Western Rising Focused Strategy
Spring 2026 – Fall 2028 | 36 Months of Focused, Coordinated Action
WestConn is embarking on a focused strategic period, driven by our financial reality and early momentum. This path demands clarity, shared ownership, and disciplined action. This strategy refines existing planning, including Western Rising 2030, leveraging collaborative campus efforts. It focuses on high-impact initiatives designed to drive key outcomes over the next 3-36 months.Our strategy is built upon five institutional commitments:
Our Commitments
1
1
Strengthening Foundations
Stabilizing finances and modernizing systems so the university can operate with strength and sustainability.
2
2
Distinctively WestConn
Delivering a student-ready, community-engaged, and workforce-aligned liberal arts and professional education.
3
3
Regional Anchor & Opportunity Engine
Driving regional prosperity by expanding pathways, partnerships, and workforce-aligned learning.
4
4
Culture of Shared Leadership & Renewal
Building trust, clarity, and shared accountability through transparent, collaborative leadership.
5
5
Creating an Environment Where Every Person Thrives
Embedding belonging and equity into every part of the university so all people can succeed.
Developed through a collaborative, campus-wide process involving senior leaders, faculty, unions, staff, and students, this strategy ensures a campus-built and constituent-guided approach. We've reviewed critical data to identify high-impact opportunities. The focus is on initiatives that will drive enrollment, retention, revenue generation, cost efficiency, and culture strengthening, while also allowing for long-term innovation. Each commitment team is actively translating strategy into clear outcomes, metrics, and actionable plans, ensuring urgency, discipline, and alignment with our shared governance values.
Focused on Action & Impact
1. Launch
Mobilize commitment teams and finalize strategic priorities
2. Cascade to Divisions, Schools, Units
Align divisional and unit plans with institutional commitments
3. Action
Implement coordinated initiatives across campus
4. Evaluation/Revise
Assess outcomes, adjust strategies, and plan next steps
Commitment 1
Strengthening Foundations
Focus: Financial Sustainability • Institutional Stability • Modernization
Purpose: Stabilize finances, modernize systems and facilities, and align resources with mission-critical priorities. Target: eliminate a $12.4M structural deficit by FY30, with measurable progress by FY27.
Strategies:
1. Align Budgets & Resources
  • Transparent multi-year budget planning tied to recurring revenue and outcomes
  • Personnel and operating decisions aligned with enrollment trends and strategic priorities
  • Reinforce shared governance in financial planning; communicate progress regularly
2. Diversify & Grow Recurring Revenue
  • Strengthen enrollment and retention pipelines (4% annual growth through FY28)
  • Expand graduate, adult, online, and accelerated programs
  • Grow employer and regional tuition initiatives
  • Grow revenue in auxiliary services, summer programs, housing, dining, events, and other/new activities
  • Expand philanthropy and sponsored projects
3. Modernize Systems, Facilities, & Operations
  • Upgrade IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and student systems
  • Renew facilities and pinpoint essential new projects that support state and university goals
  • Streamline administrative processes to reduce friction for students and employees
Metrics (to be finalized by team in next 30-90 days):
0/2
Annual balanced budgets by FY27 (with use of bridge funds)
0%
~50% deficit reduction by FY27 ($12.4M to ~$6.2M)
0%
Full deficit elimination by FY30 via revenue growth, efficiencies, and advocacy
$2/$9.7
Recurring revenue growth: ~$9.7M by FY30
$0/$6.5
Recurring cost efficiencies: ~$6.5M by FY30
$0/$4.7
System/state additions: ~$4.7M by FY30
$6.4/$13.8
Reserves: ≥30 days operating expenditures (~$13.8M)
Operational Focus & Roles:
Foster a disciplined, transparent, and data-driven culture with campuswide financial clarity. Reduce discretionary spending and prioritize modernization. IT and facilities plan proactively and leverage technology to expand capacity. Academic and administrative units drive efficiency, student success, and financial impact.
President
champions fiscal discipline and communicates progress.
Senior leadership
drives budget planning, accountability, and technology adoption; ensures budget discipline, resource alignment, and advocacy for funding.
Faculty
innovate programs, advise, and support retention.
Staff
improve processes, deliver student services, and steward resources.
Students
participate in shared governance and use resources responsibly.
Exploration & Pilots (Examples):
  • Shared services across CSCU
  • Zero-based budgeting with performance-based incentives
  • Administrative realignment
  • Public-private partnerships (housing, workforce hubs, research spaces)
  • Philanthropic and naming opportunities aligned to strategic priorities
Commitment 2
Distinctively WestConn
Focus: Welcome • Weave • Widen—integrating Student Success, Community and Workforce Engagement and Academic Agility
Purpose: Leverage WestConn's identity as Connecticut's largest 4-year Hispanic-Serving Institution and most diverse public university to deliver a student-ready, community-engaged, and workforce-aligned liberal arts and professional education. Ensure every student is welcomed into an inclusive community, woven into coordinated support networks, and provided with wide-ranging, agile academic opportunities aligned with community and workforce needs.
