BSUFA Senate Meeting Spring 2013

MAPStrategic Plan  Academic Beliefs  Academic Mission  Academic Core Values  Academic Programming Priority Areas  Goal Areas  Definitions  Process  Mission  Vision  Themes  Values  Goals  Initiatives  Work Plan

MAPStrategic Plan Bemidji State University will offer students an exemplary educational experience, both residential and online. Regardless of a student’s chosen pathway to a degree, BSU students will demonstrate growth in academic learning, in living BSU’s core academic values, and will rank number one within the MnSCU System on the following outcomes:  1. Percent of students passing state licensure exams.  2. Percent of students with study abroad/semester abroad experience.  Percent of students graduating with more than one credential.  Percent of students participating in service learning, practicums, internships and other community-based educational experiences.  Percent of students engaged in environmental stewardship activities. As a leading regional public university in the Upper Midwest, Bemidji State University will be an international magnet for educational excellence, innovative instruction and enrichment through service.

MAPStrategic Plan Bemidji State University is an undergraduate institution with specialized and distinct graduate programs where academic content and delivery of that content is grounded in the principles of social justice and democracy. Through distinguished teaching, discovery and diverse experience grounded in liberal education, Bemidji State University prepares graduates who are confident, compassionate and inspired to lead lives of character and significance in their chosen field.

MAPStrategic Plan  Creative and critical thinking.  Living democratic principles.  Inclusion of students, staff, faculty and administrators in all aspects of university life.  Highly interactive, relevant and engaging teaching and learning environments.  Respect  Integrity  Diversity  Wellness  Leadership

MAPStrategic Plan  Health and human capacity  Personal and social responsibility  Learning, knowing, and understanding the role of business related activities  Writing/reading/speaking/lis tening across the university  Curricular integration, particularly in liberal education  Environmental stewardship  International/multicultural understanding  Civic engagement  Access to educational opportunity  Appreciation for the rich heritage of BSU and northern Minnesota

MAPStrategic Plan  Financial sustainability  Distinctiveness  Internationally competitive  Organizational  Connect to our communities  Liberal Arts  Innovation, Access, Persistence & Student Success  Education of Enduring Worth

Due to reductions in state aid, BSU is moving away from dependence upon state funding and towards increasing dependence on tuition and external funds.  Pursue new budgeting models  Strategically allocate all future faculty and staff positions in Academic Affairs to support the master academic plan  Expect that, whenever possible, future faculty positions be interdisciplinary  Expect that faculty members hired into those positions are both willing and able to contribute to the liberal education of our students, both on-ground and online  New faculty lines will primarily come from expanding the 80/20 program model, providing accessibility to BSU programs for new student populations.

Goal 1: Enhance and strengthen University outreach.  Develop, foster and enhance opportunities for University students, faculty, and staff to engage and connect with our constituents and the many communities we serve through service learning, internships, mentorships, community advocacy, field experiences, class projects, practicums, etc.  Explore additional opportunities for partnerships between the University and our local & regional community. Goal 2: Explore new opportunities for community members to engage students, faculty, and staff to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity on campus.  Engage external stakeholders through expansion of Alumni in the classroom, mentoring opportunities, expansion of SSCA Conference, new partnerships & collaborations.  Support the work underway to create the BSU Leadership Academy.  Assist in the development of new ideas to engage external stakeholders.  Provide opportunities for external community to comment on civic engagement activities and campus/community partnerships.

Goal 3: Improve coordination and oversight of community engagement and service learning opportunities.  Establish a common understanding of civic engagement through enhanced communications on campus and with community partners.  Identify the responsible office/area that will provide the coordination and facilitation of community engagement activities. (e.g. Creation of an Office of Community Engagement )  Establish an advisory group comprised of campus and community members to help develop and implement community connections. Goal 4:Access and promote ongoing community and civic engagement activities.  Conduct annual assessment of outreach activities by University students, faculty, and staff.  Publicize findings of the annual assessment to demonstrate the socio- economic impact of service learning and other partnerships with the community.  Conduct external needs assessment to help inform and direct community engagement efforts and activities.  Perform a comprehensive review every five years of community engagement activities conducted by students, faculty and staff.  Explore becoming a Carnegie Foundation Community-Engaged Campus.

