Philadelphia University Strategic Plan Implementation

Strategic Initiative One: Formalize the Philadelphia University “Signature Learning” to distinguish the university’s educational experience.

Goal	Champions	Timeline	Measures
All academic programs will include and document components of experiential learning, which may include studio, labs, research, study abroad, fieldwork, short courses, internships, preceptorships, and clinical rotations, and co-curricular programs with Student Life	Academic Deans, Program Directors, Undergraduate Education Committee	September-09	Degree and or program benchmark of optimal experiential learning as a percentage of curriculum

	Dean of Students, VPAA[i]	2011	Eighty percent of all undergraduates will participate in service during their college careers.

	Career Services	May 2010	75% of student body will be “internship-ready” by the end of their sophomore year

	VPAA, Academic Deans	Fall 2009	Document existing components of signature learning

Globalize the campus and curriculum through enhanced use of study abroad, short courses, study tours, inter-session experiences, faculty exchange, international/intercultural campus events, global course content and recruitment of international students	VPAA, Academic Deans, Study Abroad	Jun-10	All schools will have study abroad opportunities

	Human Resources	June-09	Develop University Human Resource policies, procedures, and hiring framework in support of a faculty exchange program

	Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Director of Graduate Admissions, International Students	Fall 2009	60% of entering international students will participate in the social network site

	VPAA	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012	Strategic Alliances with 4 schools outside the USA. A strategic alliance is defined as having at least three of the following components: study abroad faculty exchange joint faculty appointments joint curriculum development joint degrees certificate programs for PhilaU students joint research agendas

Strengthen professional, industry, and alumni connections to broaden the depth and breadth of internship, career, and post-graduate opportunities available to students. These relationships can be leveraged as a resource for clinical cases, guest lecturers, and adjunct faculty	Career Services	January-09	Create central employer database for improved relationship management; establish connections with the institution vs. an individual within the institution

	Deans, program directors, clinical coordinators, Career Services, VPAA, faculty	Begin Fall 2009 with 3 board, develop one additional Board per semester	Active professional, industry, alumni advisory boards for each school

	Career Services, Public Relations, Alumni Relations		Connection to a broader base of employers and location to connect alumni and current students to employers beyond the region.

Expand the technological resources to support active pedagogy and a vibrant “24/7 virtual community” of students, faculty, student life personnel, staff, and alumni that promote optimal communication, life-long learning, career progression, and personal growth	OIR[ii]	December-09	$500,000 of new infrastructure

	VPAA, OIR, Learning and Advising, Instructional Design	September 2009 and ongoing	ePortfolio implementation and expansion

	OIR, Alumni Relations	May-09	Lifetime email addresses

Create a Center for Signature Learning that will promote, facilitate, and document the development of curriculum that is active, collaborative, real world and infused with liberal arts. Learning modalities should promote critical thinking and problem solving, and can include activities such as studio, problem-based, research and hybrid formats. The Center will serve as a nexus for continuous faculty development, pedagogical experimentation, and research in the area of active integrative learning. The Center will facilitate the development, refinement, and dissemination of a distinguishing pedagogy for the University	VPAA, Academic Deans, faculty, Dean of Students, OIR, Faculty committees	Spring 2009/Fall 2010	Establish Agenda and faculty development priorities

	VPAA, Deans, faculty, OIR	Spring 2010	Prioritized learning support functions Collaboration Engaged Learning Real World

	VPAA, Deans, VPDAR[iii]	Fall 2009	Plan Scope and structure, evaluate goals, seek funding

	VPAA, Deans, faculty	Spring 2010	Assessment Plans and initiatives

Strategic Initiative Two Promulgate an academic learning community that will embrace all the elements of the design, engineering, and commerce curricula where constant collaboration and teamwork are the keys to creating successful leaders

Goal	Champions	Timeline	Measures
Create an endowed, distinguished professorship in each discipline: Business, Engineering, and Design. As a team, these distinguished professors will be charged with creating and championing higher education’s most innovative collaborative curriculum	VPAA, faculty leaders	Fall 2009	Create leadership

	Professers Unger, Sztendera, and Govindarj, Deans, Curriculum Committee	Jun-09	Draft Plan

	Professers Unger, Sztendera, and Govindarj, Deans,	September 2009, September 2010, September 2011	Staged implementation

