HESS Goals, Critical Success Factors and Objectives (including Strategies and Assessments)
Goal 1:
Access and Diversity. Recruit, retain, and graduate a larger, more academically prepared and more diverse student body in health, exercise, and sport sciences
Benchmarks:
- Maintain at or above the university percentage for minority student enrollment
- Increase the female enrollment in the department by 2 % per year for the next 5 years
- Increase mean SAT and GRE scores by 2% per year for the next 5 years
Objective 1.1: Diversify the student body through increasing access
Strategies:
- Evaluate the need for distance learning courses and/or programs
- Develop distance education courses and/or programs
- Provide scholarship and recruitment materials to school campuses with high minority populations for the recruitment of African-American and Hispanic students
- Enhance solicitation efforts for endowed scholarships
Objective 1.2: Increase quality and quantity of students
Strategies:
- Regularly update and maintain departmental website
- Enhance recruiting of high quality graduate students
- Provide scholarship and recruitment materials to high quality students
- Participate in university and college programs and activities
- Promote all of the various tracks within the department
Objective 1.3: Modify the undergraduate curriculum to encourage retention and graduation rates
Strategies:
- Reduce the required hours for each undergraduate area of study to 120 hours
- Offer an increased number of required course seats
- Regularly evaluation student learning outcomes and make modifications to the programs as needed
Goal 2:
Human Resources and Infrastructure
Benchmarks:
- Increase the number of full-time tenured/tenure-track lines by a minimum of 3 in the next 5 years
- Increase the diversity of faculty and staff
- Increase the number of faculty with Professor rank
- Expand facilities so that all faculty members are located in one building by increasing the square footage of the Exercise Sciences Center
- Have one faculty member per year apply for professional leave
Objective 2.1:Demonstrate the need for additional faculty lines
Strategies:
- Fill vacant faculty positions
- Provide information with regards to departmental (e.g., courses offered, class sizes, program assessment, curriculum modifications, etc.) and student demographics to administrators
Objective 2.2: Actively recruit, hire, and retain excellent and diverse faculty and staff
Strategies:
- Provide salaries that are competitive with peer institutions and with other departments at Texas Tech University
- Provide start-up packages for new faculty that are competitive with peer institutions and with other departments at Texas Tech University
- Develop and implement mentoring policies between junior- and senior-level faculty members
- Obtain an endowed chair position
Objective 2.3: Create an academic environment to retain quality faculty
Strategies:
- Empower the departmental governing committees, especially the Executive Committee
- Develop a plan to raise salaries for faculty and staff to be equitable with other research institutions and with other departments at Texas Tech University
- Develop a plan to maintain salary equity
- Develop guidelines for equitable assignment of summer school teaching
- Foster a culture of collegiality
- Maintain fair, consistent and constructive review processes (e.g., annual reviews, merit, third-year reviews, tenure and promotion reviews, and post-tenure reviews)
- Provide compensation/incentives for internship, practicum, and independent studies supervision
- Provide compensation/incentives for scholastic productivity
Objective 2.4: Improve facilities for teaching, research, faculty offices and staff work areas
Strategies:
- Upgrade and maintain technology in the teaching facilities as needed
- Upgrade and maintain computers, printers, software, etc. for staff
- Upgrade and maintain computers, printers, and software for faculty offices
- Upgrade and maintain research technology in laboratories and other areas
Objective 2.5: Expand Exercise Sciences Center so that all faculty and staff can be located in one building
Strategies:
- Obtain space utilization data and present the data to administration
- Request funding from administration for the facility upgrades
- Develop a master plan for space utilization and expansion
- Participate in fundraising collaborations
Goal 3:
Provide recognized instruction in the undergraduate tracks offered by the Department of Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences
Benchmarks:
- Increase percent of students passing appropriate certification/licensure exams to 90%
- Increase the number of students taking ACSM certification exams
- Maintain high levels of teaching effectiveness score on the Student Evaluation of Course and Instructor
- Maintain high levels of course effectiveness score on the Student Evaluation of Course and Instructor
- Increase research at the undergraduate level (as measured by the a number of sources: ESS 4000, authorship on presentations and publications, etc.)
