Shippensburg University Strategic Plan 2016-2021

The Shippensburg University Strategic Plan 2016-2021 will guide the institution into its sesquicentennial when in 2021 Shippensburg University will celebrate its first 150 years.

Mission

Student learning and personal development through highly effective and innovative teaching, complemented by a wide variety of out-of-class experiences, continue to serve as the hallmarks of a Shippensburg University education.

Context

The ultimate goal is to have students develop to their utmost the intellectual, personal, and social capabilities they need to perform as competent citizens prepared to embark on a career immediately upon graduation or after advanced study.

Committed to public service and community-centered in its relationships to the region, the university works closely and collaboratively with other organizations at institutional, programmatic and individual levels to develop common goals, share resources and invest cooperatively in the future of the region.

Vision

To be recognized as the premier public [comprehensive] university in providing high quality education for students and a wide array of programs and services to meet the needs of South Central Pennsylvania and beyond.

Overall, our purpose is to help build a better, stronger South Central Pennsylvania and beyond, economically and culturally, through recruiting, retaining, and developing students, faculty, and staff who have the abilities, skills, and values to compete and contribute to their community in an evolving world.

Download a printable PDF copy of the Shippensburg University Strategic Plan 2016-2021.

Approved by the Shippensburg University Council of Trustees on May 20, 2016.

Student Learning and Engagement

Build upon and support a personalized, balanced learning environment that engages students by utilizing high impact practices and providing additional experiential learning opportunities in the classroom and through co-curricular activities.

Excellence and Innovation

Enhance and promote areas of pre-existing excellence and a supportive climate of innovation.

Community and Regional Collaboration

Continue to practice civic engagement and collaboration among campus members. Our intent is to sustain and strengthen connections to the broader community and region.

Values

Student Centered

We provide all students - undergraduate, graduate, non-traditional, and even non-degree seeking students - with access to high quality and challenging programs, co- and extracurricular activities, individual advisement and mentorship, support services, facilities, and resources to succeed at Shippensburg University and excel in their careers. We recruit and retain well-qualified faculty who have a passion for teaching and administrators whose greatest priority is providing high quality educational, administrative, and support services for these students.

Learning

The pursuit and generation of knowledge through intellectual engagement and integrated learning are at the forefront of our mission. We provide a quality, comprehensive, and distinctive education that develops broadly educated individuals who will learn, lead, and adapt throughout their lifetimes. We value the importance of classroom instruction and the responsible application of instructional technologies, competency-based learning, and self-acquired knowledge and skills. Experiential learning such as student-faculty research, internships, study-abroad programs, and service-learning projects that enhance campus and surrounding community life are essential parts of the overall learning experience.

Innovation

We are committed to continually improving our programs and services based on emergent trends and technologies, research-based practices, and professional standards. We also value the significant contributions made by student-faculty research to the growth and vitality of academic and professional disciplines and to the development of an “entrepreneurial spirit.”

Engagement

We encourage all members of the campus community to be full partners in all aspects of our local and extended community. In addition to formal educational experiences, this includes participation in shared university governance, campus events and organizations, community service, student recruitment and retention, and alumni relations as well as being engaged citizens at the state and national level.

Access and Equity

We are a thriving campus community that strives for diversity among its members and equal access to educational and support resources for all. We value social equity and multiculturalism as means of promoting institutional innovation, problem solving, justice, fairness, and understanding.

Community

We are the Shippensburg University family. Relationships among current and former students, faculty, staff, and administrators are characterized by trust, mutual respect, support, communication, cooperation, and acceptance, and they last a lifetime. We take seriously our impact on the borough of Shippensburg and the surrounding municipalities and value our collaborations with businesses and organizations in the region, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our nation, and the world. These collaborations and relationships provide students with real-world experiences and connections that reach far beyond the borders of Shippensburg University.

Student Learning and Engagement

Build upon and support a personalized, balanced learning environment that engages students by utilizing high impact practices and providing additional experiential learning opportunities in the classroom and through co-curricular activities.

Excellence and Innovation

Enhance and promote areas of pre-existing excellence and a supportive climate of innovation.

Community and Regional Collaboration

Continue to practice civic engagement and collaboration among campus members. Our intent is to sustain and strengthen connections to the broader community and region.