	Deans, VP Development and Alumni Relations	September 2009, September 2010, September 2011	Three endowed chairs

Form Institutes of excellence to promulgate deeply embedded competencies of the university, such beginning with the following: o Textiles o Industrial Design o Fashion Design. The institutes will provide leadership in defining state-of-the-art, connecting with and influencing the core D.E.C. curriculum, and serving as a bridge to and from alumni, industry and D.E.C. Establish other Institutes as additional strengths emerge	VPAA, Deans, Program Directors, Faculty	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Industry membership

	Deans	Fall 2009	Adjunct and contract faculty engagement

	VP for Development and Alumni Relations, Deans	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Endowed Institutes

Design and construct functional space that promotes and supports active learning, studio learning, collaboration, innovation, and discovery	VPAA, Deans, faculty, VPFA[iv], OIR, VPDAR	Dependent on Funding	Estimated 35,000 gsf building

	VPAA, Deans, faculty, VPFA, OIR, VPDAR	Dependent on Funding	Renovation of existing space

Create both bi-lateral and tri-lateral curriculum to integrate with and complement the three disciplines	VPAA, Deans, faculty	Spring 2009	Inventory and classification of the curriculum

	VPAA, Professors Unger, Sztendera, and Govindarj, Deans, faculty	Winter 2009-2010	Develop bi-lateral curriculum

	VPAA, Professors Unger, Sztendera, and Govindarj, Deans, faculty champions	Spring 2010	Develop tri-lateral curriculum

	VPAA, Professors Unger, Sztendera, and Govindarj, Deans, faculty champions	Fall 2010	Expand curriculum to other schools
Strategic Initiative Three: Advance basic and applied research to serve signature learning, industry, and societal needs.

Goal	Champions	Timeline	Measures
Appoint a Dean for Applied Research to strategize, direct, and coordinate the research agenda	VPAA	Fall 2009	New Dean in place

Recruit new faculty with the expectation of research activities, creative activity or reflective professional practice	Deans	Spring 2009	Benchmark Faculty by School
	VPAA, VPFA, Human Resources		Develop recruiting strategies in concert with Academic Affairs increase diversity among faculty and staff

Construct and equip small research labs for professor-supervised research	Deans, Faculty, VP Development and Alumni Relations	Spring 2010	Space identification and programming

Encourage funded research that is multi-disciplinary	Deans, Faculty, VPDAR	Fall 2010 and ongoing	Published Research

	Deans, Faculty, VPDAR	Fall 2010 and ongoing	Peer Reviewed Research

Faculty will be encouraged and supported to participate in scholarship through administrative assistance, course release, stipends, and seed funding	Deans, Faculty	Spring 2010	Research Completed

	Deans, Faculty, Grants and Foundation Relations	Spring 2010	Grants Funded

Strategic Initiative Four: Invest in academic strengths to create leaders in the professions

Goal	Champions	Timeline	Measures
Create a distinguished professorship in both Science and Health and Architecture to attract and build outstanding faculty	Deans of Architecture and Science and Health, VPDAR	Spring 2010	Funding Pledged

Develop comprehensive Learning Outcomes for General Education to assure that learning activities are seamlessly integrated into all levels of the curriculum and co-curricular activities.	VPAA, Academic Deans, Student Life Dean, faculty, FYE[v] staff	Fall 2009	Integration Goals established

	VPAA, Academic Deans, Dean of Students, faculty	Spring 2009	Outcomes articulated and measured

All academic programs will contain curricular components that address written communication, verbal communication, information literacy, ethical reflection, and a global perspective. The University will create graduates that will be effective “complete communicators.”	Deans of Liberal Arts and Science and Health, Undergraduate Education Committee, faculty	Spring 2010	Curriculum developed

Enhance faculty development for full-time and adjunct faculty	VPAA, Deans	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Teaching effectiveness, student evaluations, publications re; teaching pedagogy

Strategic Initiative Five: Grow graduate education and professional studies programs

Goal	Champions	Timeline	Measures
Graduate education will enhance the image and profile of the University	Dean of Graduate Programs, VP of Finance and Administration, Deans, faculty	Jun-09	Enrollments goals and standards established by discipline

	Dean of Graduate Programs, Graduate Admissions, academic deans, program directors	Fall 2003 - 2014	Enrollment goals met

