University Commitment to Diversity and Global Engagement

  1. Assure that 100 percent of Elon students have access to a global experience either domestically or abroad by strengthening collaboration between the Global Education Center and campus partners including academic departments, Athletics, CREDE, Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life, and the Center for Access & Success.
  2. Implement recommendations and strategies to make Elon a more welcoming and inclusive community.
    1. Develop an implementation plan based on recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Black Student, Faculty and Staff Experiences.
    2. Implement year-two recommendations of the LGBTQIA task force.
    3. Identify priorities and implement programs for Asian/Asian American, American-Indian, Hispanic/Latino and multiracial students and colleagues.
    4. Develop a mentoring program for first-generation and high-financial-need students who are not part of a cohort.
  3. Support the implementation of the multi-faith strategic plan, including continued development of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society.
  4. Advance excellence in global engagement through the launch of the Center for Research on Global Engagement and year one implementation of the Center for Engaged Learning Seminar, integrating global learning with the university experience.
  5. Expand the model for career programming and employment preparation of students who plan to pursue international or domestic-to-international careers.

Supporting a World Class Faculty and Staff

  1. Search for and hire academic deans for Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Education.
  2. Search from the Elon faculty and hire an associate provost for academic affairs, and if necessary reconfigure duties of the provost team to best use the skills and expertise of those in the office.
  3. Complete the design of an integrated Teacher-Scholar development model that works across the span of a faculty career, responds to the distinct challenges and opportunities of different career stages, and actively integrates mentoring into the developmental process; and initiate the design and implementation of programming stemming from this model.
  4. Study and assess ways part-time faculty are oriented to their work at Elon.

Attaining the Highest Levels of Achievement across our Academic Programs

  1. Finalize and implement an overall strategic plan for residential campus initiatives, integrating existing and new initiatives.
    1. Hire a Director for Academic Initiatives in the Residential Campus to provide focused academic leadership for the residential campus plan.
    2. Implement and evaluate the experimental pilot for academic residential learning communities for first-year students that link Core Foundations courses and Elon 101 for small cohorts of students living in close proximity in the same neighborhood.
    3. Complete a housing master plan and budget projection that addresses: additional first- and second-year student housing needs; renovation of existing residential facilities and neighborhoods, including furnishings, gathering spaces, and faculty-in-residence apartments; and the feasibility of a third-year housing requirement.
    4. Begin implementation of the Peer Mentoring Committee report and recommendations, including connecting, reconfiguring, and adjusting compensation for Orientation Leaders, Elon 101 TAs, and positions in Residence Life.
    5. Assess the effectiveness of enhanced first-year experiences in the Global, Colonnades, Danieley, and Historic neighborhoods.
  2. Appoint a presidential task force on campus social climate and out-of-class engagement to examine the student experience at Elon and recommend procedures that enable all students to connect in engaging and meaningful ways to the university’s academic, intellectual, and social opportunities.
  3. Complete the development of a comprehensive three- to five-year plan and budget to enhance the depth and breadth of intellectual life at Elon, and begin implementation of the plan.
  4. Make progress toward enhancing student integrative learning by launching and assessing initiatives involving the Elon Core Curriculum, residential learning communities, academic advising, and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.
  5. Support the development of five-year plans for departments, academic programs, and academic affairs units, including, as appropriate, revision of student learning outcomes.
  6. Identify and implement enhancements to the Elon 101 program.
    1. Review current advising process and implement procedures to enhance first-year advising and students’ academic development.
    2. Offer professional development opportunities for instructors and TAs.
    3. Develop ways to engage campus constituencies in Elon 101 curriculum and program development.
  7. Implement year three of the Writing Excellence Initiative.
    1. Complete first phases of the plan with all academic departments, the Elon Core Curriculum, Student Life, and other actors in planning enhancements of writing instruction
    2. Expand resources to support faculty and students
    3. Complete mid-plan assessment of progress.
  8. Complete and begin implementation of a plan to enhance second-language proficiency, including enhancements to current curricular and co-curricular programs, increased integration with global engagement experiences, and new initiatives.
  9. Develop a plan to support, assess, and enhance interdisciplinary minors.
  10. Implement data access enhancements, such as a mining warehouse package, survey software, and data dictionary, and develop data collection and access procedures and policies.
  11. Implement the Smart Catalog system for the Undergraduate Catalog, Faculty Handbook and Student Handbook. Evaluate the system for expansion including the creation and maintenance of a Graduate Catalog and the Curriculum review process.
  12. Develop a plan to move from a 3-digit to 4-digit course numbering system to support curricular changes, curricular innovation, and degree audit related process.
  13. Develop a proposal to transition the peer tutoring program to a robust learning assistance program that would include proposals regarding establishing new programming, personnel and budget.
  14. Begin implementation of the new strategic plan for the Love School of Business with particular focus on responding to increased enrollments.
  15. Continue development of the School of Law.
    1. Implement the strategic plan, including the new curriculum and calendar.
    2. Continue to implement and refine new Elon Law admissions messaging to better position the law school in a competitive environment and communicate changes in the school’s curriculum.
    3. Create a redesigned Elon Law viewbook and other recruitment materials and highlight the first year of the school’s revised curriculum through publications, opinion pieces, social media, and media outreach.
  16. Prepare for successful accreditation visits.
    1. Reaccreditation for Physical Therapy Education – Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (Fall 2015).
    2. Final provisional site visit by the Accreditation Review Commission on Physician Assistant Education (ARC-PA) on February 25-26, 2016.