Student Learning and Engagement

Support the central role of faculty in student learning and success and promote cross divisional as well as other collective and individual initiatives to:
  • Innovate and scale up successful practices to enhance the learning experience
  • Diminish unnecessary barriers to progression and completion
  • Review and redesign academic and non-academic policies as needed
  • Provide students early feedback as well as flag and address early signs of risk
  • Foster advising encompassing curricular, as well as co-curricular, student learning opportunities
  • Provide mentoring experiences to foster sense of belonging and self-efficacy
Encourage learning that engages students through innovative pedagogy and by providing additional outside of the classroom experiential learning opportunities.
  • Promote the use of technology that increases students' engagement in learning and to access learning resources outside of the classroom (reserving class time for deeper analysis of the content).
  • Promote the value of and increase opportunities for high impact learning experiences including
    • Entry year seminars and experiences
    • Common intellectual experiences, such as campus-wide reading
    • Learning communities
    • Writing intensive courses
    • Undergraduate research/student-faculty research/conferences
    • Service learning/community-engaged learning
    • Collaborative assignments and projects
    • Study abroad and international exchange programs as well as other diversity/global learning
    • Internships
    • Capstone courses and projects
Foster the notion that holistic education takes place outside as well as inside the classroom.
  • Expand Orientation/Academic Day activities and other entry year experiences to provide guided curricular and co-curricular activities throughout the first year.
  • Develop a living-learning program for students residing in on-campus housing and a campus involvement program for commuter students.
  • Expand community service opportunities for all students and establish a center to coordinate these activities.
  • Expand and coordinate multicultural and international exchange initiatives and programs to support student learning in areas such as: international studies, modern languages, global business, etc.
  • Develop a student leadership academy.
  • Expand career development programs and services to help students obtain suitable employment, pursue an entrepreneurial interest, or gain admission to graduate school and, overall, to enhance career satisfaction of graduates.
  • Develop ways of accounting for and celebrating individual student experiences that occur outside the classroom and involve significant learning (such as, service learning, military experience, or other self-acquired knowledge).
Promote academic success for students who come from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of experiences.
Recruit, retain, and develop high quality students.
  • Provide greater academic and social support services for all students.
  • Expand academic enhancement and support services for at-risk students, athletes, international students, and students generally by delivering services in new locations and using various modalities (such as in residence halls and through the use of technology).
  • Expand high-impact learning activities, e.g., living-learning opportunities and undergraduate research.
  • Expand successful pilot initiatives related to advising /mentoring students and develop additional advising tools built on student data and research on student success
Recruit, retain, and develop high quality faculty, representing an innovative cadre of teacher-scholars.

Rely upon national searches for terminally qualified faculty who demonstrate outstanding and student centered teaching as well as capacities for excellence in scholarship and service.

Recruit, retain, and develop staff, and administration dedicated to supporting student learning and engagement.

Continue to seek well-qualified personnel to provide administrative, educational, and student support services of the university that are essential to student learning and engagement.

Support faculty and recognize staff that are dedicated to promoting academic success in curricular and co-curricular activities
  • Commit adequate funding for professional development.
  • Expand opportunities for professional development training to high-impact practices.
  • Provide continued recognition of all personnel with respect to their contributions to the university's mission.

Excellence and Innovation

  • Develop and enhance academic programs and pedagogies of excellence that are simultaneously grounded in the hallmarks of a liberal arts education; develop independent, innovative, and analytic thinkers; are at the cutting edge of their field; and meet the workplace needs of the region.
    • Develop new and strengthen existing academic programs and facilities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and other programs, including professional doctorates that complement and support the 21st century information-based economy.
  • Develop innovative pedagogies and means to offer courses, programs, and services for new markets and audiences, and that are responsive to the changing needs and high-demand careers of regional and state communities and organizations.
  • Develop a means to systematically inventory, track, assess, and report the impact of activities that represent the University's areas of excellence and innovation.
  • Promote a diverse community that supports cultural and social differences.
  • Establish an environment and processes that facilitate and reward creativity and innovation that enhances the mission of the University.
  • Enhance enrollment management, with a more strategic approach and more aggressive implementation, demonstrating excellence and innovation.
  • Develop and implement a strategic marketing and engaging advocacy plan that promote the University's areas of excellence to prospective students, alumni, the community, and the legislature.
  • Recruit and retain faculty who will promote an academic culture of excellence, scholarship, and innovation.
  • Recruit, retain, and develop high quality faculty, staff, management, and administrators to provide the administrative, educational, and student support services of the university that are essential to excellence and innovation.
  • Establish and promote continued education opportunities in employee development and supervisory and administrative leadership skills and practices to promote excellence and innovation.
  • Develop campus physical facilities to more adequately support current programs and services as well as future directions and maintain a facilities master plan to assure efficient and effective allocation and use of space, long-term viability of facilities through adequate maintenance and repair programs, and regulatory and statutory compliance.
  • Maintain and enhance resource management systems and procedures that provide timely and accurate information and assure sufficient accountability and compliance.
  • Continue to identify, examine, align, and allocate resources to meet institutional priorities while maintaining fiscal responsibility and enhancing academic excellence.

Community and Regional Collaboration

  • Leverage student, faculty and staff areas of interest and expertise to meet community needs and interests.
  • Promote multiple methods of student, faculty and staff community engagement including, but not limited to, service learning, community based research, professional service, volunteerism and civic engagement.
  • Fully engage SU alumni and friends in ongoing aspects of the university including recruitment, retention, career planning, fundraising and advocacy for the university.
  • Coordinate and strengthen community-university relationships.
  • Increase recognition and impact of the connection between regional economic growth and the university.
  • Recruit, retain, and develop high quality faculty, staff, and administrators to provide the administrative, educational, and student support services of the university that are essential to community and regional collaboration.

Strategic Plan