Goal 1: Student success will be UALR’s top priority.
Objective 1: UALR will increase student retention, graduation rates, and graduation numbers by offering excellent academic programs, enhancing student success support structures, and continuing to raise admission standards as appropriate.
Strategy 1: Institutionalize a system for identifying, analyzing, and removing barriers to success using a standing retention and graduation committee of the University Assembly which will be responsible for presenting recommendations to appropriate faculty and administrative groups.
Strategy 2: Strengthen and adopt more proactive advising and mentoring (both academic and developmental) of undergraduate and graduate students.
Strategy 3: Increase targeted recruitment of academically well-prepared undergraduate and graduate students at the university, college, and departmental levels.
Strategy 4: Require an early declaration of an undergraduate major.
Strategy 5: Expand and strengthen UALR programs for undergraduate students with exceptional ability including expanding Honors programs and developing individualized opportunities for students with specific career or graduate school objectives.
Objective 2: UALR will enhance student learning through the integration of student research, internships, externships, service learning opportunities, and other educational experiences into the curriculum.
Strategy 1:Enhance and expand research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
Strategy 2: Enhance the number of strategically chosen, collaborative relationships between UALR and external organizations to create unique learning opportunities for UALR students. (i .e., other institutions of higher education, non-profit and cultural organizations, related business, industry, state and municipal agencies, etc.).
Strategy 3: Increase the number of undergraduate programs that include service learning.
Strategy 4: Incorporate a service component into all academic programs in which it is appropriate.
Objective 3: UALR will strengthen the sense of community in the student body.
Strategy 1: Create additional student-centered events and gathering spaces, which become part of campus tradition.
Strategy 2: Enhance the intercollegiate athletics program and expand the intramural athletics program.
Strategy 3: Develop virtual campus communities for students through use of social media and virtual administrative and academic support services.
Strategy 4: Require first-time, entering full-time freshmen, including those who transfer AP and concurrent credit to UALR, to live on campus, and require students living on campus to purchase a meal plan, with exceptions for extenuating circumstances.
Strategy 5: Maintain a safe campus environment.
Strategy 6: Continue to develop on-campus housing options to meet need and demand.
Strategy 7: Work with University District partners to develop amenities (shopping, entertainment, etc.) which will appeal to the student body.
Goal 2: UALR will develop as a research institution in alignment with its Carnegie classification as a doctoral research university.
Objective 1: UALR will continue to develop and mature as a research university.
Strategy 1: Hire and retain faculty with the demonstrated capacity to contribute to the achievement of the university ’s research mission and agenda in alignment with the 2007 Faculty Roles and Rewards statement.
Strategy 2: Develop research offices and oversight groups to provide leadership in staying abreast of best practices and in conformity with applicable laws and regulations.
Strategy 3: Build an appropriate support infrastructure, including research facilities, equipment and technology with replacement programs, reassigned time for faculty with productive research agendas, seed funding for research projects, and increased numbers of graduate assistantships with competitive stipends.
Strategy 4: Pursue external partnerships to enhance fulfillment of UALR ’s research mission.
Strategy 5: Support the development of library and archival resources such as the Sequoyah National Research Center and the Arkansas Studies Institute to facilitate research.
Strategy 6: Ensure the maturation of the Office of Innovation and Commercialization to take advantage of promising discoveries emanating from the work of UALR faculty and students for the benefit of Arkansas.
Objective 2: UALR will support the development of key research units.
Strategy 1: Continue to develop and enhance the Nanotechnology Center as a Center of Excellence.
Strategy 2: Play a leadership role in the development of a research park in central Little
Rock.
Strategy 3: Develop the Institute on Race and Ethnicity to address through research the problem of racial and ethnic injustice in Arkansas.
Strategy 4: Establish and implement a process by which priority research initiatives, programs, and Centers of Excellence are supported , and their continued success evaluated within the framework of UALR ’s commitment to economic and community development.
Goal 3: UALR will respond to local, state, regional, and national priorities.
Objective 1: UALR will lead in improving the academic success of children in the public schools.
Strategy 1:
Seek partnerships to increase the quality of education in central Arkansas schools, increase the number of teachers in subjects where particular shortages exist (STEM, foreign languages, etc.), and prepare teachers for service in areas of the state with teacher shortages.
Strategy 2: Expand UALR ’s successful African-American Male Initiative to include satellite AAM I programs in nearby school districts.
