Commitment to Engaging Our Community: Progress to Date
This page will be periodically updated with our progress on the strategic plan priorities.
Commitment to Engaging Our Community
| Strategies and Actions | Owner / Status | Update |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy: Ensure that our core values govern constituent interactions with the university, everywhere they occur, so that all community members feel supported and appreciated. | ||
| Action: Prioritize and support the work of the Culture and Values Committee. |
Mitchell/Thachenkary/Bergen |
Faculty on-boarding provides overview of values and culture (2023); Staff performance evaluations focus on the integration of values in defined objectives and goals (2023); President's Learning Series has placed a significant focus on strengthening community and culture (2023); Faculty and staff on-boarding focused on the six values hosted for every new employee (2022); End-of-Year Gathering celebrates teaching excellence and service (2021); Annual Kick-Off Celebration emphasizes culture and values (2021); Annual Holiday Gathering celebrates community and culture (2021) |
| Action: Ensure all employees know our core values and incorporate them into annual reviews and goal setting. | Ploeckelman Ongoing |
Instituted annual review based on values (2023); Faculty and staff on-boarding focused on the six values hosted for every new employee (2022); CREATE hosts faculty brown bags (2022); |
| Action: Complete a biennial cultural assessment to identify strengths and opportunities. | Ploeckelman/Meyer Ongoing |
Anticipated in 2025 |
| Action: Conduct an annual employee satisfaction survey and use results to guide actions. | Ploeckelman/Meyer Ongoing |
Anticipated in 2025 |
| Action: Articulate and publicize our position and plan on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. | Mitchell/Thachenkary Ongoing |
The faculty and staff DEI Council articulate their goals annually on the MSOE DEIB website and continues to publicize the efforts of the university that support and promote the DEIB Strategic Plan, and Extraordinary Together (2023). |
| Action: Engage the community in fully implementing our culture through seminars, workshops, retreats or other deliberate training sessions. | Ploeckelman/Mitchell/Villegas Ongoing |
HR on-boarding sessions and supervisor training; DEIB Training; CREATE brown bags on values; design thinking workshops; CREATE hosts various seminars, workshops, etc. |
| Action: Continuously reinforce and sustain culture with language, traditions, celebrations, visuals on campus, and events that align with our shared values. |
Mitchell/Thachenkary/Bergen Ongoing |
Faculty and staff on-boarding focused on the six values hosted for every new employee; Annual Kick-Off Celebration emphasizes culture and values; Annual Holiday Gathering celebrates community and culture; Faculty on-boarding provides overview of values and culture; End-of-Year Gathering celebrates teaching excellence and service; Staff performance evaluations focus on the integration of values in defined objectives and goals; President's Learning Series has placed a significant focus on strengthening community and culture; MLK Day of Service; Memorial Bike Ride; Empty Bowls; DEIB Receptions and Speaker Series |
| Strategy: Increase opportunities for meaningful and significant student, faculty and staff interactions. | ||
| Action: Provide physical and digital spaces and opportunities that allow for and promote faculty, staff and student collaborations in curricular and co-curricular experiences and also with faculty and staff at other universities. | Williams/Mitchell/Valley Ongoing |
The CREATE Institute was established to provide transformative student learning experiences that connect academic, community and industry needs and includes the Center for Teaching and Learning, Hub for Experiential Learning, and the Servant-Leadership; Additional campus spaces have been designed to facilitate collaborations among community members, including Diercks Hall, Viets Tower, the STEM and Kern Centers, Dining Commons; Additional campus programs contribute to experiences including HSC Big Ideas and HacksGiving. |
| Action: Enhance purposeful extra- and co-curricular opportunities to strengthen our community on campus and online. |
Mitchell/Valley Ongoing |
The Carter Academy offers a premier bridge program and supportive living learning community to freshmen engineering students who are looking to excel in their academic success; Over 25 Division III athletic teams, as well as recreational sports and clubs in which students can participate; CREATE provides the place and space for organic collaboration; Student Affairs provides student organizations including NSBE, SWE, etc., as well as cohort programs such as the American Family Scholars Program, All-in Milwaukee, and the Rising Raiders Scholars; Residence Halls offer both an Honors and Nursing Living Learning Community, as well as cohort programming; further additional staff have been added to increase community building among and support of students. |
