Message from the President
May 9, 2018
During its March 29 meeting, members of the University Planning Council reviewed a great deal of information
related to an extensive "environmental scan" which included reports from campus and
community focus groups and surveys. Council members engaged in productive discussions
about multiple issues of potential strategic importance to the University.
It was decided that some of the strategic priorities of Vision 2017 remain relevant,
and that the development of new strategic priorities for Vision 2025 should be accomplished
by evolving the Vision 2017 priorities. Ultimately some of these priorities may carry
over, some may be modified, some may be eliminated and some new priorities may be
added.
Additionally, several strategic themes were gleaned from the information discussed
during the meeting. Members pondered these themes over several weeks and shared additional
observations, comments and suggestions through a discussion board in Moodle.
The resulting eight strategic themes are as follows:
Given the realization that our current funding model, both state and self-generated
funds, is driven almost entirely by student enrollment, progression and completion,
student recruitment and success must remain institutional priorities.
As an evolving area of growing importance, our approach to distance education will
likely require a more focused strategy to ensure consistent quality of delivery and
positive impact on enrollment and student success.
New student markets warrant more attention, potentially including non-traditional
students, out-of-state students and international students, among others.
Our efforts to more effectively market and promote Southeastern to new students and
other constituents, and to further clarify our brand and identity, warrant more focus.
Given several areas of disappointing results in comparison with peer institutions
from NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement), a re-commitment to personal engagement
with our students in their classes and curriculum is warranted.
As they represent our greatest opportunity to engage with students and positively
impact student learning, our institution must ensure that we foster positive morale
of our faculty and staff by supporting their professional development, engaging them
in university governance, and rewarding their ongoing commitment and efforts to support
and engage students.
While newly constructed facilities offer tremendous opportunities to students, some
existing facilities and campus infrastructure are in need of additional cleaning,
maintenance and updating, as well as accessibility and technology upgrades.
Given changing workforce needs, and the importance of program workforce relevance
to student recruitment and success, consideration should be given to strategic evaluation
of workforce relevance for current and potential new degree programs.
Keep in mind that these eight themes are not intended to be the strategic priorities
for Vision 2025; rather, these themes are intended to help guide future deliberations
and discussions in evolving the strategic priorities of Vision 2017 into those for
Vision 2025.
This campus update will be posted to the Strategic Planning Portal, and I encourage members of the campus community to continue to monitor the Portal
for additional developments in the planning process.
John L. Crain
President
President