 While Bemidji State University is responsible to develop the future workforce and to serve as an economic engine to grow the regional economy of northern Minnesota, we are much more than a school to work site. As a public, regional university, we also have a civic responsibility and moral obligation to enhance the intellectual, social, and cultural capital of northern Minnesota. We know that potential students have an array of educational opportunities in higher education where admissions range from highly selective to open access, where costs range from free to exorbitant, and where quality ranges from questionable to exemplary. We choose to be distinctively different from regional public and private universities through the following:

 Infuse the AAC&U’s essential learning outcomes and high impact practices in the BSU’s general education program. ◦ Initiative – Ask the Liberal Education Committee to identify a model by October 15, ◦ Initiative – Share the model with the broader university by November 1, 2013 with feedback by December 15,  Establish additional graduation requirements that support the MAP. ◦ Initiative: Student experience with the signature themes ◦ Initiative: a non-English (natural or programming) language requirement that can be met in a variety of ways such as, proficiency in a non-English language acquired in high school, successful completion of study of a year or more of a non-English language.  Create a freshman seminar and a senior seminar (capstone) that infuse “problem solving” models to promote integrative and interdisciplinary thinking.  Provide faculty enrichment opportunities focused on enhancing pedagogy. ◦ Initiative: High impact practices in teaching ◦ Initiative: The nature of the brain, cognition, and meta-cognition ◦ Initiative: Collaborative teaching ◦ Initiative: Course design and assessment ◦ Initiative: Problem solving, integrative and interdisciplinary thinking

 The entire university community must be globally astute and able to help prepare Bemidji State University students for living, working, and learning anywhere on the planet. The increasing number of Americans working abroad, the increasing number of international students coming into the U.S. to pursue education, and the increasing number of foreign workers immigrating to the U.S. confirms the need to prepare our students for global life. This requires extended experiences abroad for as many members of the BSU community as possible and especially for our students, many who come from small, rural communities throughout northern Minnesota.

Goal 1. Foster a creative university environment that supports the implementation of new ideas. Assessing the current status and future needs of the university to create a structure to implement new strategies for innovation and access. Initiatives:  Establish a task force of students, faculty and staff to specifically identify and define root causes of barriers to creativity and innovation on campus.  Establish a Center for Creativity & Innovation to foster the proposal of solutions which address barriers to innovation and also champion new campus initiatives in areas such as curriculum development, course delivery, organizational structure, collaboration, accessibility of students, etc.  Promote an environment of innovation and creativity through the search, hiring and retention process for faculty and staff as well as encourage faculty externships and exchanges.  Promote an environment of learning, knowledge and competence in students by increasing their level of participation and access to university resources such as Honors Council Lectures.

Goal 2. Design and implement innovative strategies that demonstrate and celebrate collaboration and partnering with students, faculty and staff. Promoting a culture of innovation with students, faculty and staff who are all aligned for the common good and benefits that come through true collaboration and a mutually supportive organization. Initiatives:  Prepare students for the real world by requiring all degree programs to offer a variety of experiences beginning in the freshman year with potential employers, the community and across university departments including activities such as practicums, field trips, job shadowing, service learning, research projects, case studies, portfolios and e-mentoring.  Develop and promote a university wide system to expand the availability of individualized and competency based learning, including strategies such as prior learning, test-out and work and life experience assessment.  Create and implement a capstone “last year experience” course for graduating seniors that would serve as a bookend with the First Year Experience course and a transition for life and employment after graduation. Encourage faculty and staff to take an active role in reaching out to students through student campus organizations such as student senate and mentor them to increase the level of student engagement as it relates to university activities, committees and decision making processes.

Goal 3. Create an individualized student plan model for success that includes purposeful advising which leads to degree completion. Developing processes to focus on the needs, wants and expectations of students. Initiatives:  Implement a student advising skill training program for faculty and staff.  Identify and implement personalized learning and retention strategies that address the unique needs of a diversity of learners such as age, culture, geography, social, economic and learning challenges.  Identify and incorporate soft skill development strategies for students throughout the university curriculum to address topics such as social and interpersonal communication.  Develop and disseminate a master 4-year campus course schedule.  Create and install uniform faculty/staff photo directories for every department/office on campus.

 The university is dynamic. Change is the only constant and continuous quality improvement efforts are the only way to productively manage change. We believe it essential to always evaluate the organizational structure of the university and the academic units within the university, moving where needed to improve efficiencies, enhance quality, and provide opportunities that help us live our vision, mission and values while meeting our strategic goals.

