017 academic year. At same time the university began to go through a development process for a strategic plan for 2018-2023. The CBPA Associate Dean serves on the university strategic planning committee. The CBPA s Strategic Planning process included the following steps: The formation of the CBPA Strategic Planning Committee which included various members across the college. The committee was provided with a framework by the dean, based on which a draft was prepared. Two committee members attended an AACSB CIR (Continuous Improvement Review) Seminar where they had an opportunity to discuss the strategic plan and its process with the seminar attendees. Through various meetings and email exchanges, the first draft of the strategic plan was completed and was shared with all faculty for review and comments. The document was discussed at a meeting with CBPA s Advisory Board and Students Advisory Council. Upon the incorporation of the inputs from faculty, CBPA s Advisory Board, and Students Advisory Council, the Strategic Plan was reviewed and ratified by the faculty at a CBPA meeting. The document was officially finalized by the Strategic planning Committee for implementation. Please see the stages of CBPA s Strategic Planning Process on the following page.
P a g e 2 Development Stages of the Strategic Plan College of Business and Public Administration Eastern Washington University The CBPA s Strategic Planning process started with formation of a Strategic Planning Committee which included various members across the college. The committee was provided with a framework by the dean, based on which a draft was prepared. The first draft of the strategic plan was completed and shared with all faculty for review and comments. The document was subsequently discussed at a meeting with CBPA s Advisory Board and Students Advisory Council. Upon the incorporation of the inputs from faculty, CBPA s Advisory Board, and Students Advisory Council, the Strategic Plan was reviewed and ratified by the faculty at a CBPA meeting. The document was officially finalized by the Strategic Planning Committee for implementation. The process went through four stages as shown below. Initiation Development Ratification Implementation AACSB 2013 Standards CBPA Advisory Board comprised of alumni and business leaders Initial Framework for Strategic Plan Provided by the College Dean Strategic Planning Committee represented by faculty CBPA Faculty for final review and ratification CBPA Strategic Planning Committee for implementation University Vision and Mission CBPA Student Advisory Council
P a g e 3 College of Business and Public Administration Strategic Plan Vision Statement To have its programs in business, economics, public administration and planning recognized for their excellence and to be the college of first choice in the region educating public, private and non-profit leaders. Mission College of Business and Public Administration The CBPA exists to develop students who think critically, act ethically, and contribute to evolving public and private sector environments. Vision Statement EWU Business Our competitive business program is the first choice in the region. Mission EWU Business Mission Statement -- Focused on the region and open to the world, we provide students, especially first generation and nontraditional students, with an accessible, quality business education. Mission Statement Components: EWU Business is committed to: Emphasizing excellence in learning and teaching through a student-centered learning environment. Striving to accommodate the needs of our part-time, returning and non-traditional students. Developing students knowledge and understanding of different cultures and fostering a deep appreciation of diversity. Encouraging faculty excellence in teaching and service. Encouraging faculty members to conduct and publish quality research. Responding to constituencies, such as businesses, alumni, regarding the business education needs in a changing business environment. Motto: Focusing on the region open to the world
P a g e 4 Core Values All EWU Business faculty members embrace the following principles and philosophy: WE VALUE: Academic excellence Professional Preparedness Community Engagement Integrity Inclusiveness Recipe for Continued Success Sustain a student-oriented focus and shared governance focus for all decision making. Maintain a business core and majors responsive to a changing environment. Avoid bottlenecks in curricular design to facilitate student progress towards graduation. Improve student advising. Adhere to AACSB and related professional standards regarding curricula and all other operations. Hire, develop, and retain faculty who are highly competent in teaching, research, and service. Maintain a faculty and staff who enrich the business program s sense of positive community, through collegiality, civility, cooperation, mutual respect, open-minded deliberations, integrity, constructiveness, commitment, and ethical conduct. Support a cultural environment characterized by personal fulfillment, satisfaction, and fun. Embrace continuous improvement and accountability in all areas for all individuals. Strive to maintain positive relations with other units on campus. Maintain mutually beneficial relationships with community, national, and international stakeholders. Major Goals Deliver accessible quality academic programs. Encourage and reward effective teaching Disseminate high-quality, meaningful, and timely research to the academic, business, and governmental communities. Facilitate meaningful engagement with the business community. Recruit, develop, and retain highly qualified faculty, advisors, staff, administrators, and students. Maintain strong relationships with external constituencies. Maintain sound administrative procedures and practice Strategic Directions EWU Business maintains a tradition of providing an excellent learning environment for students, including excellent curriculum and flexible schedule.