Launching Strategic and Innovative Pathways in Undergraduate and Graduate Education

  1. Finalize and submit proposals for new graduate programs:
    1. Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in the School of Education to offer licensure in History, English, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education and Health, Middle Grades, and Science.
    2. 3 (B.S.) +2 (M.S.A.) program in the Love School of Business adding a Masters in Accountancy degree.
  2. Explore the feasibility of new graduate programs in
    1. Speech-language pathology
    2. Higher education leadership
  3. Continue the work of the ad hoc committee to explore Continuing Education opportunities.
  4. Based on the review of the current GAP program, propose changes to the existing program and evaluate new potential Gap programs.
  5. Build additional supports for the pre-professional programs through partnership with Student Professional Development Center which would include experienced professional living in the area who would work with Elon students providing career advising and pre-professional advising.

Developing Innovative Alumni Programs to Advance and Support the Elon Graduate

  1. Develop formal systems to clearly define, track, and support alumni roles, and to support alumni through a career services advising program.
  2. Develop initiatives to support the Franklin Project’s goal of creating one million post-graduate paid National Service Year experiences.
    1. Host Ret. General Stanley McChrystal with higher education, business, foundation, and political leaders at the NC Campus Compact President’s Forum.
    2. Working with the Alamance Regional Medical Center, implement the Elon-Alamance Health Partners program with four May 2015 Elon graduates engaging in a year of service with local health organizations (Healthy Alamance, Impact Alamance, Alamance County Health Department, and Alamance Regional Medical Center).
    3. Through a grant from the Kenan Foundation, provide four 2015-2016 seniors a mentored experience on campus to learn broadly about early childhood education in Alamance County and prepare them for a post-graduation year of service work experience helping local schools prepare children to be ready for school.

Significantly Enhance Elon’s Campus with Premier New Academic and Residential Facilities and a Commitment to Protecting our Environment

  1. Pilot and assess a new, innovative learning space through a partnership between Instructional and Campus Technologies, Academic Affairs, and Planning, Design, & Construction.
  2. Start construction on new School of Communications expansion and plan for opening of the new facilities, including complete plans for the McEwen renovation to occur in summer 2016.
  3. Finalize short- and long-term facility plans for addressing needs and supporting excellence in the natural sciences.
  4. Support planning for the development of new/remodeled campus facilities:
    1. Carlton renovation
    2. Repurpose of South Campus Office Building after Financial Planning moves to Inman Welcome Center
    3. Begin planning for a new building for the Love School of Business

New and Continuing Priorities to be implemented in 2015-2016

  1. Implement center in Shanghai in Fall 2015 as a pilot semester of an Elon Center in Asia.
  2. Implement and refine integrated communication funnel with prospective students, from the time they are admitted and through their first semester.
  3. Implement the new MS in Management program, host successful SACSCOC review of the Solutions Center facility in RTP for graduate business courses.
  4. Implement and refine a process to make strategic recommendations related to emerging teaching and learning technologies in support of Elon’s commitment to engaged learning, including flipped, blended, and online courses.
  5. Develop the processes necessary to convert GST courses to GBL, update the course proposal form to incorporate the new Global Engagement student learning goals to provide criteria for approval and expectations for assessment, and ensure that approved programs are accurately recorded for ELR credit and the Elon Experiences Transcript.

Watch List

  1. Complete broad-based strategic planning process for the future of Belk Library and solicit feedback from the university community.
  2. Conduct a comprehensive assessment of current fellows programs with attention to programming, student learning, and admissions to ensure quality and competitiveness in a changing admissions landscape.
  3. Support completion of ADA compliance audit.
  4. Support the development of an Anatomical Gift program.
  5. Continue to implement the Academic Support and Advising strategic plan including addressing the issue of advising loads across campus and work with schools to create degree planning advising templates for their majors.
  6. Continue to implement plan to enhance the current 3+2 Engineering program based on the feasibility study for a four- or five-year major in Engineering.
  7. Consider the creation of faculty awards for teaching in the Elon Core Curriculum.
  8. Begin to re-evaluate the Studies in the Arts & Sciences and Advanced Studies components of the Core Curriculum based on Elon’s participation in the AAC&U Summer Institute on general education.