Objective 3.1: Streamline the undergraduate curricula to provide greater focus and enhance the quality of the courses required for each curriculum
Strategies:
- Examine the current undergraduate curricula to determine why students are not completing the programs in four years (transfer problems, advising problems, limitations in seating in core courses, scheduling conflicts etc.) and make modifications as necessary
- Obtain endorsements/accreditations appropriate for the specific tracks
- Participate in regular program assessments and make modifications based on assessments as needed
- Create and implement an undergraduate track in sport management
Objective 3.2: Provide quality instruction
Strategies:
- Participate in programs that focus on teaching effectiveness for faculty
- Strengthen the reward structure for excellence in teaching
- Maintain an appropriate teacher to student ratio in undergraduate classes and laboratories
- Increase the number of tenured/tenure-track faculty positions in order to increase the number of undergraduate courses taught by tenured/tenure-track faculty
- Implement a teacher training mentoring program for graduate teaching assistants and part-time instructors/faculty
Objective 3.3: Encourage undergraduate participation in research
Strategies:
- Strengthen the reward system for incorporating undergraduates in research opportunities
- Provide compensation by using faculty workloads calculations for instructing independent studies students
- Provide travel support for undergraduates to attend and present at professional meetings
Goal 4:
Graduate Education: Enhance graduate education opportunities in the areas in the health, exercise, and sport sciences
Benchmarks
- Increase the number of students completing theses to 25% of the graduating graduate students
- Increase the number of students collaborating in research projects (publications and presentations)
- Increase number of graduate students participating by co-authorship in presentations at professional conferences by 15% per year
- Increase the number of graduate students attending professional conferences
Objective 4.1: Recruit quality graduate students
Strategies:
- Evaluate criteria used for acceptance of graduate students in the department and modify as necessary
- Identify and nominate prospective graduate students for the Chancellor�s fellowship each year
- Provide competitive stipends for graduate teaching assistantships
- Reduce teaching loads for graduate assistants
- Recruit international graduate students
- Establish a study abroad program
Objective 4.2: Increase the quality of the graduate curriculum
Strategies:
- Conduct an external review of the graduate program
- Modify the graduate curricula to enhance the quality of each graduate program
- Develop a doctoral program that is inclusive of all research specializations within the department
- Examine the feasibility of offering a Master�s degree in Health
- Evaluate the need for distance learning course offerings
Objective 4.3: Enhance research conducted by graduate students
Strategies:
- Develop sources of funding to provide competitive graduate research assistantships
- Provide graduate students opportunities to collaborate on research projects
- Provide travel funds for graduate students to attend and present at professional conferences
- Encourage students to apply for graduate school travel funds as early as possible
Goal 5:
Engagement: Provide scholarly outreach opportunities within the departmental areas of health, exercise and sport sciences that contribute to students' learning and that benefit the profession, community, the state, and the nation
Benchmarks
- Increase service learning courses across the curriculum 1 per year for the next 5 years
- Increase involvement in community-based participatory activities
- Increase engagement in professional service at the local, regional, state, national and international levels
Objective 5.1: Develop service learning courses for each track within the department
Strategies:
- Offer faculty opportunities to attend national service learning workshops in addition to those on campus
- Encourage faculty to use the Service Learning Program Center for ideas regarding how to incorporate service learning into the curriculum and for community contacts for service learning activities
- Include service learning courses/assignments in proposals for new or modified courses as appropriate
Objective 5.2: Increase community-based participatory service activities
Strategies:
- Encourage the student organization to become involved in community-based participatory activities
- Discuss community-based participatory activities in courses and encourage students to engage in such activities in the community
- Use service learning objectives to increase community-based participatory activities
Objective 5.3: Increase community-based participatory research
Strategies:
- Adopt the Community-based Participatory Research model
- Provide opportunities for faculty and representatives from community agencies to meet together and discuss opportunities for community-based participatory research
- Discuss community-based participatory research in courses and encourage students to do independent research studies that engage the community
- Develop research projects that target community groups for collaboration and participation
Objective 5.4: Increase the number of faculty who participate in other professional and community service activities
Strategies:
- Provide compensation and recognition for faculty members who serve in roles of leadership in professional organizations
- Provide compensation and recognition for faculty members who participate in professional review activities
- Provide compensation and recognition for faculty who participate in rolls of leadership for community organizations that relate to the mission of the Department of Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences
Goal 6:
Research Productivity: Increase research productivity and funding for all areas of health, exercise and sport sciences
Benchmarks
- Increase the number of professional scholarly presentations
- Increase the number of peer-reviewed publications
- Increase extramural funds from local, regional, and national agencies
- Achieve an average of 2 publications per faculty per year
Objective 6.1: Increase financial support for engagement in research activities
Strategies:
- Provide financial support for faculty to present the results of research activities at professional conferences
- Provide financial support for reproduction costs associated with publications
- Provide financial support for faculty to participate in professional development to learn new research techniques
- Provide staff resources to assist in the development and implementation of external funding
Objective 6.2: Obtain recognition for research activities
Strategies:
- Identify opportunities for research collaboration within the department and the university
- Hire a senior-level researcher who will engage in collaborative research from most research specializations within the department
- Provide resources and support to position all research laboratories within the department to be competitive for external funding
Goal 7:
Partnerships: Build strategic partnerships and alliances with community, government, business, industry, and schools (EC-12, community colleges, and universities)
Benchmarks
- Increase the number of collaborative projects by 1 per year for the next 5 years with local and area community organizations
- Increase partnerships with post-secondary institutions by 1 per year for the next 5 years
- Increase the number of collaborative academic, research and service partnerships by 1 per year for the next 5 years among areas within the Texas Tech University System
- Increase the number of collaborative projects with local and area schools
Objective 7.1: Increase opportunities to engage the community in health and physical activity
Strategies:
- Further enhance existing outreach programs
- Develop new outreach programs (e.g., fitness programs for families)
- Encourage and recognize research/teaching projects that involve collaborative efforts
Objective 7.2: Build partnerships and alliances that promote health and physical activity
Strategies:
- Further enhance existing student internship programs with relevant agencies
- Develop new student internship programs with relevant agencies
- Encourage and support student organization�s participation with community organizations and events
- Encourage and recognize research/teaching projects that involve collaborative efforts
Objective 7.3: Collaborate with faculty from research laboratories both within and outside of the university
Strategies:
- Participate in Big XII exchange program
- Sponsor guest speakers and seminars with faculty from other universities Establish a relationship with local colleges and universities (e.g., South Plains, Lubbock Christian, Wayland)
- Provide opportunities for faculty to visit other universities to collaborate Encourage faculty to collaborate on research projects with faculty from within the Texas Tech University System
- Encourage and recognize research/teaching projects that involve collaborative efforts across the university
- Host annual events and invite alumni (Homecoming, awards).
Objective 7.4: 4 Increase partnerships with EC-12 health and physical education
Strategies:
- Encourage faculty to initiate and participate in alliances with schools
- Encourage faculty to seek grants in support of EC-12 collaborations and partnerships
- Incorporate EC-12 education partnerships and collaborations in relevant Health courses and ESS courses