P a g e 5 EWU Business has consistently strong Student Learning Outcomes assessments EWU Business has an overall program which encourages, supports, and rewards faculty research and publishing efforts. EWU Business connects with businesses through course project opportunities and outreach programs EWU Business has a comprehensive faculty planning process that attracts, develops, and retains highly qualified faculty members and advisors. EWU Business possesses strong partnerships with private and public organizations. EWU Business has a comprehensive evaluation process for its programs, personnel, and practices, along with effective strategic and operational management processes. Action Priorities Refine the Assurance of Learning program. Review and revise the curriculum. Evaluate the feasibility of adding new majors/minors/concentrations. Evaluate the flexibility of having a tutoring Lab. Revise curriculum to allow returning students to get credit for work and life experiences. Develop programs that foster, facilitate & encourage effective teaching Reward/recognize effective teaching Support professional development Support and encourage pedagogical innovations Develop an overall plan for enhancing faculty intellectual contributions. Reward/recognize faculty research Acknowledge the link between quality scholarship and timely or effective teaching Encourage course projects and outreach Reward/recognize impactful community service Reward/recognize impactful professional service Encourage and facilitate collaborative programs, nationally and internationally Develop Advisory Boards. Design, develop and deliver, through collaborative local and international partnerships, new and expanded international opportunities for students and faculty. Develop a faculty staffing plan and seek funding to match anticipated growth in majors and faculty to support them. Revise Policies & Procedures to implement sound procedures and practices Assessment of outcomes in accordance to the University s mission, as well as the CBPA s Master Goals and Action Priorities. Outcome Assessment in accordance to the University s mission The emphasis of University s mission is on expanding opportunities for personal transformation through excellence in learning. EWU achieves this mission by: Fostering excellence in learning through quality academic programs, undergraduate and
P a g e 6 graduate student research and individual student-faculty interaction. Students extend their learning beyond the classroom through co-curricular programs, life skills development, internship programs, volunteering and service learning. Creating environments for personal transformation that enrich the lives of individuals, families, communities and society at large. Expanding opportunity for all students by providing critical access to first generation students, underserved populations, place-bound students, and other students who may not have the opportunity for higher education. Developing faculty and staff by growing and strengthening an intellectual community and supporting professional development. Below are some examples of how CBPA contributed to the fulfillment of the overall University mission. Quality academic programs: CBPA is committed to providing students with quality programs as evident in accreditation of our business programs by AACSB International since 1974 and for our MBA program since 1976. Our Planning program has been accredited by Planning Accreditation Board (PAB), and our Public Administration program has been accredited by Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration. Student Research: Both undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to engage in research both as part of their course-work and as extra-curricular activities. Student-faculty interaction: Our relatively small class sizes particularly across the core courses allow closer student-faculty interaction, and more attention to individual students needs. Faculty are required to hold office hours and students are encouraged to visit their instructors as frequently as possible. Co-curricular: Students are encouraged to engage in co-curricular activities and our faculty members value these activities. For example, students are encouraged to join department, college and university clubs and play a leadership role that enhances their learning experiences outside the classroom (currently five student-clubs in CBPA). Service learning: Our students engage in various activities in the form of service learning including our accounting students spending on average 270 hours a year helping non- profit organizations assist the community members in tax preparation. Outcome Assessment in accordance to the EWU Business Master Goals and Action Priorities 1. Industry leaders as outside speakers. In collaboration with CBPA Development Officer and coordination by CBPA administrative specialist, EWU Business faculty invite successful Alumni and business leaders to their classes as guest speakers. Additionally, the university arranges a wide range of outside
