V.
Key Performance Areas and Strategies
In planning its future, the Southern Polytechnic community has identified
five key performance areas: academics, administration, enrollment, resources,
and support services. In each area, the University community has identified
several broad objectives for which it will strive.
The University community has also identified specific strategies to
achieve each broad objective. These are detailed below under each broad
objective.
A. Academic Key Performance Area
The primary goal of Southern Polytechnic is to offer quality academic
programs that are characterized by pedagogical competence, student accomplishment,
professional development, applied research/scholarship, and an environment
conducive to learning.
1. To achieve this, the University will enhance, strengthen, and periodically
review its programs in Architecture, Management, the Arts and Sciences,
and Technology. These activities will be consistent with the University’s
aspiration to offer engineering education.
Strategies:
a. The President, in concert with the Cabinet, will ensure that all
University activities will be undertaken with the primary objective of
enhancing and strengthening academic programs with an emphasis being placed
on pedagogical competence, student accomplishment, professional development,
applied research/scholarship, and the development of an environment conducive
to learning.
b. All academic programs will be periodically reviewed in accordance with
a schedule developed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs in conjunction
with the Academic Deans and Department Heads.
c. The Vice President for Academic Affairs, in conjunction with appropriate
Deans and Department Heads, will implement hiring strategies, curricular
improvements, and facilities enhancements consistent with the University’s
objective of initiating applied engineering degree programs.
d. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will communicate and encourage
participation in the opportunities available for faculty development.
2. Southern Polytechnic will develop new technologically focused programs
based on state-wide needs consistent with its mission. In doing so, it
will seek opportunities for collaboration.
Strategies:
a. The faculty, Department Heads, and Deans of all academic units will
remain knowledgeable and current in their disciplinary, inter-disciplinary,
and administrative areas of responsibility so that the University may be
positioned to implement new programs consistent with its mission.
b. The Deans and Department Heads of all academic units will implement
hiring strategies, curricular improvements, and facilities enhancements
so that the University may be positioned to implement new programs consistent
with its mission.
c. The Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Deans, in concert with
Department Heads, will annually review the University’s academic programs
and state-wide needs to determine whether proposals for new programs should
be developed.
3. The University will expand educational opportunities available to students
beyond the structured curriculum to encourage meaningful interaction between
students and faculty, staff, or other qualified mentors.
Strategies:
a. The Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs will undertake
the exploration and development of additional educational opportunities
outside the structured classroom that involve significant student and faculty
interaction and that emphasize creativity, application, scholarship, and/or
experience in promoting academic excellence and achievement.
b. The Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs will encourage
the promotion of cooperative educational and/or internship opportunities
that satisfy the above criterion.
4. The University will provide students, faculty, and staff with opportunities
designed to help them internationalize their education and learn about
other peoples, cultures, and ideas.
Strategies:
a. The President will encourage the development of campus-wide seminars
and workshops that expose students, faculty, and staff to other peoples,
cultures, and ideas.
b. The Vice President for Academic Affairs, along with the Deans and
the International Programs Council, will undertake the development and
implementation of faculty and student exchanges that ensure substantive
cognitive development.
c. The Vice President for Academic Affairs, in concert with the Deans and
Department Heads, will explore and seek to develop collaborative activities
with institutions in other countries such as joint research projects and
degree programs.
d. The Vice President for Academic Affairs, in concert with the Deans and
Department Heads, will develop new degree opportunities that seek to further
enhance and strengthen international education for students.
5. The University will embed the General Education Learning Outcomes throughout
the depth and breadth of all academic curricula as well as in other appropriate
areas of the University.
Strategies:
a. The Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs will develop
meaningful opportunities that are in support of this goal.
b. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will provide support to faculty
and academic departments seeking to learn how to embed one or more of the
General Education Learning Outcomes in their courses.
c. Department Heads and Deans will be responsible for ensuring that
the appropriate General Education Learning Outcomes are included and implemented
throughout the breadth and depth of their curricula.
d. The Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment,
in conjunction with the General Education Assessment Committee, will develop
and implement a process to assess how well students are achieving the General
Education Learning Outcomes and report the results to the Vice President
for Academic Affairs for review and appropriate action.