| Action: Commit to the resources required to maximize student outcomes. | Valley/Mitchell Ongoing |
Resources have and continue to be invested in initiatives to support student retention, persistence, and graduation, including the Raider Center for Academic Success, the Testing Center, Advocacy, Residence Life, Athletics, Career Services, Counseling and Health Services, A&P Precalculus JumpStart and corequisite programming. |
| Action: Utilize virtual environments to convene people across units and throughout the university in ways that promote communication and collaboration, including expanded presidential forums and similar events. |
Williams/Thachenkary/Bergen Ongoing |
Asynchronous and Synchronous virtual learning has been facilitated through the use of Microsoft Teams, Canvas, and EverSpring, an Online Program Management Partner; Utilizing Canvas across campus; Presidential Forums are presented in-person and simulcasted; My MSOE serves as a robust internal portal for hosting faculty/staff/students policies and procedures. The Web and Interactive Steering Committee (WISC) sets the direction and policies for the University’s website and the web and interactive operating environment based on best practices. WISC continually evaluates opportunities to communicate relevant information to appropriate audiences and take input from key stakeholders including faculty, staff and students. |
| Strategy: Increase awareness of MSOE throughout the communities we serve. | ||
| Action: Complete an analysis to determine key audiences to meet awareness objectives including those related to academics, recruitment, athletics, community and corporate engagement, alumni relations, and career connections. | Thachenkary Ongoing |
In 2018, a marketing awareness survey was completed with students to establish a baseline; Another survey was facilitated in 2023 and results have been shared at the Kick-Off Celebration, and will be used to determine how we are going to communicate; Beginning development of a 5-year follow up to measure awareness, perception, progress and opportunities for continued growth and improvement. |
| Action: Engage marketing and public relations staff to develop a reinvigorated and comprehensive marketing plan to support our strategic priorities. | Thachenkary Ongoing |
A marketing and community engagement roadmap is updated annually to ensure comprehensive support for institutional priorities. |
| Action: Engage and invite the broader MSOE community to participate in telling the MSOE story and being “brand champions/ambassadors.” | Thachenkary Ongoing |
Internal communications have been developed to help MSOE community members communicate the outstanding stories occurring, including key distinguishers for alumni, as well as data, metrics, and experiences; the MSOE Raider Roundup; an AI Microsite has been developed, and a fully integrated campus calendar has been completed. |
| Action: Engage and support student organizations in community outreach event throughout southeast Wisconsin and in competitions throughout the U.S. and the world. |
Baumgartner/Mitchell |
WE Energies STEM Center serves as Milwaukee's premier STEM destination center, creating and supporting inclusive, meaningful STEM experiences for all students to explore the possibilities of their future, regardless of where their post-high school journey may take them; Various departments across campus provide student competitions, including CAECM and EECS; Outside of the classroom, students are provided opportunities to engage the community through the American Family Senior Design Scholars, Rising Raiders Scholars, All-in MKE, and the CREATE Institute. |
| Action: Identify opportunities to increase outreach at industry events (e.g. conferences or trade shows) |
Baumgartner/Snow |
Efforts are being driven through the Center for Professional Education, as well as the Fluid Power Institute; Marketing has developed a consolidated list of sponsorships. |
| Strategy: Increase community engagement to foster deeper connections between MSOE and educational, corporate and community organizations in ways that maximize attendance and impact. | ||
| Action: Explore additional opportunities for attracting and engaging PLTW students from Wisconsin and beyond. | Bergen/Philipps Ongoing |
Host a free, annual MSOE Explore Summit for PLTW Students, attracting students from around the Midwest (2023); provide all PLTW students a $3K scholarship |
| Action: Create a “pathway into MSOE” for area high schools to broaden and deepen their relationships with the university. | Mitchell/Snow Ongoing |
