During Summer and Fall 2026, Provost Williams is listening to and engaging with the Portland State community while advancing several immediate priorities in support of students.
These priorities connect listening with action. They focus on strengthening the student experience, supporting enrollment and retention, responsibly stewarding PSU’s academic programs and structures, and identifying opportunities for future growth. This page will be updated as initiatives move forward and additional opportunities for campus engagement are scheduled.
Listening
Listening and engagement are central to understanding what is working well at PSU, where students and employees encounter barriers, and what practical improvements the university can make. These conversations will help inform both near-term actions and longer-term planning.
Current actions
- Student-facing staff: Listening sessions with staff who work directly with students are well underway. These conversations focus on the day-to-day student experience, operational barriers and opportunities to improve coordination and service.
- Academic leadership: Sessions with associate deans, assistant deans and department chairs will take place during Fall 2026.
- Faculty and staff: Additional opportunities for faculty and staff participation will be scheduled throughout the fall.
- Students: Student leaders will be engaged during the fall term
- Broader PSU Community: More sessions will be held in Winter and Spring term to hear from the broader PSU community.
Listening sessions are designed to identify what PSU should preserve, where students and faculty experience unnecessary friction, and which operational improvements may be achievable over the next several months.
Enrollment Stabilization
PSU is taking coordinated action to support new student enrollment, improve student retention and help students make consistent progress toward graduation.
Current actions
- START: New student enrollment initiatives: Coordinated summer and early-fall initiatives are underway to increase the percentage of newly admitted students that enroll in fall term. This work will continue through the end of September.
- STAY: Course waitlists: Beginning August 10, a coordinated initiative between Academic Schools/Colleges, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success, the Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment and Strategic Engagement, and the Office of Information Technology will use course demand and waitlist information to identify enrollment barriers, assess where additional capacity may be possible and help students find timely alternatives when space is limited.
- STAY & FINISH: Early alerts and DFW initiatives: Led by a coordinated effort between Academic Schools/Colleges, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success, and the Office of Information Technology, an expanded early-alert initiative will reduce DFWs and increase retention is planned for late September. A DFW initiative is being planned by the Vice Provost for the Office of Academic Innovation to roll out in November. These retention initiatives will strengthen coordination among faculty, advisors, and student-support teams so that students experiencing academic or engagement challenges can be connected with assistance earlier.
- FINISH: Course completion: Planning is underway to address the need to center students in course pathways, scheduling, prerequisites, student-support needs, and other potential barriers to successful completion.
Together, these efforts are intended to help students begin their PSU experience successfully, remain enrolled and make meaningful progress toward their degrees.
Academic Restructuring
PSU is reviewing its academic structure to ensure that colleges, schools and programs are positioned to support student success, academic quality, collaboration and long-term sustainability. This work will be informed by campus engagement and will move through established university and shared-governance processes.
Current actions
- College restructuring and engagement: The Task Force on College Restructuring and Engagement has begun its work. The task force will examine PSU’s academic organizational structure, engage members of the campus community and develop recommendations that support students, faculty, staff and the university’s academic mission.
- General education reform: The General Education Task Force continues its work to develop a more coherent and student-first approach to general education. Its work is focused on simplifying degree pathways while maintaining academic rigor, essential learning outcomes, and the distinctive strengths of a Portland State education.
- University Studies transition planning: Planning related to University Studies will proceed through established university and collective bargaining processes and in coordination with the university’s broader general education work. Students will receive clear information, advising and transition support well before any changes take effect.
- Academic program action per PIVOT: Deans are beginning the formal processes required to consider discontinuing an academic program. Any proposed program discontinuation will proceed through the applicable university and Faculty Senate shared-governance processes.
Updates will be shared as this work advances and as opportunities for campus participation become available.
Growth and Revitalization
PSU is also identifying academic programs and student-centered initiatives with the potential for responsible growth, renewed investment and greater impact.
Current actions
- The Provost is reviewing initial priorities for academic program growth and revitalization.
- Potential academic programs and non-academic initiatives will be identified for immediate and long-term growth. Trade-offs between budget neutrality and where to put limited resources will be an important consideration.
- The resulting priorities will help guide coordinated academic planning, resource development, recruitment and marketing, and future investment as resources allow.