	VP of Finance and Administration, Dean of Graduate Programs, VPAA	Fall 2009	Develop Budgets and cost allocations models in support of measuring performance and goals established for graduate education programs

Identify emerging career niches and develop major areas of concentration that correlate with those career paths	Dean of Graduate Programs, VPAA, Deans, Institutional Research, Career Services	September 2009 and ongoing	Careers identified, programs developed

Strengthen qualified CPE applicant pool by increasing articulation and scholarship agreements with area community colleges and select post-secondary training partners, and by enhancing visibility, marketing and outreach	Executive Director CPE[vi], VPAA, Career Services		Articulation agreements

Expand accelerated program majors into fields of concentration where the University has a regional reputation such as retail, fashion, architecture, textiles, and design	Exec Director of Continuing and Professional Studies, Deans,		Enrollment and graduation rates by field

	Executive Director of Continuing and Professional Studies, VP Finance and Administration	Fall 2009	Develop Budgets and cost allocations models in support of measuring performance and goals established for graduate education programs

Develop new relationships with business and corporate partners to enhance programming and enrollment in graduate and continuing and professional studies	Career Services, faculty	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Internships

	Career Services, VPAA, Executive Director of Continuing and Professional Studies, Dean of Graduate Studies	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Graduate Employment

	Deans, faculty, VP for Development and Alumni Relations	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Industry philanthropic and programmatic support

Engage graduate alumni more deliberately	Director of Alumni Relations, Career Services, Dean of Graduate Studies, Deans, faculty	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Alumni engagements

	VPDAR, Director of Alumni Relations, Deans, faculty	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Alumni giving

	VPDAR, Director of Alumni Relations, Deans, faculty	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Alumni contact information

Strategic Initiative Six: Develop innovative facilities to enhance 21st century learning

Goal	Champions	Timeline	Measures
Construct living/learning environment where students can extend their learning through their residence life experience	Dean of Students, Residence Life, VPFA , AVP Facilities, VPAA	Dependent on Funding	New beds and renovated beds

	Honors Program, Residence Life, VPAA	Spring 2009	Freshmen will identify more strongly with Honors living community as measured by evaluations, retention, and peer leadership

	OIR	Dependent on Funding	Provide and support contemporary infrastructure that supports living/learning environments for residence students

New learning spaces will be flexible with design, furniture, and technology to support discussion classes, presentations, demonstrations, group work, studios, laboratories, lectures, and critiques	VPAA, Deans, Faculty, Dean of Students, Residence Life	Fall 2009	Develop a vision for living/learning environment for the professional university of the 21^st century that integrates academic and residence life

	OIR	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Expansion of the University’s inventory of technology-enhanced classrooms, both on and off-campus. Upgrade and replacement of technology enhanced classrooms, labs, seminar, and study spaces.

	VPAA, Deans, Faculty, Dean of Students, Residence Life		Learning Space square footage

Smart classrooms and critique space will be situated in close proximity to studios/laboratories	VPFA, VPAA, OIR	2009-2010	classroom technology infrastructure and classroom furnishing improvements

	Safety and Security, Deans, Registrar		Develop and enhance card access systems to provide the necessary safe guards for students using open learning environment

Provide faculty studio and laboratory space sufficient to conduct professor-supervised design and research	VPAA, Deans,faculty, VP Finance and Administration	Fall 2009	Establish benchmarks

	VPAA, Deans, faculty	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Publications, presentations, products (IP)

Locate student computer labs, study centers, and student lounges in close proximity to other academic spaces.	VPAA, Deans, VPFA	Fall 2009	Establish benchmarks and complete space study

	OIR	Spring 2009 and onging	Contemporary infrastructure that supports living/learning environments for residence students

Situate faculty offices and administrative support close to studios/laboratories	VPAA, Deans, VP Finance and Administration	Fall 2009	Establish benchmarks and complete space study

Use virtual spaces as a vehicle for members of the campus community to interact and learn	VPAA, Deans, OIR	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Video and webconferencing applications, and applications that replicate the 3-D structures and models, course support software, blended learning support

	Physical Plant, VPAA, Deans, OIR	Spring 2010 and ongoing	Number of Virtual Spaces Created

Design a 24/7 campus community expanding access to campus services and resources that appeals to varying needs of student constituencies – adult learners, graduate students, design students, and others	Student Life, Public Relations	Fall 2009 and ongoing	All appropriate information and links to resources and online forms will be on the web. Student traffic will be tracked to evaluate the utilization of the pages

