University of South Carolina Aiken
 Strategic Planning Progress Report

Strategic Planning: The Path Forward

As members of the Strategic Planning Committee, you are asked to continue to conversation begun on January 31 about the next phase of our Strategic Plan for USCA. Please take the time to share your thoughts on the statements below.
 
From our last meeting, we discussed an overarching theme to guide our efforts and the possibility of continuing with a condensed version of the seven major areas into five areas as follows: Excellent Academic and Co-Curricular Programs, A Dynamic Student-Centered Environment, Superior Faculty and Staff, Building Strong Community Relations and (suggested as a starting point) Enhancing our Campus Environment. The final area would combine the former Quality Facilities and Equipment that Support the Institutional Mission and Enhanced Organizational Effectiveness. Strategic Enrollment Planning would be captured as appropriate under Excellent Academic and Co-Curricular Programs and A Dynamic Student-Centered Environment.
 
Listed under each are the areas identified by the senior administrators as “left undone” from the previous Strategic Plan or as issues that have arisen that need attention. These are suggested as a starting point for our continued discussion.

Post your comments on these here.
 

Overarching Theme: Graduate engaged learners and principled citizens.

 Excellent Academic and Co-curricular Programs

• Review General Education Requirements

• Expand Summer School Offerings

• Encourage Faculty to Explore Innovative Teaching/Pedagogy Strategies and Techniques

• Expand Initiatives Promoting Student Retention and Academic Success

• Create a Comprehensive Teaching and Learning Center

• Develop an effective Summer Program for At-Risk Students

• Create a Comprehensive and Cohesive First-Year Experience Program

• Adjust Suspension and Probation Levels

• Expand Honors Program

A Dynamic Student-Centered Environment

• Continue to use the Enrollment Planning Team to address Enrollment Management Issues.

• Create an environment and opportunities for students to be more successful (in and out of the classroom) as the top campus priority

• Expand recruitment of students beyond the CSRA

• Adjust class sizes as necessary to ensure effective student-instructor interaction

• Increase effectiveness of academic advising

• Plan for the expansion of university housing with parallel expansion of campus programs and services

• Develop ways to enhance a sense of community at USC Aiken
   

Superior Faculty and Staff

• Determine conditions affecting faculty and staff morale and develop strategies to improve these conditions

• Examine annual performance rating system for faculty

• Fund an award for teaching excellence for a part-time Instructor

• Maintain competitive incoming salaries and address salary compression

• Reduce Heavy Faculty Teaching Load

• Reduce Heavy Academic Advising aLoads

• Recruit and Retain Faculty and Staff from Diverse and Underrepresented Groups and Places

• Make wider use of the database of minorities in graduate programs to track potential candidates

• Increase ethnic, racial and gender diversity among faculty and staff at all levels

• Foster the educational and economic advancement of building and grounds employees

Building Strong Community Relations

• Expand our efforts with K-12 in new and meaningful ways

• Develop expanded programming for the American Democracy Project

• Implement Capital Campaign Strategies to meet campus goals

• Increase efforts to re-connect with Alumni

Enhancing Our Campus Environment

• Create interior and exterior common areas for casual study and social engagement

• Seek external funding opportunities for new facilities

• Fortify capital funding to support a vigorous maintenance plan for buildings, equipment and infrastructure

• Seek to optimize revenues by offering innovative programs and services while managing resources responsibility and cost-effectively

• Reorganize Academic Administrative Structure for Increased Efficiency and Effectiveness

• Develop further initiatives to expand grant opportunities

• Modify policies and procedures, as required, to maximize the efficient use of existing facilities

• Revise the process for the approval of new academic programs to include resource impact assessments