Strategic Plan 2001-2006 Goal 1: Raising the Bar

 As we implement the Strategic Plan, our academic focus this year is on Goal 1: Raising the Bar. Enhancing students’ academic achievement is at the heart of this goal. There is a sense in which everything we do is focused on academic achievement and yet, it will take intentional efforts to assess student learning and to design specific approaches to enhancing student academic performance.  Our plans and efforts related Goal 1 are presented here and will be updated as our work progresses.

The first guiding strategy is “Implement an integrated plan for measuring student performance.” An integrated plan for raising the bar should enhance what we are already doing. We will begin by taking stock of what we already do and then determine how we to increase student achievement, particularly in the quantitative and scientific domains.

Improving student quantitative and science skills is the second guiding strategy. We are focusing on enhancing quantitative literacy among our students and implementing a plan that has been funded by The James Irvine Foundation.

Providing a systematic program of faculty development is our third strategy of Goal 1. The Provost is inviting faculty membership on a Faculty Development Task Force this fall. The charge of the Task Force is to:

• review the current faculty development offerings of the College,
• design an ongoing approach to faculty development that responds to faculty interests and contributes to the nurture and development of our teacher-scholars,
• identify areas of the plan for which external funding can be sought, and
• begin to implement the program.

Assessing the success of our graduates is essential to self-evaluation at the College. We want to know where our BA/BS and AA graduates go and the success that they achieve in their careers. We want to identify the strengths of the education that they received at the Mount as well as to learn ways in which we can enhance the education that the College provides. This is the fourth strategy of Goal 1.