P a g e 7 speakers and invites all students and faculty campus-wide to attend. Business students are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities. 2. Support undergraduate research. For the past several years, the college has financially supported the travel of 6-8 students to present their research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research annually. In addition, students and faculty have worked on several projects that were presented at the Student Research and Creative Works Symposium. 3. Support and facilitate student internships. Each of the departments within CBPA has an Internship Coordinator who works with the Career Services department on assisting students with resume preparation, internship list and opportunities, and mock interviews and preparation. During the past five years, on average, 133 of business students participated in Internship programs every year. 4. Support and facilitate experiential and service learning. EWU Business students have been engaged in various types of applied consulting or planning projects with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations (please see more detail under How We Engage on pages 10-12 of this report). 5. Encourage students to pursue graduate degrees. According to the latest survey by the office of Outreach and Engagement, 28% of EWU Business students enrolled in graduate programs after completion of their undergraduate degree. 6. Systematically review the undergraduate and graduate curricula for relevance and assessment of learning outcome. The establishment of our Assurance of Learning Program contributed to constructive communication and collaboration between EWU Business AOL Committee, Faculty, and Department Chairs which resulted in some curricular changes due to direct assessment of student learning outcome and closing the loop (please see SECTION 6 Learning and Teaching for detail). 7. Support faculty research and Intellectual Contribution activities. Each faculty is provided with a $1,200 base development fund in addition to a financial incentive that is added to this amount for publication of research articles in Peer- Reviewed Journals. Additionally, each faculty member is granted coursereassigned times depending on their qualifications and IC productivity (please see CBPA s definitions of faculty qualifications and workload distribution in Appendix B ). 8. Support faculty development. In the past five years a total of 31 EWU Business faculty participated in national and international conferences. Of this number 18 faculty members took a total of 38 trips for professional development overseas to Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Egypt, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Luxemburg, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, and Thailand. All of the costs for faculty s professional development activities have been covered by grants, CBPA, or a combination of both. Further, the college organizes brown bag sessions for faculty to discuss topics relating to research and teaching. 9. Support advisors professional development. In 2016 the university centralized the advising services and as a result, the college does not have its
P a g e 8 own advising staff. However, the college leadership built a great working relationship with the central advising office to ensure that the business students receive the best possible advising service. 10. Support for faculty professional development in online learning and teaching. Our new Provost moved the Office of Instructional Technology to the Division of Academic Affairs. The IT services is now under new leadership that has demonstrated strong commitment to development of faculty s skills for more innovative and effective teaching in hybrid and online classes. Additionally, EWU is a member of SARA (State Authorization and Reciprocity Agreement) which requires the participating universities to establish a comprehensive plan in support of online programs. 11. Support for staff professional development opportunities. The new Dean has obtained the CBPA s faculty s support for establishment of Staff- Development Committee. The committee has been established and is chaired by the Dean s Executive Administrative Assistant. The committee has been charged to meet periodically and identify the CBPA staff s professional development needs and how the college can provided adequate resources in meeting those needs. Further, CBPA s staff in two key positions (Director of Graduate Programs and Director of Business and Marketing Communications) routinely participate in Professional Development Activities supported by grants, college budget or a combination of both. 12. Extend online presence of our programs. In the past five years the number of online courses offered within CBPA has increased from eight in 2013 to 27 in 2017. In addition, our Graduate Program Coordinator worked with the college s Graduate Curriculum Committee and business faculty to redesign the MBA curriculum in preparation for launching our MBA program in a totally online format. The tentative plan is to offer our online MBA program in March 2018. 13. Extend presence at outreach sites. Unfortunately, the college has not made much progress in this area. In fact, we started to offer the General Business Option within our Business Administration program at EWU campus in Longview which was opened for enrollment officially in winter quarter 2015. The Operations Management option was added in summer. However, these program are now in the phase-out stage due to insufficient enrollment, and will be stopped after the last group of students graduate. 14. Develop new programs that meet students needs. EWU Business added a new program in Entrepreneurship which was officially launched in fall 2016. Additionally, we are proud to report two new undergraduate degrees in Analytics were launched in fall 2017, a BAB in Business Analytics and a BS in Data Analytics. The BAB is intended for the data-savvy manager, while the BS is intended for the more deeply skilled data practitioner in any field. Both programs have some unusual features. The BAB is a dual-core program in that it has both the analytics core and the business core. The BS has the analytics core and an extended capstone: a year-long senior sequence of hybrid classes done in partnership with the Microsoft Professional Program in Data Science. This certification will tremendously increase our students employability in the global market. This program resulted from collaboration between our Provost, faculty
