skip the i-GuideIllinois State UniversityAdmissions at ISUAcademics at ISUEvents at ISUMap of ISUISU A to Z ListingISU AccessibilityISU 150th Anniversary
College of Arts and Sciences News
Article Details
College Unveils Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan Cover
At the Spring Address last week, the College unveiled its recently approved strategic plan: the College of Arts and Sciences Strategic Plan, 2005-2010. The plan is accessible on the college website, and a limited number of print copies will be made available to departments. The plan was devised with input from all shareholders in the College’s future. “A college or institution has the best chance to move forward when it has a well-articulated and carefully crafted strategic plan,” Dean Olson said at his Spring Address on April 20. “Thanks to the efforts of our Strategic Planning Steering Committee and to all the many faculty, staff, alumni, emeritus faculty, and community leaders who provided input on the College’s draft plan, the College now has an impressive and very specific plan for the next half decade.”

olson and bowman
Dean Olson presents the Strategic Plan to President Bowman at the Spring Address

Comprised of six main strategies, the Plan calls for the College to (1) enhance the quality of the College’s academic programs; (2) enhance support for faculty research and creative activity; (3) increase the local, state, national, and international visibility of the College’s quality programs, student successes, and faculty and staff achievements; (4) increase engagement with the local and state communities through service-learning projects, faculty research contributions, and College/community partnerships; (5) increase the level of external funding (grants, fellowships, and gifts) for research, teaching, and co-curricular programming; and (6) enhance the College-wide technology infrastructure to support excellence in scholarship, teaching, and learning.

As a first step in implementing actions called for in the strategic plan, Olson announced that the College will create a new teaching award: the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching. This award will mirror the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement in that it will comprise two awards of $3,000 each, one for a tenured faculty member and one for an untenured tenure-track faculty member. This action is called for in Strategy Two of the strategic plan.

olson and presley
Dean Olson presents the Strategic Plan to Vice President and Provost John Presley

"Newly appointed deans are required, by university policy, to create 5 year plans for their colleges within the first 180 days of their appointment,” said Dr. John Presley, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. “I am pleased that this is not treated as a mere requirement, but as an opportunity to engage the faculty and staff—very democratically, by the way, in the case of Arts and Sciences—in serious strategic planning.”

Presley also said, “The Arts and Sciences plan is a good example of strategic planning that, while carefully aligned with Educating Illinois and other statements of the mission and direction of Illinois State University, still strikes out in directions unique to the arts and sciences. It is very important to ISU that such a large and important college, one with the majority of majors and with great importance to all ISU students through our general education program, have a shared sense of direction and the unity of mission that can only be brought by mutual discussion and planning.” 

The College of Arts and Sciences Strategic Plan, 2005-2010, can be accessed at http://www.cas.ilstu.edu/originals/docs/StrategicPlan_2005-2010.pdf

Return