Academic Planning Goals and PPC Feedback

Academic Plan
December 12, 2006

The overarching goal of the University of Northern Colorado Academic Plan is to support and advance academic excellence. To that end, all university planning and budgeting decisions should recognize that the academic mission is the core of the university.

Initial goals for the academic plan are based on information the Academic Plan Steering Committee collected at 29 open forums for faculty, staff, and students held Oct. 18 to Nov. 30, 2006. During the forums, there was broad recognition that recruitment and retention of university personnel must be addressed.

The goals are intentionally broad and interrelated. Steering committee notes (italicized) are intended to clarify meaning and highlight topics mentioned frequently in open forums. They are not all-inclusive of the issues each goal may address.

With further campus input in spring 2007, the Academic Plan Steering Committee will develop measurable objectives toward achieving the goals. As noted in Charting the Future and in the steering committee’s charge, academic planning will be a continuous process that looks forward three to five years. The steering committee is committed to an iterative, inclusive, and transparent process that seeks campus-wide input in crafting and refining goals and objectives.

Goals
Recognize the primacy of and secure resources to achieve academic excellence.
This goal is about investing in academics. Teaching, learning, scholarship/creative activity and service are crucial elements of academic excellence.

To recognize the primacy of resources in improving academic excellence
Investigate the possibility of the on-line courses but realize that that is not going to save money in terms of programs and faculty. Need to assure quality.
Need more, better students in order for university to grow. Academic excellence is not achieved through numbers, through increasing class size. So we need to achieve balance.
We need to think beyond what students need in the next four years; rather, we should think about a continuing tradition of academic excellence over the next 40 years.
Invest money to attract students and/or improve students, and invest in programs that have national/international potential.
We should make sure that we are supporting our core mission at a basic level;
These do not need to be “program specific” e.g., academic excellence for first year students; graduate student professional development;

Build and support a campus environment characterized by inclusive decision-making, shared governance, diversity, and respect for all members of the university.
Involving stakeholders in making decisions lies at the heart of this goal.

We need to establish a participatory process (engage faculty and students) to accomplish this task of investing in areas or where we have viable potential to become a state, national or international leader and for which there is significant demand or need

Recruit and retain high-quality, diverse faculty, staff, and administrators.
This goal encompasses issues of compensation, workload, work environment, and professional development and support.

Look at the tenure, part-time, GA, mix to see what the breakdown is re the faculty; faculty who are full time can build the connections with the students and thus they are more likely to remain at UNC.
We have to invest in the faculty for any of this to work
Invest money to attract students and/or improve students, and invest in programs that have national/international potential. But, these investments are predicated on increased compensation for faculty and staff. Compensation, of course, being a topic that is broader than simply salaries.

Build, improve, and maintain university facilities and infrastructure appropriate to our academic mission and functions.
Infrastructure includes technology and related support.

Facilities and academics can be integrated but we need to figure out how.

Provide high-quality learning experiences for all students.
Classroom experiences, out-of-class experiences, and linkages between them are the focus of this goal.

Reward university-wide collaborative that address these future demands; (planning for the future)

We need to craft our planning around students of the future “at large” rather than just addressing needs of present students

Create broad-based and sustainable financial resources within an environment of transparency that supports the academic plan.
Fall 2006 open forums highlighted concerns about the need to increase resources, how resource decisions are made, and where resources are used.
Build an institutional identity and reputation for academic excellence.
Communicating with internal and external constituencies is key to this goal.

Look at what we are unique in offering; build and see the institutional identity.
Develop marketing for the audiences that we want to attract

Attract more out of state students by highlighting our excellent programs at all levels

Cultivate external partnerships and relationships in support of academic excellence and community engagement.
Campus and community interaction, internships, and service learning are addressed by this goal.