P a g e 9 from our Department of Information System and Business Analytics (ISBA), and staff from Microsoft Professional Program. This is the first such collaborative program in the nation between Microsoft Professional Program and a major university (EWU). A new master s degree in Professional Accounting (MPAcc) was developed and launched in fall 2017. 15. Improve the quality of alumni database. In July 2017, the university has appointed a new VP for University Advancement who plans to work with the Division of Academic Affairs, particularly with Deans in order to enhance the quality of university s communication and engagement with alumni and the community. The new Dean has begun to work with EWU Director of Alumni to improve and update the current e-mail distribution list of CBPA alumni. 16. Increase our recruitment of international students. Despite a trip to China by former Dean of the College and a few trips to Japan and Europe by our faculty, the results have not been promising. However, the new Dean brought a successful record of global experiential learning program from his former college which had resulted in increased enrollment of international students. He has developed a plan to work with business faculty, the college s development officer, and the CBPA Advisory Board to enhance the recruitment and enrollment of international students. The outcome of these efforts will show during our next CIR accreditation cycle. 17. Generate stronger support from advisory boards. Our Advisory Board members have always been committed and supportive. However, our new Dean has worked with the college s development officer on a plan to increase the engagement and support of our Advisory Board members by: a. Rewriting the charter of CBPA Advisory Board via inputs from the current Advisory Board, b. Expanding the size of CBPA Advisory Board from 15 to 30 via inputs from the current Advisory Board, c. Forming a Fundraising Committee from within the expanded CBPA Advisory Board, and d. Setting a Fundraising goal for the newly established committee for the next three to five years. 18. Offer instructional programs to the community (course, certificate, or seminars). In the past five years a number of seminar and workshops have been conducted by EWU Business faculty that were open to the members of the community with a focus on developing the participants leadership skills and enhance their entrepreneurial spirit. Additionally, under the leadership of CBPA s Director of Business and Marketing Education in collaboration of faculty, a new minor in Corporate Training has been developed, which is focused on enhancing the participants skills in the deployment of the most updated computer software and information technology for greater success in global market. 19. Re-invigorate the entrepreneurship outreach program. We established a new Center for Entrepreneurship under the leadership of Dr. Bruce Teague who took our entrepreneurship activities to a higher level by:
P a g e 10 a. Organizing a grant-supported Pitch Competition open to the entire campus using entrepreneurs in the local community as judges, b. Writing and obtaining $82,000 Grant to support faculty and students participation in Entrepreneurship conferences and events, c. Being recognized as one of the leaders in the discussion of Entrepreneurship as Practice by the Strategizing Activities and Practices Interest Group at the 2017 Academy of Management Conference in Atlanta, d. Making presentation at the 2017 Academy of Management Conference on the topic of Research Handbook of Entrepreneurship, which is the title of his book, which is under contract with Edgar Elgar (co-edited with William B. Gartner of Babson College), e. Getting engaged in a new community program called Mind to Market, f. Supporting one of his staff members in his efforts to facilitate continued growth of Pacific Northwest Educators in Entrepreneurial Leadership (the collaborative network of relationships between the peer institutions of the region, g. Serving on a local community board called Innovate Cheney (Cheney is the city where Eastern Washington University s main campus is located), h. Co-organizing the Third Annual Entrepreneurship as Practice conference, which will be held in Sweden in April 2018, and i. Facilitating two EWU Business colleagues efforts in providing Entrepreneurship Education at Mie University in Japan via development of a new course entitled From Idea to Pitch. 20. Increase our visibility in the Community as an Economic Development partner. The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis, an important element of our college, worked with various cities and counties to create healthy, vibrant communities by providing and analyzing data in several key economic indicators. Our Northwest Tribal Technical Assistance Program assists tribes in developing transportation resources, infrastructure, and development opportunities for Northwest Tribes. Intellectual Contributions, Impact, and Alignment with Mission The college s mission emphasizes that EWU Business faculty members conduct and publish high-quality research based on the following guiding values. EWU Business Guiding Values for Research We conduct research and scholarly activities in support of our teaching and public service responsibilities. We honor and adhere to the concept of academic freedom and do not place limits or restrictions on the scope of scientific inquiry. We conduct scholarship with respect for individuals, groups, and organizations by following the accepted practices of protecting the rights and privacy of human subjects. We seek to share and disseminate our scholarship through academically and professionally peer reviewed avenues including journals, books, and conferences.