6. The University will also apply innovative teaching strategies to
the classroom, laboratory, and other educational settings.
Strategies:
a. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will support faculty development
that focuses on learning, applying and improving new teaching and delivery
strategies.
b. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will develop a plan to equip
a reasonable number of classrooms with "smart" technology over the next
three years.
c. The Director of Distance Learning, in concert with Department Heads
offering distance programs and the Vice President for Enrollment Management,
will develop strategies to more effectively market distance learning courses
and programs.
d. The Center for Instructional Technology, in conjunction with the Vice
President for Information Technology, will develop workshops to train faculty
in the use of technology in the classroom, provide technical and/or software
support to faculty using technology to improve teaching and learning, and
provide student training and/or assistance relative to the use of technology.
e. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will establish a Teaching, Learning,
and Technology Roundtable and charge it to focus on the improvement of
teaching and learning using a variety of strategies and models including,
but not limited to, the infusion of instructional technology.
B. Administrative Key Performance Area
Administration is the umbrella for all campus functions and units.
Because it serves as the integrative agency for all campus functions, Southern
Polytechnic must have an excellent administration.
1. The administration will provide leadership, allocate resources,
instill cooperation, mediate conflicts, provide support for individual
units, and insure that the University's mission, vision, and goals are
pursued and achieved.
Strategies:
a. The President will insure that the administrative decision-making
process is open and inclusive, utilizing the Cabinet, the Leadership Team,
and the Campus-Wide Planning Council whenever possible for input and feedback.
Campus-wide meetings on critical issues additional to the regular Faculty
and Staff Council meetings will also be held as appropriate and as needed.
b. The President, Vice Presidents, Deans, Department Heads and Directors
will communicate in a timely fashion to the University community the University's
objectives, the issues that the University faces, and the rationale behind
decisions.
c. The Leadership Team will review administrative functions and responsibilities
once every three years, or more frequently if events warrant, to ensure
that administrative structures and processes are conducive to efficient
and effective administrative operations. The results of these reviews will
be made public. Functions and responsibilities will be reallocated by the
President on the basis of this review.
d. The President, in consultation with the Leadership Team, Faculty Senate,
and Staff Council, will insure that detailed processes will be updated
and developed to hear grievances and complaints. These processes will include
traditional grievance procedures and, in keeping with the policies of the
Board of Regents, alternative conflict resolution processes.
2. The administration will be accountable and responsive to campus
concerns and to the needs of the University.
Strategies:
a. The President, Vice Presidents, and their direct reports will continuously
improve service delivery to their various constituents. As part of this
effort, the President and Vice Presidents will frequently visit operational
units to help ensure freer flow of information and to gain greater familiarity
with campus issues and concerns.
b. The President and Vice Presidents will provide the campus with annual
reports about the status of their areas of responsibilities and about the
key objectives that will be pursued each year. These annual reports will
tie performance to mission, vision, and goals.
c. A process will be developed in which the President, Vice Presidents,
Deans, and Department Heads/Directors will be formally evaluated on an
annual basis by their subordinates. Other evaluation processes currently
in place will continue.
d. Administrative offices will have clearly posted office hours. Administrators
will be accessible and responsive.
3. To ensure institutional effectiveness, the administration, in conjunction
with other elements of the campus community, will engage in a well structured
planning and assessment cycle designed to improve the University's performance.
This process will help focus financial and human resources, facilitate
evaluation of performance, facilitate accountability, and aid in understanding
and solving problems.
Strategies:
a. The President, in conjunction with the Office of Institutional Research,
Planning, and Assessment and the Campus-Wide Planning Council, will initiate
a campus-wide review and update of the Strategic Plan once every three
years, or more frequently if events warrant.
b. The President, in conjunction with the Office of Institutional Research,
Planning, and Assessment, will annually initiate the development of an
Operational Plan with contributions from every operational unit of the
University.
c. Annual budget hearings will be held to help develop the University budget.
