SOAR: MSU Vision and Strategic Plan

University Vision, Mission and Core Values

University Vision

We aspire to be the best public regional university in the South.

Mission Statement

As a community of lifelong learners, we will:

• Educate students for success in a global environment;

• Engage in scholarship;

• Promote diversity of people and ideas;

• Foster innovation, collaboration and creative thinking; and

• Serve our communities to improve the quality of life.

Core Values

We strive to exemplify these core values in all that we do:

• PEOPLE come first and are treated with dignity and respect;

• LIFELONG LEARNING, SCHOLARSHIP and SERVICE;

• DIVERSITY and INCLUSION of people and thought;

• EXCELLENCE, HONESTY, INTEGRITY, and TRUST.

Student Success

Morehead State University will support student success by investing in and providing experiences that enrich academic, co-curricular, and career goals in order to prepare students for a diverse and ever-changing world.

Goal 1

Recruit - To recruit a diverse and engaged population of students

Strategies:

1. Expand recruitment pipelines and strengthen connections for under-represented minority populations. 

2. Use predictive analytics to identify and guide student recruitment practices. 

3. Expand and identify additional resources for advising and support for all transfer students. 

4. Expand involvement of, set accountability standards for, and reward excellence by faculty and staff in the student recruitment process. 

5. Enhance orientation initiatives.

Goal 2

Retention/Persistence and Degree Completion - To support the overall success and retention of a diverse student body

Strategies:

1. Provide support structures from recruitment to degree completion focused on underrepresented minority students.
2. Use predictive analytics to proactively identify “at-risk” students to aid in retention.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of and provide sustained support for services and courses provided to underprepared students in English and math.
4. Utilize comprehensive tools that focus on student success by providing the opportunity for coordinated case management.
5. Implement High Impact Learning Practices (internships/practicums, clinical experiences, student research projects, study abroad, service learning, mentorships) with a goal of all undergraduate students participating in at least one High Impact activity.
6. Provide opportunities for career exploration and planning with a means for students to illustrate academic, engagement and leadership experiences throughout the educational career.
7. Create a first-year experience that includes meaningful academic experiences, cohort-building, leadership and civic opportunities, diversity training, career planning and financial literacy.
8. Expand peer mentoring/coaching groups to increase student success.
9. Evaluate and improve the student employment experiences to ensure meaningful work/career experiences.
10. Provide intentional/intrusive advising for all first-year, sophomore and other key student populations.
11. Develop a campus wide training model for advising (both professional and faculty advising) for all colleges.
12. Create and implement a Sophomore Experience.
13. Improve the process for identifying students who are near degree completion with financial need, distributing funds and monitoring progress of students who receive them.
14. Expand and invest in mental health support services for students.
15. Develop a model to help students navigate and assist with campus-wide communication of University policies, procedures and appropriate contacts.
16. Allocate adequate resources, both financial and personnel, to provide co-curricular experiences outside of the classroom to include campus life, the arts and diversity/multicultural events.
17. Create a communication plan that incorporates campus-wide usage of an interactive calendar.

Academic Excellence

Morehead State University will enhance academic excellence through the scholarship and active mentorship of a well-rewarded, diverse, and dedicated faculty and staff that employ innovative, high-quality academic programs and services to engage students in the culture of experiential, life-long learning, citizenship and achievement.

Goal 1

Recruit, retain, and support an outstanding and diverse faculty and staff

Strategies:

1. Place a priority on addressing faculty shortages in academic programs.
2. Offer nationally competitive faculty and staff compensation packages.
3. Increase departmental recurring funding for faculty development activities.
4. Create a centralized unit that provides resources to support faculty teaching and research.
5. Increase tenured and tenure-track faculty diversity through intentional recruiting approaches/practices.
6. Recruit, retain, and reward well-qualified faculty and staff with inclusive and diverse mindsets in thought and practice with a strong affinity for interacting with students.
7. Authorize and provide the necessary resources for Academic Affairs to conduct and manage faculty hiring processes.
8. Review and improve the onboarding training plan for faculty and staff.

Goal 2

Offer innovative, high-quality, effectively delivered academic programs that attract and retain students and promote academic success

Strategies:

1. Offer courses that are of high quality, grounded in theory, and delivered with excellent pedagogy.
2. Develop more extensive on-campus summer programming that might include programs such as requiring underprepared students to attend the Summer Success Academy.
3. Enhance the Honors Program.
4. Evaluate current academic program offerings - maintain programs that are consistent with MSU’s mission, grow high-quality programs and develop new programs that produce successful graduates.
5. Retain and provide funding for current accreditations and attainment of new accreditations.
6. Develop and maintain a cohesive General Education program.
7. Increase the number and quality of programs and courses delivered online.
8. Enhance the learning experience for online students, developing an engaging university experience for online students and ensuring that online faculty have proper resources and support.
9. Develop a robust course scheduling approach that integrates multiple terms and sessions.

Goal 3

Provide coordination for high-quality, high-impact, co-curricular and experiential learning opportunities as a distinctive feature of students’ learning experience

Strategies:

1. Create a center for high-impact learning.
2. Evaluate the possibility of providing University-wide academic credit for high-impact experiences.
3. Develop a robust system to track student participation in all high-impact practices.
4. Ensure that faculty are rewarded with workload credit for participation in high-impact activities.
5. Ensure that departments/colleges are granted latitude in creating high-impact activities.

