"Bread and Butter" Goals

The University's "bread and butter" goals are those that we (faculty, staff, and students) must reach if we are to be an excellent comprehensive state university. UWG would survive if we fail to meet them, but we would find it difficult to fulfill our mission.

These are the goals we believe are necessary for the University's success over the next five years:

1. Commitment to UWG's mission and goals. University and College administrators must agree on the University's direction and goals, and must work together to achieve them. 

2. Enrollment management. We must improve undergraduate and graduate recruitment and undergraduate retention while continuing to raise admission standards.

   Recruitment:

   1. Improve the reputation of UWG among high school guidance counselors, teachers, and college-bound students. (See "Public Relations" below.)
   2. Develop focused recruitment plans aimed at qualified and diverse high school students.
   3. Build stronger ties and articulation agreements with the two-year colleges of the University System of Georgia (USG) and the technical colleges of the Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE).
   4. Develop focused recruitment plans for our graduate education programs.  

   Retention:

   1. Enhance the Freshman Center. 
   1. Consider expanding its role to encompass more than the freshman year, with an appropriate name change.
   2. Give it a central physical presence on campus.
   3. Develop more peer tutoring and mentoring programs.
   2. Develop a comprehensive strategy for academic advising, perhaps in conjunction with the enhancement of the Freshman Center.
   3. Develop students' ties to UWG so that they want to stay until they earn their degrees rather than transfer to other USG institutions. (See "The University Experience" and "Campus infrastructure" below.)
   4. Increase undergraduate admissions standards each year as we have since 1997.
   5. Increase scholarship support and counseling for students with emergency financial needs.
       
3. Academic programs. Academic excellence is the essential goal of the University. Academic programming must be shaped by the mission of the University.
   1. Use periodic program reviews to ensure that departments and programs are mission-driven.
   2. Allocate resources for the improvement of existing programs and the development of new ones only in accordance with our mission as a comprehensive state university.
   3. Give high priority to obtaining and maintaining accreditation for every program for which a national accrediting agency exists. 
   4. Include faculty-directed student experiential learning, research, creative, or professional activities in academic programs whenever possible.
   5. Ensure that the general education program offered in the core is coherent and rigorous, with learning outcomes that can be clearly and consistently communicated.
       
4. Public relations. Public relations must become a campus-wide focus. Too often, UWG's image does not reflect who we are and what we do well. Inaccurate public perceptions of the University are a prime barrier to our continued progress.
   1. Launch a campus and statewide campaign to define and promote UWG as an excellent comprehensive state university, targeting the visionary goals defined in the strategic planning process. 
   2. Use campus resources, particularly mass communications students, faculty, and equipment, to maximize the effectiveness of PR office activities.
   3. Encourage faculty and staff members, administrators, and students to participate in PR initiatives.
   4. To increase participation in PR, form a subcommittee of the General University Matters committee of the Faculty Senate to take the lead on the Committee's existing charge to recommend policy and procedures for public relations. The subcommittee should include representatives from the administration, staff, and student body in addition to its faculty members.
       
5. The university experience. We must improve the quality of the university experience for both commuter and residential students if West Georgia is to fulfill its mission. To improve recruitment and retention, we must change the sense of many students that UWG is just the place where they take classes. 
   1. Give students a reason to stay at UWG on weekends.
   2. Continue improving the programming and facilities of the University Center. 
   3. Tie commuter students into the life of the campus.
   4. Explore ways to provide off-campus transportation to improve access to entertainment, shopping, and residences.
   5. Continue to encourage cultural, ethnic, racial, and gender diversity in students, faculty, and staff, and to work to ensure that equal opportunities and resources are available to all.
   6. Recognizing both the appeal of having an on-campus multipurpose stadium and the difficulty of fundraising, study the feasibility of building a multipurpose stadium.
       
6. Student, faculty and staff morale. We must continue to improve the positive campus climate at UWG to enhance the morale of our students, faculty, and staff members.
   1. Develop policies that address student and faculty concerns about class size to ensure that we can offer each student educational excellence in a personal environment. 
   2. Develop clearer faculty workload, promotion, and tenure policies that are consistent with the University mission.
   3. Review staff workload, promotion, and compensation policies.
   4. Promote faculty governance through the Faculty Senate and its committees.
   5. Develop procedures for assessing and improving campus services for students.

7. External relations.. We must work to improve our ties off-campus.
   1. Increase the engagement of alumni in recruitment, fundraising, and public relations.
   2. Forge stronger and broader town/gown relations.
   3. Emphasize regional service in our academic and extracurricular offerings.
   4. Promote an understanding of cultural diversity within our region.

8. Regional collaboration for economic and community development. We must form partnerships with government agencies, businesses, and non-profit organizations that let us apply the resources of the University to the solution of our community's economic and social problems.

9. Information technology. We must employ appropriate information technology to enhance student and faculty learning, provide access to distance education resources, and conduct the administrative functions of the University.

10. Campus infrastructure.. We must develop effective plans to maintain infrastructure necessary to deliver university services.
1. Allocate adequate resources to building maintenance: mechanical systems, roofs, carpeting, paint, etc. 
2. Develop a comprehensive strategy for requesting and scheduling maintenance.
3. Develop adequate budgets for computing and networking technology. 
4. Treat replacement of computers and networking equipment as recurring budget items rather than as one-time capital expenditures. 
5. Explore ways to improve student housing to compete effectively with our peer institutions.
11. Capital campaign. We must raise money and expand our sources of funding beyond the local community. State funding and current external fundraising activities like A-Day cannot meet our needs for facilities. Therefore, in conjunctio n with our new centenary date of 2006, hold a multi-million dollar capital campaign.