Strategy 3: Lead the Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood to provide cradle-to
career pathways for children in the initiative’s zone.
Objective 2: UALR will align research and outreach initiatives to facilitate economic development in Arkansas.
Strategy 1: Assess on a periodic basis the workforce and economic development needs of the region and, within available resources, implement programs and initiatives to meet those needs.
Strategy 2: Engage the campus community in a conversation about the significance of economic development to the institution ’s external mission and the roles that all units across campus play in its pursuit.
Strategy 3: Align curriculum with the employment needs of business, industry, government, health care, and non-profit organizations, to enhance both the labor force in Arkansas and career options for UALR students.
Strategy 4: Provide direct support for individual economic development initiatives identified as regional and state priorities through strategic partnerships.
Objective 3: UALR will lead in community development.
Strategy 1: Provide leadership for the University District Partnership to revitalize the neighborhoods and commercial areas close to the UALR campus.
Strategy 2: Leverage UALR ’s strength in academic and outreach programs in the arts to support the arts and cultural offerings in central Arkansas through key partnerships.
Goal 4: UALR will demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equality, and global understanding.
Objective 1: UALR will enhance diversity among faculty, staff, and administration using appropriate data to establish and meet benchmarks for hiring from underrepresented groups.
Strategy 1: Design and implement recruitment processes to attract a diverse pool of candidates for faculty, staff, and administrative positions
Strategy 2: Improve retention of faculty, staff, and administrators from underrepresented groups through targeted mentoring programs.
Objective 2: UALR will enhance the diversity of the student body.
Strategy 1: Assess diversity in comparison to the greater community and set measurable targets for recruitment.
Strategy 2: Set ambitious recruitment goals for international students and implement aggressive initiatives to achieve them.
Objective 3: UALR will establish university-wide leadership to champion diversity.
Strategy 1: Establish a campus-wide council on diversity, equality, and global understanding to lead the campus in planning related to diversity and in launching strategic diversity initiatives.
Objective 4: UALR will nurture curricular and co-curricular learning environments that promote diversity and global understanding.
Strategy 1: Infuse content about diversity and cultural competence in ways appropriate to the respective disciplines throughout the curriculum.
Strategy 2: Enhance co-curricular programming targeted toward emerging student populations and develop and maintain co-curricular training that promotes diversity and global understanding.
Strategy 3: Increase student participation in international educational experiences.
Goal 5: UALR will strengthen and support the human resources and infrastructure necessary to fulfill its mission and vision.
Objective 1: UALR will recruit, hire, and support faculty and staff in who align with its commitments to student success, research, and diversity.
Strategy 1: Seek support for compensating faculty and staff at competitive levels in comparison with appropriate benchmarks.
Strategy 2: Ensure that hiring processes are designed and implemented to achieve diverse applicant pools and the employment of faculty and staff who add value to the student success and research missions of the university.
Strategy 3: Invest in training and professional development for faculty and staff to ensure their capacity to make significant contributions in the arenas of student success and research.
Objective 2: UALR will maintain and support an instructional environment conducive to high-quality educational experiences using cutting-edge technology and equipment.
Strategy 1:Systematically fund technical infrastructure, classroom and laboratory technology, faculty, department, and college office technology, and specialized, non digital/non-electronic equipment to ensure high-quality educational experiences.
Strategy 2: Develop and implement a classroom upgrade plan.
Strategy 3: Provide opportunities to integrate instructional technology into the learning environment and the professional development necessary to facilitate the integration.
Objective 3: UALR will implement best practices in facilities management that foster a safe, functional, attractive, sustainable, and accessible campus environment.
Strategy 1: Seek LEED certification for new capital projects.
Strategy 2: Assess deferred maintenance needs with a timeline and financing plan for addressing those needs.
Objective 4: UALR will support its mission and vision through a comprehensive branding campaign.
Strategy 1: Conduct unit-level reviews of print and electronic communications for conformity with the revised graphic standards.
Strategy 2: Implement a plan for monitoring the web content of departments and other campus units in order to keep content up-to-date.
Objective 5: UALR will pursue the financial resources necessary to support its priorities.
Strategy 1: Implement cost-containment initiatives and resource reallocations, and match available resources to strategic priorities.
Strategy 2: Employ a broad-based approach to tap all categories of potential funds state appropriations, tuition and fees, grants and contracts, private support, and congressional earmarks.