Strategies:
1. High-Impact Student Experience
  • Scale mentorship (faculty, staff, peers, affinity groups)
  • Embed applied learning (internships, clinicals, industry projects)
  • Strengthen early student alert systems
  • Institutionalize First-Year and Transfer Experience
  • Increase communication on workforce skill expectations
2. Close Equity Gaps & Advance Belonging
  • Expand culturally responsive services
  • Recognize linguistic diversity; award credit for ESL/heritage fluency
  • Recommitment to and build on our student success team model
  • Deliver intentional interventions (SAP, midterm plans, probation supports)
  • Co-locate support resources; reduce registration barriers
3. Refresh & Realign Academic Programs
  • Continue to deliver a student-ready, community-engaged, and workforce-aligned liberal arts and professional education
  • Align programs with demand and completion bottlenecks
  • Increase agility in program refresh/revision
  • Guide new data-driven program development; redesign or sunset low-demand offerings
  • Expand online/hybrid pathways, micro-credentials, non-credit
Metrics (to be finalized by team in next 30-90 days):
73%
First-to-second year retention
≥78% by Fall 2028
53%
Six-year graduation rate
≥60%
TBD
Equity gap reduction
≥5pp in graduation
TBD
Students in high-impact practices
≥70% of undergraduate students
TBD
New/refreshed programs
≥5 aligned to demand/workforce
TBD
Improved student satisfaction
student services, campus climate, academic experience
Operational Focus & Roles:
Coordinated student supports, clear pathways, and shared responsibility are central to driving student retention and success. Investments prioritize teaching faculty, staff, belonging/equity, agility, advising, and career readiness.
President
champions a supportive, student-ready, HSI-centered identity.
Senior Leadership
scales advising, mentorship, applied learning, and ensures accountability through dashboards.
Faculty
integrate mentorship, redesign programs, foster applied learning, partner with student service/support units, and drive innovation.
Staff
deliver wraparound support, interventions, and student-centered data-driven services and outreach
Students
engage in opportunities and work-based learning, use resources, provide feedback, and participate in mentorship.
Exploration & Pilots:
  • Applied learning initiative
  • Assess department synergies for school realignment
  • Expand online degree-completion program
  • Living & Learning Communities
  • Flexible calendars, stackable credentials, competency-based pilots
  • Workforce credentials embedded in majors
Commitment 3
Regional Anchor & Opportunity Engine
Focus: Community Impact • Workforce Alignment • Partnerships
Purpose: Expand opportunity and strengthen Western Connecticut's economic vitality. Connect education, workforce development, and community well-being.
Strategies:
1. Strengthen K–12, Transfer, & Community Pipelines
  • Deepen partnerships with local schools and districts
  • Expand tuition programs and transfer pathways
  • Launch pre-college, early-college, weekend, accelerated, and summer programs
2. Build Regional Academic & Business Innovation Hubs
  • Develop hubs/clusters for talent needs and academic strengths
  • Coordinated network linking K–12, CT State, employers, and civic partners
  • Explore currency for academically strong learning
3. Expand Workforce-Aligned Learning & Partnerships
  • Credit-bearing applied learning across majors
  • Assign value to training opportunities provided by employers
  • Formalize partnerships in high-demand fields
  • Grow employer partnerships, cohort-based pathways
  • Expand public-service pipelines
4. Increase Regional Access & Affordability
  • Scale tuition initiatives
  • Pilot creative affordability by design tuition models
  • Expand online/hybrid pathways for working adults
Metrics (to be finalized by team in next 30-90 days):
0
25% increase in K–12/transfer pipelines
TBD
≥25% of students in work-based/industry-aligned learning
3/10
≥10 new/expanded partnerships with measurable outcomes
0/500
≥500 students in tuition/access programs annually
0/100
≥100 students earning industry credentials through hubs annually
TBD
Improved post-graduation outcomes
measure to be determined
Operational Focus & Roles
Shift resources toward external engagement and workforce alignment.
President/Senior Leaders
Build employer relations, advocate for the university, foster collaboration, convene business/civic/education leaders, align with community and workforce goals, secure investments, participate in boards, volunteer, manage innovation hubs, and oversee partnerships.
Academic Affairs/Deans
Develop programs using community and workforce data.
Enrollment/Marketing
Expand pipelines, access initiatives, and reach new student populations.
Faculty
Integrate and embed applied learning, micro-credentials, and project-based work into academic offerings.
Staff
Support and facilitate internships, career placement, advising, and transfer navigation.
Students
Engage in internships, learning opportunities, credentials, and pathway programs.
Exploration & Pilots:
  • Regional hub-and-spoke and educational ecosystem models
  • Corporate upskilling academies
  • Public-private partnerships for labs, housing, workforce centers
  • Micro-credential stacks co-designed with employers
  • Flexible calendars for working learners
  • Competency-based and prior learning credits expansion
Commitment 4
Culture of Shared Leadership & Renewal
Focus: Trust • Transparency • Participation • Accountability
Purpose: Strengthen trust, communication, and shared governance; invest in people; address silos, accountability, and communication gaps.
