Mission Statement and Strategic Plan

GOAL ONE: EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

Make substantial contributions to WSU’s goal of eliminating disparities in educational outcomes for traditionally marginalized students. Outcome disparities are particularly acute for Black, indigenous, Hispanic and Latino, first generation, and Pell-eligible students, so these populations will be of particular importance for this goal area.

Outcomes:

• By the end of FY2025, complete the equity audit process that began in 2021, including setting benchmarks to assess continuous progress.
• By the end of FY2025, institutionalize equity-minded review practices for new policy and service design and assessment and reporting processes.
• By the end of FY2028, the hiring and retention of faculty and staff from underrepresented populations will improve in line with the overall university strategic plan goals.¹
• By the end of FY2025, complete an assessment of student safety and belonging in the library. By the end of FY2028, address areas of concerns and assess for improvement.

Strategies:

• Embed a discipline of equity across all library units through a regular review of policies, practices and accountability systems.
• Develop sustained relationships with student affinity groups and campus partners based on respect and empowerment in order to strengthen a sense of belonging and to help hold the library accountable for equity-minded practice.
• Align resources and staffing so that they support campus-wide efforts to eliminate disparities in educational outcomes.

¹ Due to the small number of library faculty/staff, we are not sharing exact percentages so as not to inadvertently identify specific individuals.

GOAL TWO: RETENTION AND COMPLETION

Make substantial contributions to the WSU retention and completion goals through affordability initiatives, student support services, and inclusive and equity-minded instructional practices.

Outcomes:

• Increase the adoption of OER and other no- and low-cost course materials by 10% annually.
• By the end of FY2025, develop and implement a plan to assess the impact of OER/course materials and technology lending initiatives on student success.
• By the end of FY2025, create an information literacy (IL) strategic plan that addresses the scaffolding of IL instruction across the curriculum.
• Decrease the equity gaps in DFW rates for traditionally marginalized students, especially Hispanic and Latino, Black, indigenous, and first-generation, and Pell-eligible student ², in information literacy courses by 2% annually, and eliminate them by the end of FY2028.
• By the end of FY2026, peer learning and other specialized student supports will be established in composition and other key general education, developmental, and gateway courses.

Strategies:

• Promote affordability by providing access to information, course materials, and technology resources that our communities need, at no cost to them.
• Promote affordability by playing a leadership role in Open Educational Resources initiatives on campus.
• Align the information literacy (IL) curriculum and instructional model to integrate IL learning across the curriculum and ensure that first-year students have access to an effective introduction to IL as part of general education.
• Work with campus partners to provide intentional, specialized, and coordinated programs, classes and services for students, especially students historically underrepresented in higher education, to ensure that we are “student-ready.”

² The library has disaggregated data for these groups that show disparate outcomes. There are other demographic categories that we need to address, so this list is not exhaustive. There are additional groups for which the numbers are too low to document, but that does not lessen our commitment to identifying and addressing disparate educational outcomes.

GOAL THREE: PERSONAL CONNECTIONS AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Outcomes:

• Engagement with the library, as measured by building use, in-person and virtual service use, in-person and virtual program attendance, and other forms of engagement (internships, volunteering, etc.) will increase by 2% per year.
• The percentage of in-depth research consultations with students will increase by 5% per year.
• The percentage of in-depth curricular or research consultations with non-library faculty will increase by 5% per year.
• The percentage of students who receive specialized information instruction in their majors will increase by 5% per year.

Strategies:

• Align the information literacy curriculum and instructional model to promote greater connection and engagement with library faculty and staff across the WSU curriculum.
• Provide High Impact Educational Experiences (HIEE) through student employment in the library.
• Develop peer learning models to increase student engagement with library services and academic support.
• Expand library programming for students to create more opportunities for engagement and belonging.

GOAL FOUR: COMMUNITY ANCHOR MISSION

Contribute to the well-being and strength of the campus and local communities in which we are embedded.

Outcomes:

• The library will establish and/or deepen one community-based partnership annually, as measured by documented engagement through meetings, convening, and/or formal programming.
• By the end of FY2028, Special Collections and University Archives will have increased the number of collections, including oral histories, documenting traditionally underrepresented populations, with a special focus on the Black, Hispanic and Latino, and LGBTQ communities, by 20%.

Strategies:

• Leverage library collections, especially Special Collections and University Archives, to create opportunities for community engagement and connection.
• Foster relationships with underrepresented communities in order to strengthen Special Collections and University Archives collections and programming.
• Develop partnerships with faculty and staff participating in community-engaged learning and research in order to provide library support as part of their efforts to address social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges facing our communities, including the East Central Neighborhood of Ogden.