Derived from the Salisbury University mission and reflecting institutional values, the core goals and primary objectives of the Salisbury University Strategic Plan 2003-08 guide the University’s priorities. The plan affirms that students are central, with academic excellence the defining attribute.

Our primary purpose is education and, as a community of life-long learners, we invest in the continuous development and support of our students, faculty, and staff, and particularly those activities that advance successful living in an increasingly global society. We uphold the diametric values of inclusiveness and diversity. We recognize, respect, and embrace the innate similarities, differences, and perspectives among groups and individuals. We are dedicated to the intellectual, professional, cultural, personal, and social growth of our students and University community. Moreover, in all of our endeavors, we hold fiscal prudence as fundamental and intellectual confrontation, academic excellence, and altruism as paramount.

Salisbury University Strategic Plan 2003-2008

Working Draft: 5th Iteration for the June 6 Planning Congress

Goal 1: The University will enhance an academic and learning environment that promotes intellectual growth and success.

1. Maintain and advance academic excellence as the defining attribute of all academic programs and student learning.

· Action: Demonstrate student learning through the continuous assessment of program-relevant student learning outcomes.

· Action: Support continuous program improvement through rigorous, ongoing academic program review.

2. Support General Education as the necessary foundational experience for students. (Student Learning Goals to be attached as an appendix in final draft document)

(Note: this objective affirms the values and benefits of General Education regardless of a student’s entering status)

3. Involve each student in experiential learning, including but not limited to: service learning; civic engagement; volunteering; internships; student research; study abroad; and community outreach activities.

4. Provide resources that foster the library’s role as a learning center and that position it at the top of its performance peers.

· Action: Reinvent the library as a collaborative, community enterprise

(Note: Where is the library in comparison to peers? Is establishing an objective that "positions it at the top of its peers" too lofty a goal in a five-year period given other priorities? BP)

5. Establish funding for endowed chairs and professorships in order to foster academic distinction.

6. Assess the viability of current and potential undergraduate and graduate programs and adjust support for these programs as appropriate.

7. Provide effective and reliable classroom and computer lab technology and campus telecommunications infrastructure.

8. Promote student technology fluency in all academic disciplines, as well as faculty and staff development in the use of technology in teaching and services.

9. Develop and implement equitable and reasonable faculty workload standards.

Alternate: Develop and implement equitable faculty workload standards that are comparable to University peers.

10. Develop and implement mechanisms for enhancing faculty rewards and support.

Alternate: Develop and implement mechanisms for enhancing faculty rewards and support that reflect the goals of the University.

11. Strengthen available resources for scholarship, research, sabbatical leaves, professional activities, and other faculty development opportunities.

12. Enhance private fundraising for capital initiatives and other priorities identified in the Facilities Master Plan.

Alternate: Enhance private and public fundraising for capital initiatives and other priorities identified in the Facilities Master Plan

13. Maintain or improve faculty and staff ratios, salaries, and benefits to levels that are comparable to our peers.

Alternate: The University will maintain its commitment to having the vast majority of its instructional staff consist of tenured and tenure-track faculty, and will strive to provide healthcare, pension, and other benefits to all faculty members.

1. Increase the level of funding for need- and merit-based undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

2. Create a "Student Learning and Enrichment Center" to assist the academic achievement of students of all abilities.

3. Maintain and improve the high quality of advising, individualized for undergraduates and graduates.

· Action: Establish faculty/advisee ratios at levels consistent with BOR policies and school guidelines

· Action: Ensure that a full-time advising coordinator is on staff in all schools

4. Encourage the acquisition of "soft-skills" (i.e. non-competency-based general education skills and attributes) by supporting student portfolio development.

· Action: Encourage more faculty involvement via advising and the selection of evidence or artifacts for student portfolios

5. Improve student access to healthcare and wellness services, programs, and facilities.

6. Facilitate student access to administrative campus services through the development of a campus web portal or other IT mechanisms.

7. Examine and implement, where feasible, alternative scheduling options and support services to meet the needs of our students.

8. Sustain the national caliber Division III Athletics Program while affirming academics as the highest priority in the life of student-athletes.

9. Provide classrooms and a classroom setting that fosters effective faculty-student connections and engaged, interactive student learning, and optimizes student to faculty ratios.

Alternate: Ensure that class sizes are reasonable in order to provide effective faculty-student connections and engaged, interactive student learning in the classroom.

10. Develop and implement a more comprehensive orientation program for transfer students with the goal of deepening their connection with their peers and the University and to aid their transition and performance.

1. Provide multicultural and sensitivity training for the campus community and encourage the integration of all students into governance, social, and academic support programs.

2. Recognize, develop, and implement criteria that affirm multiple admission factors including: grade point average, academic recommendation, enhancement of campus diversity, civic engagement, extracurricular activities, leadership opportunities, written essays, standardized test scores, interviews, faculty contacts, and other factors deemed essential by the academic community.

3. Foster the growth of a student and employee population that is more reflective of regional diversity and SU’s Values.

4. Enhance and/or create more extensive support programs to increase the retention and graduation rates of minority and international students to levels that surpass our peers.

Alternate: Enhance and/or create more extensive support programs to increase the retention and graduation rates of minority and international students to levels that are comparable to the entire student body.

5. Increase visibility and accountability of specialist staff and programs campus-wide.

6. Expand academic and social practices/support for the integration of international students into SU and the local community.

7. Establish SU linkages to existing immigrant services, specifically assessing needs of immigrant populations.

8. Reorganize existing funding with an emphasis on competitive salaries to target potential diverse faculty to special/endowed positions.

9. Promote international educational opportunities as a means of broadening life experience and cross-cultural understanding for students and faculty.

1. Audit all SU strategic collaborations and targeted community outreach activities for the purpose of organizing these activities in line with institutional priorities.

2. Perform a "Regional Needs versus Institutional Capabilities Gap Analysis, including regional business, economic, community, and workforce development needs in all subject areas

3. Develop and implement a comprehensive University marketing plan that targets all internal and external audience segments.

4. Encourage and support the development of grant and sponsored research projects and programs that support the University’s mission.

5. Encourage and support the development of continuing education programs as revenue sources.

6. Establish the roles of students, faculty, and staff involved in (SU) strategic collaborations and targeted community outreach activities, and recognize and reward their contributions in line with our institutional mission and BOR priorities.

7. Establish or enhance collaborations with schools, community, government, and non-government organizations.

· Action: Respond to State "Teacher Education" initiatives by partnering with multiple communities while pursuing enhanced public/private support of those initiatives.

· Action: Respond to State "Nursing" workforce initiatives by partnering with medical professionals and local communities while pursuing enhanced public/private support of those initiatives.

· Action: Respond to State "Information Technology" workforce initiatives by partnering with regional industries and businesses while pursuing enhanced public/private support of those initiatives.

Goals: core purposes or outcomes to which the University directs its endeavors in order to accomplish its mission.  Goals directly reflect the primary purposes identified in the University’s mission and vision statements.

Objectives: quantifiable and measurable initiatives to which the University directs its priorities in order to accomplish its goals. Primary objectives are direct outcomes of University goals and should be both measurable and time-constrained.

Actions: specific steps or strategies that are necessary to accomplish objectives. Actions are vital to the annual planning process and implementation phases of a strategic plan.