Strategies:
1. Foster Trust through Transparency & Shared Governance
  • Predictable communication, regular updates, accessible dashboards
  • Strengthen consultation and shared governance structures
  • Increase visibility and clarity on decisions, timelines, roles
  • Ensure cross-divisional alignment and engagement
2. Invest in Leadership Development & Growth
  • Launch campuswide leadership program
  • Expand professional development, particularly in data literacy, AI, advising, retention, and engagement
  • Recognize teamwork, innovation, service
  • Quick-impact initiatives to strengthen campus culture
3. Build Accountability & Shared Purpose
  • Clarify expectations for retention, advising, student success and associated systems
  • Use data to guide improvements
  • Reward collaboration, transparency, service
  • Ensure clear roles, expectations, feedback loops
Metrics (to be finalized by team in next 30-90 days):
TBD
≥70% positive ratings on climate survey (trust, communication, belonging)
TBD
≥80% participation in governance, forums, development
TBD
10% improvement in faculty/staff retention
TBD
Increased cross-divisional participation
Operational Focus & Roles
Intentionality, clarity, and persistent communication are central to building a transparent and trusting campus culture.
Leadership (President & Senior Leadership)
Model transparency, share decisions openly, encourage feedback, lead with humility, structure collaboration, champion professional growth, and promote shared ownership.
Supervisors/Managers
Clarify roles and expectations, foster supportive environments.
Faculty & Staff
Actively participate in governance, curriculum, climate initiatives, and student success; engage in development, teamwork, and culture-building; support collective ownership and share responsibility.
Students
Influence campus culture through leadership and feedback, embracing shared ownership.
Exploration & Pilots:
  • Shared Governance enhancement and understanding initiatives (e.g. shared governance-leadership retreats/work sessions)
  • Employee leadership program/academy
  • Recognition/incentive systems
  • Quick-impact initiatives (acceleration teams)
  • Encourage and incentivize pilots, risk-taking, and innovation
Commitment 5
Creating a Campus Where Every Person Thrives
Focus: Belonging & Equity in Action
Purpose: Strengthen all other commitments by closing equity gaps, developing diverse talent, and ensuring inclusion. Model outcomes-driven belonging as Connecticut's largest public Hispanic-Serving Institution.
Strategies:
1. Close Equity & Achievement Gaps
  • Implement a regular equity assessment or scorecard
  • Expand support for underrepresented students through pre-college, bridge, and evidence-based programs (e.g., PASS, EA²P Bridge, First-Gen, peer coaching)
  • Launch a finish line initiative for stop-out/near-graduate students
  • Implement an equity rubric or assessment for major decisions
2. Diversify & Develop Workforce
  • Expand training and leadership development
  • Deploy an Inclusive Search Playbook
  • Build Grow-Our-Own Fellowship Network
  • Launch Community-to-Campus hiring partnership
  • Implement an equity leadership accelerator
3. Build Culture of Belonging & Psychological Safety
  • Advance inclusion, equity, belonging in development and services
  • Introduce belonging pulse surveys and/or check-ins
  • Create/formalize n inclusive pedagogy and leadership academy
  • Explore funding/support for equity-based research
  • Host frequent leadership listening sessions and activate feedback loops prioritizing action
  • Support identity-affirming spaces and programming
  • Foster respect for diverse perspectives
4. Advance Hispanic-Serving Mission & Regional Partnerships
  • Develop an HSI Innovation Hub/Center
  • Conduct a bilingual campus experience audit
  • Launch Latino family initiatives (e.g. academy, cohort)
  • Grow HSI Scholars, bilingual pathways, Somos WestConn Summit
Metrics (to be finalized by team in next 30-90 days):
TBD
Annual belonging/equity milestones met
TBD
TBD
URM retention gap ≤ 3 percentage points by 2030

TBD
URM graduation gap ≤ 4 percentage points by 2030
TBD
Belonging Index ≥ 85% by 2030
TBD
Supervisor training participation = 100%
0/$2
HSI-related external funding ≥ $2M by 2030
TBD
Faculty & Staff Diversity
TBD annual improvement benchmarks
Operational Focus & Roles
President
Inclusive leadership; climate expectations; equity dashboard; accountability; campuswide integration
Senior Leadership
Budget/policy alignment; DEI visibility; belonging actions; equity data; service oversight
Faculty
Inclusive pedagogy; mentorship; equity; student success; advisor/mentor roles
Staff
Belonging; climate/accessibility; well-being; student services; training/collaboration
HR/ODEI/Student Affairs
Training; hiring; climate reporting; belonging initiatives; cross-group integration
Students
Peer researchers; belonging ambassadors; cultural leaders; feedback; HSI engagement; mentorship
Exploration & Pilots:
  • Guide/playbook for inclusive searches
  • Short certification focused on practical inclusion strategies (e.g., Equity in Practice micro-credential)
  • 360 belonging review
  • Equity investment fund
  • Digital Inclusion Index: measure of technology access and use differences among populations