	Safety and Security, OIR, VPAA	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Develop proper Access Control features

Create more venues for display of visual/creative work.	Physical Plant,VPAA, Deans	Fall 2009 and ongoing	New spaces created

	VPAA, Deans, Faculty, Student Life	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Quality of shows (attendance, who attends, press coverage

Relocate Philadelphia University Research Center to integrate its work more closely with the campus community	VP for Finance and Administration, VPAA, Physical Plant, Deans, faculty	Dependent on Funding	Physical relocation to campus

	VPAA, Deans, faculty	Dependent on Funding	Collaborative grants submitted and earned, number of school faculty involved in projects, graduate student involvement in projects

	Dean of Architecture, VPFA, VPAA, VPDAR	Dependent on Funding	Establish a new Graduate Architecture Center

Design and construct functional space that promotes and supports active pedagogy, studio learning, collaboration, innovation and discovery	VPFA , VPAA, Deans, VP for Development and Alumni Relations	Dependent on Funding	Improvements in active pedagogy, collaboration, and innovation

Strategic Initiative Seven: Integrate student coursework with purposeful and intentional learning outside the classroom

Goal	Champions	Timeline	Measures
Develop residential campus as an important component of the student experience	VP for Finance and Administration, Dean of Students, VP for Development and Alumni Relations	2012	600 new beds

	Physical Plant, Residence Life	2011	Renovate 300 existing beds


Create integrative curricular and co-curricular learning outcomes	Dean of Students, Student Life directors, Academic Deans, faculty	Fall 2009, Spring 2010, 2011	Formalized structure of learning outcomes that cross student life and academic life

	Academic Deans, faculty, Dean of Students, Safety and Security	Spring 2009	Interdisciplinary Industry Student life Undergraduate Research outside classroom Academic Life: competitions, shows, projects, etc. that involve outside classroom life Increase community participation in crime prevention and life safety programs

Provide comprehensive and integrated learning support system. • Strengthen first-year and major academic advising and links to other relevant academic support and co-curricular programs such as FYE and SYE. • Implement the use of a co-curricular transcript or e-portfolio in which students would capture and transcribe a portfolio of experiences the student engaged in during their four or five years at Philadelphia University	Academic Deans, Dean of Students, Registrar, Learning and Advising, OIR	Fall 2009 and ongoing	Outcome goals established (June 2009) Student evaluations Parent evaluations Establish an e-portfolio system


Deepen and broaden experiential learning opportunities both in and outside of the classroom so students in all majors can incorporate for-credit and/or extracurricular opportunities into their course of study	Career Services, Dean of Students, Academic Deans,	Spring 2009	Number of students who participate in at least one internship, preceptorship, rotation, or fieldwork experience

	Dean of Students	Fall 2009	Explicit model for student leadership development consistent with Signature Pedagogy and with Student Life learning outcomes

	Career Services, Alumni Relations, Writing Center	Spring	50% of enrolled students create accounts and actively use LinkedIn for career and professional development; students using site to develop internships

	Career Services, Alumni Relations	Fall 2009	Increased level of alumni in CareerLink to call upon to support campus events

	Career Services	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Increase employer participation by 5-10% annually; be identified by employers as the premier recruiting event for design talent and primary tool for entry-level design hiring for employer partners; increase student participation by 10% annually

	Career Services	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Increase student participation by 10-15% annually; introduce 3-5 new employers each year, consistent with enrollment

	Career Services	Spring 2009	Up to 300 sophomores per year prepped for internships

Strengthen the University community for students, alumni, faculty and staff • Foster a transparent campus culture that informs and encourages an understanding of institutional values and priorities. • Support hallmark events that invoke a sense of spirit and community among students, faculty and staff • Use virtual spaces as a vehicle for members of the campus community to interact and learn. • Increase opportunities for interaction between faculty, staff, and students outside the classroom.	VP Development and Alumni Relations	Fall 2009	Percentage of complete Alumni contact information in University database

	VP Development and Alumni Relations, Deans, Career Services, OIR	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Percentage of alums engaged • Giving • Speaking • Providing internships • Serving on advisory boards

	Dean of Students, PC, Alumni Relations, Deans	Spring 2009 and ongoing	Number of Hallmark events