Marshall's Strategic Vision

STRATEGIC VISION

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Planning Process
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Mission
Vision
Areas
   - Intellectual Capital
   - Community & Service
   - Economic Development
   - Discovery & Innovation
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Intellectual Capital

STRATEGIC AREA

Increase the human intellectual resources of West Virginia and the region.

Objectives (examples for illustrative purposes, including examples of strategic questions: Advance Student Learning and Success[1] – Education for 21st Century Thinking and Learning (A Perspective)

Target student Recruitment & Enrollment Management Strategie
Advance the capability of West Virginians to think and innovate – e.g.,

Increase the number and percentage of West Virginians who have the capacity to contribute and compete in the Knowledge Economy
Expand access, increase success and elevate achievement

Create greater public value through effective and resourceful initiatives that advance the caliber and productivity of thinking and learning achieved at Marshall University
Accountability over time for stated goals

Considerations (examples for illustrative purposes):

Robust Faculty Development
Advanced learning space design and resources
Raise Expectations for Student Thinking and Learning Gains
New Academic Program Development (Example of the Constellation Approach) Identification of priority arrays for new academic program development – baccalaureate majors, masters degrees and selected doctoral degrees

Strategic linkages between new academic program development and building intellectual capital at Marshall University to support research goals
Comprehensive plan for Engineering and other key program areas at MU

Demonstrable Outcomes (examples for illustrative purposes):

Improved Student Retention (>80% Fall-to-Fall for first-time first-year full-time students)& Graduation (>60%) Rates
Evidence of effective educational practices/processes that produce superior caliber learning and achievement in graduates (emphasizing performance measures that matter most for the civic and economic future of the state, nation and society);
A significant rise in the percentage of West Virginians over time who are college educated (more widespread educational attainment; greater access and success) benchmarked against current levels; and
The importance that employers attach to the preferential hiring of Marshall University graduates (longitudinal survey data from employers.
Longitudinal tracking and verification of Student Thinking/Learning Gains

[1] Ultimately, higher education's success requires students to take more responsibility for their own learning. The more students are engaged in the intellectual work of thinking and learning, the more they learn and retain. This process is not only formative it is functional and structural on a physiological level. For example, engaging in the thinking involved with learning to think biologically alters the neural connections of the brain.

Students may avail themselves to the most dedicated and skillful instructors, the most carefully wrought and effective curricula, the most sophisticated learning environments and technology - and yet the learning that occurs will be minimal without a commitment to expand their own knowledge and abilities. The truth is that today too many students are minimalists in this regard. They are likely to be more aggressive, even litigious, in the search for easier courses and better grades than they are in the quest for learning itself.