Vice Presidents will present their annual budget request to the President
at an open campus meeting. The President will make a presentation to the
campus on the final budget proposal.
d. Mid-year budget review presentations will be made by the President and
Vice Presidents at an open campus meeting.
4. The administration will communicate effectively with the campus,
keep the campus community informed of the process and rationale behind
decisions, and facilitate communication at all levels and across all departments.
Strategies:
a. The President will insure that the administrative decision-making process
is open and inclusive, utilizing the Cabinet, the Leadership Team, and
the Campus-Wide Planning Council whenever possible for input and feedback.
Campus-wide meetings on critical issues additional to the regular Faculty
and Staff Council meetings will also be held as appropriate and as needed.
b. The President, Vice Presidents, Deans, Department Heads and Directors
will communicate in a timely fashion to the University community the University's
objectives, the issues that the University faces, and the rationale behind
decisions.
c. The President and Vice Presidents will provide the campus with annual
reports about the status of their areas of responsibilities and about the
key objectives that will be pursued each year. These annual reports will
tie performance to mission, vision, and goals.
5. To enhance student retention, improve employee satisfaction, and add
to the sense of ownership of the University's goals and mission among students,
faculty, and staff, the administration will foster a sense of campus community.
Strategies:
a. The President will insure that the administrative decision making process
is open and inclusive, utilizing the Cabinet, the Leadership Team, and
the Campus-Wide Planning Council whenever possible for input and feedback.
Campus-wide meetings on critical issues additional to the regular Faculty
and Staff Council meetings will also be held as appropriate and as needed.
b. The President, Vice Presidents, Deans, Department Heads and Directors
will communicate in a timely fashion to the University community the University's
objectives, the issues that the University faces, and the rationale behind
decisions.
c. The President, Vice Presidents, and their direct reports will continuously
improve service delivery to their various constituents. As part of this
effort, the President and Vice Presidents will frequently visit operational
units to help ensure freer flow of information and to gain greater familiarity
with campus issues and concerns.
6. The administration will take measures to improve employee job satisfaction,
to build morale, to increase retention, and to improve performance.
Strategies:
a. The President and Vice Presidents will work closely with the Staff Council
and the Faculty Senate to ensure that employee concerns are heard and addressed.
b. The President will insure that the administrative decision-making process
is open and inclusive, utilizing the Cabinet, the Leadership Team, and
the Campus-Wide Planning Council whenever possible for input and feedback.
Campus-wide meetings on critical issues additional to the regular Faculty
and Staff Council meetings will also be held as appropriate and as needed.
c. The Staff Council will sponsor a meeting once per term at which the
President and Vice Presidents will address employee concerns.
d. The Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Director of Human Resources
will coordinate the offering of new employee orientation programs at least
once every six months.
e. The Vice Presidents will enhance faculty and staff development programs,
including mentoring programs.
f. The President, Vice Presidents, and their direct reports will continuously
improve service delivery to their various constituents. As part of this
effort, the President and Vice Presidents will frequently visit operational
units to help ensure freer flow of information and to gain greater familiarity
with campus issues and concerns.
g. The Vice Presidents will institute applicable leadership training
for faculty and staff supervisors, as well as other faculty and staff in
leadership roles.
C. Enrollment Key Performance Area
A growing enrollment of academically qualified and diverse students
is essential to SPSU's success. The enrollment of such students supports
the University's retention and graduation goals, producing academically
and technically proficient graduates for the economic development of the
state, region and nation.
1. SPSU will continue to increase enrollment of academically qualified
students, with suitable attention to diversity.
Strategies:
a. The Director of Public Relations and the Vice President for Enrollment
Management will expand promotional efforts to increase SPSU visibility
and enhance its reputation.
b. The Vice President for Enrollment Management will expand activities
to identify potential students.
c. The Vice President for Enrollment Management will coordinate campus-wide
activities within the University community to increase the number of new
admits.
d. The Vice President for Enrollment Management will develop and implement
strategies that generate a higher percentage of admits who enroll.