 Inputs (internal university capacities/resources) ◦ Organize existing ongoing data collection(s)  Graduate income  Graduate rates  Student employment  And so on  Accountability: Doug Olney’s office? ◦ Major capstone experience  Students required to demonstrate learning appropriate to their major  Departments decide how to accomplish this (internship, capstone, etc.)  Accountability for measurement: Major programs ◦ Alumni Survey  10 general questions (classroom experience, non-classroom experience)  10 program specific questions  Accountability: Academic Affairs & Departments ◦ Advisory Boards  Developed & administered by programs  Accountability: Academic Affairs & Departments

 Outputs (external performance of graduates) ◦ Task: identify employers/ internship supervisors/ CEOs/ HR managers  Then: generate conversation about (1) whether programs are preparing students appropriately? And (2) is the communication process with BSU a valuable experience for employers?  Accountability: Academic Affairs or Faculty Senate? ◦ Students/Families  Was the BSU experience valuable preparation for career?  This should be longitudinal process  Accountability: Doug Olney’s office? ◦ Community at large  (This has not been defined at present)

 Comment period November 2012 through January 2013  Revisions/edits by deans’ council in February  Work plan/timeline with assignments created by deans’ council in February  Hard copy distribution of proposed final draft went out in March for comment  Taken to M&C/BSUFA senate in March  Work plan implementation in fall 2013

 Drafting in small and large groups througout  Draft out for review now through April  External focus group reviews in March and April  Editing of draft end of April  Proposed first ‘final draft’ end of April/first of May  Proposed final draft goes through M&C process  Approval of final draft in fall 2013

 10% of BSU residential population is international  At least 120 BSU students will go abroad each semester  Increase # of visiting professors to 4/year  Support at least 5 faculty abroad each year through CIEE or work abroad opportunities  Internationalize campus and community

 Partnered with CIBT to recruit international students and link us to quality universities for BSU students to go abroad at an affordable rate  Bringing KGIC Global Learning Center and intensive English to BSU January 2013  Created summer camps for international students  Added a full-time staff member to international program center  Formed a university-wide internationalization team  Appointed Director of International Relations  Revising our International Studies program

CIBT Education Group Inc.

 Signed as a member of American Association of State Colleges and Universities international consortium with CAEIE for dual degree programs  25 U.S. universities  42 Chinese universities  Programs to consider ◦ Biology ◦ Design Technology ◦ Music ◦ Special education ◦ Psychology ◦ Business ◦ Computer science ◦ Others  Creation of course equivalencies and guides

 Exchange agreements signed with partner universities. Each location will exchange students each semester and most have faculty work abroad opportunities:  Weifang U, China  Liaoning U, Shenyang, China (revised)  U of Reykjavik, Iceland  U of Comoros Islands, Comoros  HELP University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea  Global Institute of Management and Economics, Dalian, China  Beijing Institute of Science and Technology, China  Capital Normal University, China

 Exchange agreements to sign this spring or summer U of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland CIBT International College of Guangzhou U, China Sprott-Shaw Degree College, Vancouver, Canada  Seeking partnerships Two universities in Argentina Two universities in Brazil  Faculty teach abroad/exchanges Semester or year abroad in place at o Weifang U, Weifang, China o GIME, Dalian, China o Liaoning U., Shenyang, China o HELP, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia o BIST, Beijing, China o Capital Normal, Beijing, China o Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

 Two full scholarships to Guangzhou U for BSU students available now  ‘Passport program’ credential for students in development, led by Tom Beech  Faculty coordinator (Janice Haworth) will assist faculty and students in pursuing international grants with Fulbright, Rhodes, Bush opportunities for students and faculty

 Faculty research abroad opportunities through CIEE led by Sanjeev Phukan o 3 slots filled for summer 2013 for faculty to research abroad approved  CIBT provides 6 positions for BSU students to work abroad each Chinese educational term  BSU Student electronic music ensemble (Voltage) plus their faculty mentor will visit Weifang U mid-May through mid- June

 Meetings with local civic groups  Meetings with local leadership group: Greater Bemidji  Meetings with local Bemidji Chamber of Commerce  Media publicity

Enjoy spring in balmy Bemidji