Rising Raiders Scholars provides credit bearing opportunities for rising sophomores to entering college freshmen from underrepresented populations (2024); Host an orientation for high school students to learn about early-entry credit opportunities (2024); cultivated partnerships with key local high schools (2023); the CREATE Institute partners with high schools on experiential learning opportunities; STEM Center provides high school students with robust programming |
| Action: Explore additional educational partnerships with area colleges and universities. | Baumgartner Ongoing |
Established a director and associate director of Academic Partnerships (2024); increasing transfer articulation agreements with technical colleges |
| Action: Expand and deepen engagement with the community surrounding the MSOE campus. | Thachenkary/Baumgartner/Mitchell Ongoing |
Community partnerships and engagement with key partners that include MCW, MMAC, Visit MKE, Rotary MKE, Eastown, Milwaukee Bucks, Discovery World, Milwaukee Tech Hub, EDA Grant, NIST Grant, etc. (2024); Hosted first Annual HacksGiving - a partnership between AI Endowed Chair (AI Club, President's Office, VP of Student Affairs and Campus Inclusion, VP of Marketing and Community Engagement, and CREATE) (2023); Strategic outreach to key elected leaders with invitations to campus to meet Dr. Walz and engage with MSOE including Governor, Senators, Congressional representatives, state legislators and Aldermen (2023) |
| Strategy: Increase alumni involvement to better connect them with one another and with MSOE through in-person and virtual events. | ||
| Action: Conduct an alumni engagement survey to understand current engagement, barriers and opportunities—particularly for recent alumni—and repeat the survey on an annual basis. | Snow Ongoing |
University Advancement has responded to alumni engagement survey (2023); Converted to a new database (2023); leveraged new technologies to streamline giving process (2023); added additional staff; audit website |
| Action: Strengthen engagement with the Alumni Association. | Snow/Mitchell Ongoing |
Increase staffing to support the Alumni Association (2023); Created Alumni Board (2019) |
| Action: Support and enable a commitment to lifelong learning and preparedness of our alumni through robust professional education offerings and career counseling in person and online that serve their expressed needs and the demands of a continuously changing market. | Baumgartner Ongoing |
Offering new certificate and non-credit programs in AI (2024); Hired a Program Coordinator (2024); Hired Executive Director for Professional Education (2023); Launched Center for Professional Education (2023); Task force made recommendations for Center for Professional Education and non-credit opportunities (2023) |
| Action: Expand opportunities for alumni to engage with MSOE in ways that benefit them and share their experience with current students. |
Snow/Mitchell Ongoing |
Established alumni affinity groups, including the W. Wallace Cannon Jr. Alumni Society (2024); Relaunched MSOE Homecoming (2023); developing alumni leader opportunities (e.g. CREATE engages opportunities for Alumni mentors in student-based projects); Instituted a corporate board structure, including bi-laws and an emphasis on drawing from diverse professional backgrounds; Added the 10th anniversary reunion for Summer in the City |
| Strategy: Ensure satisfaction of our internal and external stakeholders in their interactions with MSOE. | ||
| Action: Conduct an internal audit to review current communications among internal and external stakeholders and evaluate staffing needs to foster effective internal and external communications. |
Thachenkary |
Launched an integrated Campus Calendar (2024), the MSOE Raider Roundup (2023), President's Forums (2023), and the Kick-Off Celebration; Audit (2022) |
| Action: Research and implement best practices for a portal for disseminating communication across campus to stakeholders. |
Thachenkary |
Leveraged data from campus audit to build an internal communications strategy (2022) |
| Action: Evaluate the need for an events planner position to coordinate internal and external special events to ensure a positive and inclusive experience whether online or in person. |
Thachenkary/Valley |
Coordinator of Residence Life Operations has been hired to support the internal operational aspects of this goal. Continue to monitor requests/demand from internal and external partners to evaluate long-term needs and resources required. |
| Action: Work with the administration, faculty and staff to maximize the impact of the Career Connections Center for alumni, students and corporate partners. |
Baumgartner |
Career Fairs drawing record numbers of employers (2024); Student graduate placements are at 99% (2024); Executing strategic plan |