2. SPSU will retain and graduate a higher percentage of students.
Strategies:
a. The Vice President for Enrollment Management will identify the retention
rates for different types of students.
b. The Vice President for Enrollment Management will identify the causes
of attrition for each type of student.
c. The Vice President for Enrollment Management, in cooperation with the
Director of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment, will analyze
the causes of attrition.
d. The Vice Presidents for Enrollment Management, Academic Affairs, and
Student Affairs will explore a wide variety of academic and social programs
to enhance retention.
3. The University will measure and track student satisfaction throughout
a student's career, thereby enhancing the University's ability to respond
to student needs.
Strategies:
a. The Director of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment, in
conjunction with the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice President
for Enrollment Management, and the Vice President for Student Affairs,
will develop and administer suitable instruments to measure and track student
satisfaction.
b. The President’s Cabinet will ensure that all units of the University
community will respond appropriately to the results of surveys to enhance
student satisfaction.
4. The University will measure and track its visibility and image perceived
by potential students, as well as by employers, alumni and other relevant
audiences.
Strategies:
a. The Director of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment,
in conjunction with the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice President
for Enrollment Management, and the Vice President for Advancement, will
develop and administer suitable instruments to measure and track perceptions
of the University's visibility and image.
b. The President’s Cabinet will ensure that all units of the University
community will develop and implement initiatives to enhance its visibility
and image.
D. Resources Key Performance Area
Resources are especially important at polytechnic universities since
programs at such universities must be continually improved to maintain
state-of-the-art status. Included within the definition of resources are
personnel, facilities, equipment, and funding available through state appropriations
and other sources.
1. To better achieve the goals of the university, state funding will
be expanded and more efficiently utilized.
Strategies:
a. Using research data compiled by the Office of Institutional Research,
Planning, and Assessment, industrial sources, and government sources, the
President’s Cabinet will articulate the University's objectives, issues
facing the University, and the fiscal needs of the University to the campus
community, the Board of Regents, and other critical external audiences.
b. As detailed in the enrollment key performance area objectives and strategies,
the Vice President for Enrollment Management will develop, publish, and
implement a comprehensive marketing, recruitment and retention strategy
to expand enrollments, thus increasing state funding.
c. The Leadership Team will review administrative functions and responsibilities
once every three years, or more frequently if events warrant, to ensure
that administrative structures and processes are conducive to efficient
and effective administrative operations. The results of these reviews will
be made public. Functions and responsibilities will be reallocated by the
President on the basis of this review.
d. Academic and administrative units will continually review programs to
reallocate funds internally with respect to effectiveness and efficiency.
2. Sources of external funding will be identified, cultivated, and
published as part of the strategic plan.
Strategies:
a. The Vice President for Advancement will develop, implement, and maintain
programs designed to identify and cultivate sources of external philanthropic
funding.
b. The President's Cabinet will develop and implement a policy and procedure
which defines processes for identifying, seeking, and administering grants
and contracts.
c. The Vice President for Advancement will develop and initiate a plan
to increase alumni support through contacts with existing students and
alumni.
d. The President's Cabinet will develop and implement a policy and procedure
which defines a process for administering alumni contributions and support.
e. The Vice President for Advancement will develop and implement a policy
and procedure which defines the process for identifying, seeking, and administering
in-kind contributions.
f. The Vice President for Advancement will develop plans for a capital
program, pending the findings of a feasibility study and the development
of a prospect list.
3. Collaborative agreements that augment the internal resource base
will be developed and enhanced.
Strategy:
a. The President's Cabinet will develop and implement a policy and procedure
for the University’s participation in collaborative agreements. This P
& P will identify documentation requirements, assessment procedures,
and review criteria, and will assign accountability for the administration
of these agreements as appropriate.
4. The University will make optimal use of space and facilities.
Strategies:
a. The President’s Cabinet will develop procedures designed to insure that
space and facilities are optimally allocated and scheduled.
b. The President’s Cabinet will initiate a process for campus units to
follow in requesting the use of new space and facilities.
5. The University will ensure the security, adequacy and maintenance of
facilities and equipment.
