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WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World


West Texas A&M University
WT 125 From the Panhandle to the World

The WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World Generational Plan looks forward a few decades, rather than a few years. We are setting the target high: By 2035, when WT reaches its 125th anniversary, we will have attained doctoral status in the Carnegie classifications of universities with a powerfully distinctive mission.

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The University Strategic Plan, The Pioneering Spirit: Pursuit of WT 125, was informed and created from the governing guidance of the University Generational Plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

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“West Texas A&M University has been committed to understanding the aspirations of the young people of this region for more than a century. Their hopes and dreams have always been an important part of our role as a regional university, and we will continue to meet those needs through academic purpose and service for the next 100 years. WT 125 is essentially a plan to do just that—create a future for West Texas A&M University that is responsive to the needs of the students, faculty and staff, the Panhandle and the world.”
—Walter V. Wendler

MAXIM ONE

Serve the Panhandle and Its Heart – The I-27 Corridor and Route 66

ASPIRATION

The University’s relationship to its community is critical. Schools, industries, businesses and cultural activities all play a pivotal role in building a quality place to live and study. This is a mutually reinforcing phenomenon.

MAXIM TWO

Embrace Our Community College Partnerships

ASPIRATION

The University must cultivate a modern version of itself and understand historical imperatives that affect its role in serving students in partnership with community colleges as a means to cost effectiveness and impact on various communities.

MAXIM THREE

Build Undergraduate Academic Excellence

ASPIRATION

The quality of the student body, the quality of teaching and advising available to students and the quality of the faculty who work with undergraduates all contribute to the undergraduate academic experience. The strength of a Regional Research University is defined, in part, by the quality of the core humanities, arts and sciences programs offered. While our programs are sound, improvement and strength of identity are needed. Essential to success is recruiting high-achieving students. We need to engage the very best freshman scholars.

MAXIM FOUR

Focus Graduate Academics on Regional Opportunities

ASPIRATION

Exceptional faculty attract exceptional graduate students. The best universities have the most accomplished graduate students and research programs. It is that simple. Our move to doctoral status is driven and sustained by carefully conceived graduate programs. These programs must be responsive to the needs of the Texas Panhandle and similar geographic regions.

MAXIM FIVE

Learn and Live: Residential Education Experience

ASPIRATION

Identification with and capabilities for providing a complete experience that includes leadership development and life skills should never fall below any other priority of the institution.

MAXIM SIX

Efficiently Utilize Resources

ASPIRATION

The quality to which we aspire will be achieved with appropriate material support. Resources may not lead to quality, but quality always leads to resources. Quality first.

MAXIM SEVEN

Provide Access to Insight: Intellectual Resources

ASPIRATION

The core of the campus, at its heart, is the flow of intellectual resources, insight and wisdom. No aspiration of WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World will be achieved without substantial commitments in information technology, the Cornette Library, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum and other resources that power creative thinking and provide insights to students, faculty and the Panhandle community.

MAXIM EIGHT

Engage and Empower Excellence in Human Capital

ASPIRATION

Faculty and staff are the University. The University must recruit, reward and retain the very best. The sine qua non of all faculty and staff at every level must be teaching and the support thereof in its diverse manifestations.

MAXIM NINE

Foster Locally Responsive Research and Infrastructure

ASPIRATION

Sustain excellence in research, scholarship and creative activities that first address local needs and ideals. Excellence in research and scholarship will attract human and material resources. This is a critical goal.

MAXIM TEN

Purposefully Lead, Govern and Organize

ASPIRATION

Great universities exist where there is enlightened leadership. This is true at the state, system and university levels. It is true from within and from without. It comes from every rank of university life: staff, faculty and administration. No segment has the corner on the market of innovation and insight. Recognition of this will make WT better positioned to lead.

WT 125 Scholarship Endowment

The scholarship is an investment in students from the top 26 counties of the Panhandle who desire to focus their study and career on the aspirations and needs of the citizens that the University serves and who possess a spirit of self-reliance, courage, resourcefulness and a desire to be part of something larger than themselves.

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WT has been the source of higher education in the Texas Panhandle for more than 100 years. Our long-standing commitment has always been to serve both the students and the region of the Panhandle.