P a g e 11 We measure the quality of our scholarship through its impact on the practice and instruction of our disciplines as well as its influence on other scholars. EWU Business faculty are committed to all three areas of their profession, and are expected to demonstrate excellence in teaching, research and service. According to Eastern Washington University policy as stated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA): The workload of all tenured and tenure-track faculty will include a combination of teaching/librarianship, scholarship/creative activity and service. The composition of these professional duties and responsibilities for an individual faculty member in an academic year will be determined by the faculty member and chair, and approved by the dean, as described below. Workload will be composed of eighty percent (80%) teaching/librarianship, equivalent to thirty-six (36) credit hours of lecture/demonstration course instruction during an academic year, and a combination of scholarship/creative activity and service that accounts for the remaining twenty percent (20%) of the faculty member s professional responsibilities. Variances in the ratio of teaching/librarianship to scholarship/creative activity and service may be due to accreditation requirements; assigned time for administrative responsibilities; the extent of research and service activities as defined in FAPs; and teaching/librarianship productivity from special faculty within the college/library. Intellectual Contributions, Impact, and Alignment with Mission The college s mission emphasizes that EWU Business faculty members conduct and publish high-quality research. As a result, EWU Business faculty are granted reassigned times in exchange for a reduction in the weights allocated to teaching and an increase in weights assigned to scholarly activities. As a result, on average, EWU-Business faculty s workload is composed of 60% teaching, 21% intellectual contribution and 19% service. While our faculty value and understand the importance of all three areas of Intellectual Contributions (the Basic or Discovery Scholarship (BDS) and Applied or Integration/application Scholarship and Teaching and Learning Scholarship), the primary focus of our intellectual contribution activities are on Basic or Discovery Scholarship. Overall, the Intellectual Contributions undertaken by the CBPA faculty are distributed in the following manner. Basic or Discovery Scholarship Applied or Integration/Applied Scholarship Teaching and Learning Scholarship 62 percent 32 percent 6 percent Alignment with Mission Table 2-1, Appendix A provides a summary of Intellectual Contributions produced by EWU Business faculty members during the previous five years. As can be seen, the college produced a total 215 various ICs, distributed across four departments, as well as three research categories of ICs. Basic or Discovery Scholarship accounted for approximately 62% of the ICs, 32% were in the area of Applied or Integration/Application, and 6% were in Teaching and Learning category.
P a g e 12 Cross-Section Participation Virtually all participating faculty members in each department were productive in the area of Intellectual Contribution. Overall, 79% of the participating faculty members of EWU Business produced research articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals or were active in some kind of IC activities. As can be seen in Table 2-2, Appendix A, in the past five-year EWU Business faculty published a total of 97 articles published in 65 Peer Reviewed Journals. Of this total 15 were published by faculty of Accounting, 25 were in Management Department, 39 were in Finance and Marketing Department, and 18 were from the Department of Information System and Business Analytics. Our faculty members research articles are referenced frequently and used as bases for other research activities in the field. Impact and Quality Relative to impact and quality, the college utilized various quality journal lists such as the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) Journal Quality List, The Harzing Journal Quality List, The Association of Business Schools Academic Journal Quality Guide and The college s internally produced list provided to the dean s office, department chairs and faculty to evaluate the quality of the articles and the rank of the journal in which faculty members published.