2007 - 2012 Strategic Plan
Updated August 27, 2008
Mission Statement
Under the direction of the President and the Provost, the Office of the Provost supports all areas of academic life at the university and works to maintain rigorous standards of teaching, research, and service in a positive learning environment for faculty and students.
Vision Statement
The Office of the Provost aspires to create an environment in which faculty, students and staff, while working to attain their full potential within the academic community, will contribute to the institution’s goal of achieving national prominence in all academic areas.
Goals and Objectives
Goal 1: Access and Diversity
Recruit, retain, and graduate a larger, more academically prepared, and more diverse student body.
Benchmarks
- 12,000 more students enrolled at Texas Tech University by 2020; growth of 2.5% each year with student headcount of 32,168 by Fall 2011.
- Endowed scholarship funds from $158 million (2007) to $250 million.
- 85% freshman to sophomore retention rate.
- 70% six-year graduation rate for undergraduate students.
- Student diversity that increasingly reflects Texas high school graduates and the 18-34 year-old population in the High Plains region.
- Enhance the global and multicultural learning opportunities for Texas Tech students.
- Increase the number of international undergraduate students by 10%.
- Change the ratio of international students from 80% graduate and 20% undergraduate to 60%/40%, respectively.
Goal 2: Human Resources and Infrastructure
Increase and use resources to recruit and retain quality faculty and staff and to support an optimal work environment.
Benchmarks
- Develop resource allocation cycle that funds strategic initiatives.
- Current faculty salaries to “peer institution” average.
- New faculty hires to support enrollment growth at an institutional FTE student/FTE faculty ratio comparable to the state flagship ratios.
- Increase faculty diversity as measured by ethnicity and gender.
- Construct and renovate classroom and research spaces needed for increases in enrollment and research productivity.
- Recruit and retain classified staff to support enrollment growth.
- Increase technological capacity to support enrollment and research growth.
Goal 3: Undergraduate Teaching and Learning
Provide nationally recognized instruction in our undergraduate programs.
Benchmarks
- Increase lower division semester credit hours (SCH) taught be tenure/tenure-track faculty by 3% to 37%.
- Complete learning outcome and assessment plans and implementation for all majors and core curriculum.
- Decrease the FTE student/FTE faculty ratio to comparable to the state flagship ratios. (Tech Fall 2006 21.9; UT Austin 19.3; A&M 20.4)
- Increase the number of undergraduate students involved with in independent research by 5% (I couldn’t find this item reported anywhere to have a baseline)
- Obtain 5 academic championships for national student competitions.
- Increase the number of TTU students participating in Study Abroad programs by 25%.
- Complete implementation of Quality Enhancement Plan
Goal 4: Graduate and Professional Education
Enhance graduate and professional education opportunities.
Benchmarks
- Increase graduate student enrollment to 20% of the overall enrollment.
- Increase annual funding for graduate student assistantships to $18 million.
- Increase the number of graduate certificate offerings by 5 programs.
- Increase the number of on-campus degree offerings by 3.
- Increase graduate and certificate offerings for distance learners by 5 programs.
Goal 5: Engagement
Provide scholarly outreach opportunities that contribute to students learning and benefit our communities, the state, and nation.
Benchmarks
- Increase TTU scholarly and educational outreach opportunities for the general public by 10%.
- Increase distance and off-campus credit and non-credit instructional offerings by 20%.
- Increase the overall number of service-learning courses by 15%.
- Increase the overall student enrollment in service-learning courses by 15%.
- Increase study abroad participation to 5% of the undergraduate student body by 2015.
Goal 6: Research Productivity
Increase research productivity and funding for all areas of inquiry within the university.
Benchmarks
- Increase institutional research expenditures to $100 million per year.
- Increase Federal research expenditures per FTE tenure/tenure track faculty from $25,850 to $28,176 (9%).
- 6 research centers or institutes with at least $2M each per year in research expenditures.
- 100 postdoctoral opportunities annually
- Rank in the top 50 in Association of Research Libraries.
- 4 faculty in national academies.
Goal 7: Partnerships
Build strategic partnerships and alliances with community, government, business, industry, and schools (K-12, community colleges, and universities).
Benchmarks
- Increase partnerships with Early Childhood – 12 schools.
- Increase partnerships with post-secondary institutions.
- Increase the number of Pathway Program agreements with community colleges and create “seamless” transfer pathway.
- Average 3 Intergovernmental Personnel Act Assignments each year.
- Increase the number of collaborative academic, research, and service partnerships among areas within the university and with other institutions in the Texas Tech System.