The Nebraska State College System plans to critique and evaluate Nebraska’s state colleges, including Wayne State College, in their Strategic Plan Task Force set to take effect in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The Strategic Plan Task Force is a plan implemented in the Nebraska State College System that evaluates the three state colleges—Wayne State, Peru, and Chadron State—and determines which areas of the state colleges need improvement. NSCS Chancellor Paul Turman believes student success, academic quality, affordability and workforce development are the primary goals of the task force, and works to help students achieve those goals as efficiently as possible.

“We ask students, ‘What’s our goal in 2025 for Wayne State or Peru or Chadron?’” Turman said. “We will have metrics and data elements to determine whether our goals are being met or if we’re making progress on the types of goals that we want.”

The Strategic Plan Task Force is composed of eight individuals from each of the state colleges. In addition, according to Turman, several members of the NSCS Board of Trustees are also on the board, adding up to 32 members total. The task force is set to hold their first meeting on April 10 to discuss their goals for the next five years.

The task force at Wayne State is composed of eight individuals from the college and the community of Wayne: Joni Irlmeier, Kristi Fox, Steve Elliot, Ashley Van Meeteran, Dave Bohnert, John Dunning, Kevin Halle and Leslie Bebee.

“We’ll hopefully look back and say we’ve met the goals we set,” Turman said. “It may mean more aggressive measures, but in the long run, I feel the efforts will be worth it.”

The task force plans to work with NSCS throughout 2019 to determine the metrics and goals for the state colleges, including Wayne State. The NSCS Board of Trustees intend to vote on the final 2025 strategic plan on Sep. 13, 2019.