Enrollment and Academic Plan
DRAFT Plan and Giving Feedback
The Enrollment and Academic Plan provides a path to meet OSU-Cascades’ goals of serving 2,200 students by the fall of 2030, building academic programs that fulfill the mission of the university, support students and employers in Central Oregon, and grow capacity for scholarship that helps the nation and the region thrive. The plan is informed by and supports Oregon State University’s strategic plan for 2024 to 2030 Prosperity Widely Shared: The Oregon State Plan.
The enrollment strategy considers actions for improved retention, increased transfer enrollment, increases in enrollment in specific existing programs, new undergraduate and graduate programs, credit-bearing certificates, and unique online programs in which OSU-Cascades contributes significantly to design and instruction in the program. These actions are currently modeled at a high level and need discussion and refinement.
Goals and Values
The plan is a key part of achieving six goals:
- Serve 2,200 students at OSU-Cascades by the fall of 2030.
- Improve retention and graduation rates.
- Equalize retention and graduation rates across all student populations.
- Meet needs of students, businesses, and communities of Central Oregon.
- Build scholarship capacity in selected areas in support of Prosperity Widely Shared.
- Build a breadth of academic programs, scholarship and engagement appropriate for a research-1, land-grant university.
The actions to meet those goals will be informed by the values articulated in OSU-Cascades’ pillars of innovation and creativity, health and wellness, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion.
DRAFT Plan and Materials
Development of the Enrollment and Academic Plan is underway, in consultation with university faculty, staff and students, and the Central Oregon community.
Opportunities to Engage and Provide Feedback
Open discussion forums and other engagement opportunities will be posted here when details are available.
Additionally, campus leadership will engage directly with AFC, SEC, ASCC, academic programs, Central Oregon community and business sectors, and OSU and college leadership in Corvallis.
Open Q&A sessions on Draft Enrollment and Academic Plan
All in RAYH 202 with the one noted exception.
April 3, 3-4:30 p.m.
April 9, 12-1 p.m. – RAYH 207
April 9, 4 to 5 p.m.
April 10, 12-1 p.m.
April 11, 8:30-10 a.m.
April 11, 2-3 p.m.
Faculty lunch to discuss draft structure and academic program plans
April 11, 12:15-1:30 p.m. Christine and Sherm will give an overview of the draft academic structure plan and the draft enrollment and academic program plan, with time for questions.
Discussion with SEC at regularly scheduled meeting
April 9, 2-3 p.m.
Meetings with individual program faculty
Major Milestones
- By the end of May 2024, have clarity on programs to be started in Fall 2025.
- By the end of fall 2024, identify specific actions around the enrollment strategies and who will lead them.
- By the end of fall 2024, establish a clear process for individual and collective faculty input on the plan and its evolution.
- By the end of winter 2025, have a 6-year plan for program development.
- By the end of winter 2025, have a process defined for annual review and modification of the plan.
Introductory Message from Chancellor and Dean Bloomer
March 14, 2024
Dear Colleagues:
Attached is a draft Enrollment and Academic Plan for 2024-2030 for OSU-Cascades. The most important thing about the draft is that it is intended as a point of departure for discussion. Many aspects of the plan need validation, discussion, and revision in consultation with OSU-Cascades faculty, staff, students, academic leadership at OSU, and the Central Oregon community. It is not a final product. I wanted to get this to you prior to spring break so you had a chance to review and consider it before we start discussions about it in spring term. The draft plan, this introductory note, and a tentative schedule for discussions (which will continually be updated) will be available on a web site I will share with you after break. This will be updated with information as our discussions proceed this spring.
The plan tries to address three things, each of which needs discussion and refinement by faculty, staff, and students:
- A strategy to meet the enrollment target of serving 2,200 students at OSU-Cascades by the fall of 2030. This part of the plan identifies types of actions to grow enrollment (including helping existing programs to grow) and initial targets for growth from those actions.
- New program opportunities and an order in which to stand up those new programs.
- A process to identify and advance focused areas of research and scholarship, aligned with Prosperity Widely Shared and OSU-Cascades’ academic strategy, to inform hiring of faculty with scholarship responsibilities and investment in facilities and equipment.
The plan draws on information from previous plans, student interest, discussions at the fall faculty retreat and with program coordinators, projections of occupational demand, and work that faculty and staff are doing now (not all of which may be captured here yet). When finalized, it will provide a roadmap that will evolve annually as we assess progress, learn what works, or circumstances around us change.
The major overall planning milestones for work on the plan are:
- By the end of May 2024 have clarity on programs to be started in Fall 2025.
- By the end of fall 2024 identify specific actions around the enrollment strategies in Appendix A and who will lead them.
- By the end of fall 2024 establish a clear process for individual and collective faculty input on the plan and its evolution.
- By the end of winter 2025 have a 6-year plan for program development.
- By the end of winter 2025 have a process defined for annual review and modification of the plan.
The next steps for this discussion for the balance of the academic year will include conversations with leadership, at open faculty forums, with faculty by programs, with program coordinators, with staff who will support the plan, with AFC and SEC, with students and student government, with business and community leaders, and with academic leadership here and in Corvallis. We are building a tentative schedule for those meetings and discussions which will be available at the beginning of spring term.
There is a Box folder with an Excel model for the enrollment projections, the previous academic plans, and some of the assessments of occupational and student demand used for the draft plan. If you would like to dig into any of that just let me know.
Please review the plan as you have a chance (the first 9 pages are the main part---the bits after that are summaries of various data or more detail). Discuss it with colleagues, any of the academic leadership or campus colleagues in Corvallis and ask any questions you like. We’ll get a detailed schedule of the various discussion opportunities noted above posted on the web site as it is available.
Thank you so much for your work for OSU-Cascades and your engagement in this planning.
Very best,
Sherm
Sherman H. Bloomer
Chancellor and Dean
Oregon State University-Cascades