Academic Affairs Mission

Academic Affairs Mission

Weber State University is a dual-mission, regional, comprehensive university that transforms lives by educating students of diverse backgrounds and skill levels, while remaining committed to academic and teaching excellence. In our contemporary democracy and information–based economy (both of which require an increasingly educated population), WSU’s open access mission seeks to extend the reach and benefits of higher education to the greatest number of students.

The WSU curriculum combines deep disciplinary learning in a major with broad interdisciplinary training in general education, community-engaged learning, and professionally relevant experiences. This combination lays the foundation for sound intellectual and professional development, creative problem solving, responsible local and global citizenship, and meaningful life-long careers. In a world in which the careers of tomorrow might not yet exist, WSU strikes a balance between promoting local workforce development and encouraging students to invest educationally for successful and productive lives in a swiftly changing, globalized economy.

Academic Affairs Statement of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

The staff and faculty of Academic Affairs at Weber State University hold ourselves accountable for providing equitable access to high-quality education and fostering an inclusive environment in which a rich diversity of learners can thrive. Nothing less is required to fulfill our mission as an open enrollment institution committed to education as the central means for promoting human dignity, self-determination, and social justice.  We do this by:

  • Recognizing the experiences of underserved students and supporting their sense of belonging to the university community.
  • Adopting an equity lens, whereby we identify and remove all inequities experienced by underserved students, whether these inequities are individual discriminatory actions or institutional inequities.
  • Resisting narratives of blame and deficits.
  • Critically analyzing the ways in which the institution fails to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion. The analysis focuses on all aspects of divisional functioning from the academic departments (addressing course, and pedagogy), enrollment services (enrollment, registrar, advising, and financial aid and scholarships), co-curricular offerings and activities, and broader university functions (hiring, training, and retaining faculty and staff).
  • Embracing our responsibility to share resources, skills, relationships, and opportunities with all students.
  • Recruiting, hiring, supporting, and sustaining diverse faculty, staff, and administrators.

Our dedication to creating educational experiences that advance equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice requires thoughtful, strategic actions, sustained commitment, and meaningful accountability by all members of the Academic Affairs team.

 

Academic Affairs Strategic Initiatives

  1. Develop retention and completion initiatives that will focus on interventions and checkpoints for students who have completed 75% of their program, rethinking and redesigning gateway classes, and alternative scheduling strategies to address the needs of non-traditional students.
  2. Create a more inclusive culture through initiatives designed to address equity gaps in outcomes, increase support for and retention of underrepresented faculty, and curriculum-oriented initiatives to promote inclusion through incrased awareness of EDI issues and preparation of students to engage in a diverse workforce.
  3. Enhancing interdisciplinary program innovation between academic units by reexamining the processes to support collaborations at the course and program level, developing an inventory and marketing current interdisciplinary initiatives as a branded experience to prospective students, and identifying potential innovations with high market demand.
  4. Recruit, retain, and engage 25+ students by identifying and resourcing degrees/programs/Gen Ed requirements that would benefit from online or other flexible forms of delivery. Funding scholarships for full and part-time adult learners, including those with some college and no degree or are close to a credential or degree.
  5. Promote personal connections and academic excellence by offering mentoring opportunities, high-impact educational experiences, and project-based learning courses (e.g., regular or special topics) as part of the major, even when they do not meet enrollment minimums. Finding resources to weave such activities throughout the student experience within the academic department and in the curriculum for both lower- and upper-division courses.