Strategies:
a. The President’s Cabinet will ensure that there is a periodic review
of the security, adequacy and maintenance of all campus facilities and
equipment.
b. Based on the results of the periodic review, the President's Cabinet
will determine the priority of needs and will identify appropriate resources
to address these requirements. Once the priorities have been determined,
an open budget hearing will be held to communicate these to the campus
community.
c. The President’s Cabinet will ensure that the University’s budget will
include resources for the timely upgrade and replacement of equipment.
d. The Physical Plant Department will develop, implement, and publish a
preventive maintenance plan.
6. The President's Cabinet will ensure the security, adequacy, and competence
of human resources to fulfill the mission of the University.
Strategies:
a. The Vice President for Business and Finance will ensure a safe campus
environment.
b. The President's Cabinet will ensure that resources are available for
professional development.
c. The President’s Cabinet will ensure that the policy and procedure regarding
evaluations is followed and that proper training is made available to those
responsible for the evaluation of personnel.
E. Support Services Key Performance Area
Support Services provide the infrastructure for smooth and efficient
campus operations. When support services are functioning well, personnel
have the information necessary to make appropriate informed decisions.
Also, faculty and staff can obtain knowledge and skills needed to ensure
that the academic mission of the institution is achieved.
1. All parts of the campus community will strive to make accurate
and timely information available to reduce uncertainty in the decision-making
process and to facilitate strategic and operational planning.
Strategies:
a. The President and Vice Presidents will develop and implement a structure
that encourages and facilitates open communication.
b. The President will direct all administrators and their direct reports
to develop and implement processes to ensure that critical information
about the units’ plans, resources, and programs are available through the
Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment so that all
other campus units have access to the information.
c. The President will ensure that processes of institutional effectiveness
are followed.
d. The President will direct administrators at all levels to meet regularly
with their direct reports, on both an individual and group basis, to ensure
that information about ongoing and planned programs and activities is shared.
e. The President and Vice Presidents will seek opportunities to collaborate
with one another and will encourage collaboration across the campus.
f. All departments will collaborate with the Office of Institutional Research,
Planning, and Assessment to ensure that information created and compiled
is available and used to maintain institutional effectiveness.
2. The administration will provide all areas of campus with the technical
support necessary so that each area can function in an effective and efficient
manner.
Strategies:
a. The Office of Information Technology will develop and implement
plans to provide the campus community with the technical support to operate
in an effective and efficient manner.
b. The Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment, in conjunction
with the appropriate technical support units, will develop an annual process
to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of all technical support services
and facilities.
c. The President and Cabinet, in the budgeting process, will designate
available funds to ensure that first-rate instructional laboratories are
provided and maintained.
3. Since the University’s most valuable assets are its people, it will
support faculty and staff development. Faculty and staff will identify
individual needs and will develop and implement individual professional
growth and development plans in consultation with their supervisors.
Strategies:
a. The President and Vice Presidents will ensure that all supervisors and
their employees will develop and revise, as necessary, individual professional
development plans.
b. The Faculty Senate and Staff Council, separately and in collaboration,
will identify those areas where development and training programs can be
developed that are useful for faculty and staff. The Faculty Senate Moderator
and Staff Council Chair will communicate those perceived needs to the President
and appropriate Vice Presidents.
c. Supervisors will include faculty and staff development achievements
as factors to be considered in annual evaluations.
d. In the budgeting process, the President and Cabinet will designate available
funds and focus existing on-campus resources to ensure that professional
growth and development opportunities are supported.
4. The University will provide a safe, convenient, barrier-free, attractive
campus that welcomes, inspires and enables students, faculty, and staff
to perform at their fullest potential.
Strategies:
a. The President will convene a group representing appropriate campus interests
to recommend standards for a safe, convenient, barrier-free, attractive
campus. The President will direct appropriate units to be responsible for
planning and implementing the standards.
b. The Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment will
implement a process to assess the campus environment and will provide feedback
to the responsible units for appropriate action.
c. The Campus Master Facilities Plan will also include, as a part of
its objectives, the creation and maintenance of a safe, convenient, barrier-free,
attractive campus.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please send e-mail to banderso@spsu.edu
Back to The Strategic Plan of SPSU
Last updated: June 17, 1998