Goal 4

Enhance physical learning environments, core instructional infrastructure, and faculty teaching capacity

Strategies:

1. Create and maintain high-quality learning spaces for all academic programs.
2. Provide and maintain high-quality IT infrastructure and support for academic programs.

Goal 5

Foster a culture of research, scholarship and creative activity that supports and rewards faculty involvement and engages students and external partners

Strategies:

1. Develop a process to document, recognize, and disseminate faculty scholarship, research and creative activities, especially scholarly activities with students.
2. Enhance support for faculty research/creative capacity and output.
3. Increase engagement of staff in research activity by maximizing staff and related personnel supported by grant money.
4. Encourage cross-collaboration of faculty and staff in research endeavors through identifying existing space for interaction.
5. Ensure scholarly activity is valued through the development of uniform faculty evaluation plans.
6. Incentivize faculty scholarship by revising the indirect distribution formula to return research funds to the research accounts of the faculty members who generated those funds.

Rankings, Reputations and Regional Responsiveness

Morehead State University will engage in productive relationships with constituents in order to enhance the reputation of the University, improve the way we are ranked compared to benchmark peers, increase the private support we provide to our students and strengthen our efforts toward serving our state-defined region.

Goal 1

Enhance the promotion of MSU as a highly respected university for learning and working, and continue to cultivate our reputation of excellence

Strategies:

1. Clearly identify and communicate MSU’s distinctive attributes to attract students, donors, faculty, staff and industry partners.
2. Highlight notable/successful alumni to promote MSU’s distinctiveness.
3. Analyze and implement best practices to ensure our most effective digital presence including social media platforms and the external website.

Goal 2

Strengthen student success by cultivating increased private financial support for scholarships, experiential education, learning spaces, awards and fellowships

Strategies:

1. Conduct a comprehensive campaign focused on raising funds for student scholarships.
2. Strategically involve academic departments and faculty in fundraising efforts to enhance the quality of learning spaces throughout the campus.
3. Assess resources and staffing devoted to marketing and fundraising and strengthen where necessary in accordance to benchmark institutions.

Goal 3

Provide strategic engagement and service to address regional needs through strengthened and expanded partnerships

Strategies:

1. Coordinate and focus initiatives to support regional outreach.
2. Identify and support economic development opportunities to improve the standard of living in Eastern Kentucky.
3. Identify and address the educational needs of our service region.

Goal 4

Elevate our rankings in select national publications

Strategies:

1. Direct resources to campus units whose continuous improvement impact our rankings.
2. Increase alumni giving as a way to improve rankings.
3. Allocate support and resources to promote MSU’s reputation (internally and among peer institutions) in academic excellence and student success.

Outcomes (Performance-Based Funding)

Morehead State University will strengthen its financial position through alignment with the state’s performance-based funding model supported by strategic resource reallocation decisions and overall sound fiscal management.

Goal 1

Direct resources in support of high potential return Outcomes-Based Components of Performance-Based Funding Model

Strategies:

1. Increase support for “high-impact learning” practices to increase retention and progression rates.
2. Evaluate models to increase graduate enrollment including differential tuition pricing models and enhanced graduate assistant packages.
3. Support innovative course scheduling and program delivery models, which could enhance progression.
4. Invest in record-keeping technologies and processes needed to provide current and accurate information related to performance funding model metrics.

Goal 2

Optimize facilities footprint

Strategies:

1. Confirm that all MSU square footage is being coded correctly and explore space reallocation to maximize potential under the performance-based funding model.
2. Update the campus master plan based on a cost-benefit analysis of all University properties and programs.
3. Explore ways to generate new revenue with existing square footage through a more efficient utilization of space – including during offline periods.

Goal 3

Increase targeted investment in instruction and student support services

Strategies:

1. Invest in comprehensive advising tools focused on student success.
2. Explore models for fractionalized workloads for staff to utilize expertise and to optimize funding based on direct instructional costs in the performance funding model.
3. Increase investment in targeted retention programs for under-represented minority students.

Goal 4

Increase enrollment through targeted recruitment programs

Strategies:

1. Increase the number of transfer students from KCTCS through an expansion of articulation/transfer agreements.
2. Increase the MSU matriculation of students participating in the Eagle Scholars program through more frequent and planned contact with the University faculty/staff.
3. Optimize the University’s student scholarship program to enhance enrollment including that of out-of-state and international students.
4. Increase investment in merit-based scholarships for deserving Craft Academy, Governor’s Scholars, Governors School for the Arts, Governors School for Entrepreneurs, and other gifted student high school program participants, specifically targeting those students who have attended programs at MSU.
5. Competitively position the University among regional comprehensive universities with respect to cost of attendance.

Goal 5

Reallocate resources in support of the core University mission

Strategies:

1. Reallocate resources to support the “direct cost of educating students” category of the performance funding model by increasing the amount spent on actual instruction and seeking efficiencies in support areas not primarily designed to enroll students or track their academic progress.
2. Develop and apply a consistent process for assessing the University’s portfolio of degree programs to ensure both relevance and financial viability.
3. Incentivize development of revenue-generating programs.
4. Evaluate and develop alternatives to effectively manage the University’s rising pension costs.