Wilkes University has released a draft of its Community Belonging and Engagement Strategic Plan and they seek feedback from students and staff. The plan outlines a five-year roadmap aimed at embedding belonging and engagement into every level of campus life.
The Spring 2026 draft plan is now open for a 30-day campus feedback period before final approval and implementation in Fall 2026.
According to the document, the plan’s purpose is to “foster a supportive, welcoming campus climate” by aligning student, faculty and staff development with the university’s mission. It emphasizes creating “a sense of security and acceptance that allows individuals to thrive” while encouraging active participation in campus life.
Unlike previous efforts, this plan shifts responsibility from a single office to the entire institution.
“Unlike past initiatives that were led primarily by one office and that office would be the Office of Diversity Initiatives, this plan invites the entire campus community to be a part of fostering belonging and engagement,” said Dr. LaFleur Small.
She explained that the new framework addresses concerns about unclear strategy and limited resources in prior initiatives.
“This plan addresses some concerns that exist before about the lack of clear strategy and resources. We’re aiming to translate discussions into actionable outcomes,” Small said. “It’s the first time we’re trying to create a process whereby we can push for community change and move in the right direction.”
The plan weaves belonging into core institutional functions, including hiring practices, curriculum development, leadership evaluation, student support services and community partnerships, rather than treating it as a stand-alone initiative.
“By weaving these values into all areas of campus life, we create shared responsibility,” Small said. “So the whole entire campus is responsible for creating real and sustained cultural change. It’s not just the responsibility of the Office of Diversity Initiatives, but all of us as a campus community to create a space where everyone feels comfortable.”
She added that the strategic plan reflects the university’s existing mission.
“Our mission reads: to empower our students, with transformative educational experiences, civic values, and transferable skills through mentorship, individualized opportunities and innovative teaching and scholarship in an inclusive environment,” Small said. “The creation of this strategic plan allows us to live our mission.”
The framework is built around five pillars: Workforce Excellence, Inclusive Culture, Equitable Policies and Systems, Community Engagement and Data-Driven Accountability.
Under Workforce Excellence, the aims to expand outreach and recruitment efforts, diversity hiring panels and strengthen leadership development programs.
The Inclusive Culture pillar focuses on ongoing training, climate assessments and the expansion of employee resources groups such as the Faculty Advisory Council and University Staff Advisory Council. It also calls for work-life balance policies and trauma-informed wellness resources.
Equitable Policies and Systems include auditing human resources policies, revising promotion and tracking advancement data to ensure fairness and transparency.
Community Engagement emphasizes partnerships, volunteerism and university-wide town halls to maintain dialogue and accountability.
The fifth pillar, Data-Driven Accountability, outlines the development of a public dashboard and annual reports to track representation, retention, engagement metrics and climate survey results.
Small said transparency will be central to the plan’s success.
“We aim to be very transparent with students and the campus community,” she said.
The plan includes quarterly monitoring reports from task force leaders as well as annual evaluations measuring progress toward established goals.
“There’s several touch points,” Small said. “At least quarterly, there will be some reports that we’ll be asking the task force leaders from each of the areas to provide to the steering committee. We’ll get reports highlighting some success, highlighting some challenges, any necessary adjustments that may need to be made.”
Annual evaluations will incorporate surveys and focus groups involving students, faculty and staff.
“We should be able to get feedback from the students, faculty and staff through surveys, focus groups throughout the course of the five years, and we can make adjustments to the action plans as necessary,” she said.
A centralized dashboard will allow students to visually track progress over time.
“In the strategic plan, we have a centralized dashboard, a reporting system that will be developed,” Small said. “It allows you to track progress visually and very transparently. I anticipate that we will have that established by the end of the first year.”
While several pillars focus on faculty and staff development, Small emphasized that those efforts directly affect students.
“Endeavors designed for faculty and staff success ultimately lead to student success,” she said.
Retaining talented faculty and staff, she explained, strengthens instruction, research and campus engagement.
“If we attract and keep talented faculty and staff at the institution, it ultimately will impact the student experience, student educational and social experiences,” Small said.
The plan also includes commitments to mentorship programs, inclusive curriculum development, equitable hiring practices and student involvement in decision-making.
Students can expect to see strengthened relationships with local organizations as part of the Community Engagement pillar.
“Students will see Wilkes continuing to work and supporting local organizations such as the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce, the NAACP, the city of Wilkes-Barre,” Small said. “Something we already do, but we will continue to strengthen these relationships.”
These partnerships aim to expand civic engagement opportunities and reinforce the university’s role within the broader community.
Although faculty and staff have provided feedback so far, Small said student input has been limited.
“So far, no student feedback. We want student feedback,” she said. “If this can spark some student interest, I’d be very excited. So far the response has only been from faculty and staff. We’ve got no student feedback, and I strongly encourage, and we want to solicit student feedback.”
The draft will remain open for campus review for 30 days before the Steering Committee finalizes revisions.
When asked what students should take away from the plan, Small offered a direct message.
“They belong here,” she said. “This plan is to send a message to all students that we see them and we value their experience. And that they should be supported and empowered to fully engage in campus life and that they can bring their authentic selves into our community.”
If approved after the feedback period, the final Community Belonging and Engagement Strategic Plan will take effect in Fall 2026, guiding university policy and culture through 2031.
University leadership says the plan is intended not as a symbolic document, but as a measurable, evolving framework designed to create long-term, institution-wide change.
Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to review the draft and submit feedback before the close of the comment period.