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• Objective 1: Improve Graduation Rates.   

  Metrics:

  • Increase our FTIC 6-year graduation rate to 75% (approx. 10% increase).
  • Increase our FTIC one-year retention rate to 90% (approx. 10% increase).
  • Lower the average credits per degree to 120 (approx. 17 credit decrease).  

  Actions:

  • Integrate admissions and enrollment: recruitment, preorientation, orientation, “summer start,” advising, proactive enrollment.
  • Implement “invasive advising” that increases academic motivation and persistence and ensures adherence to degree plan and early intervention.
  • Ensure that CLASS has a sufficient number of advisors in each major.
  • Create clear degree pathways for each major and minor.
  • Create dual degree pathways.
  • Evaluate core curriculum offerings to ensure that students have access to necessary classes and that faculty resources are used efficiently.
  • Evaluate scheduling to ensure that students are able to make progress towards a degree every semester.

• Objective 2: Improve Financial Accessibility.  

  Metric:

  • Provide more opportunities for CLASS students to receive meaningful financial support to reduce barriers to the timely completion of their degrees.
  • Students will have a central area for discovering financial and experiential support opportunities.

  Actions:

  • Identify areas of highest needs and develop a streamlined process for connecting students to available university and college resources.
  • Increase financial aid and support from the college through multiple sources including scholarships, fellowships, internships, and campus jobs.
  • Provide training and information for advisors to help coach students on the financial implications of their course and major choices.
  • Increase endowments for student support (scholarship, internships, fellowships, etc.).
  • Decrease the overall cost of learning (materials, activities, facilities) within CLASS.
  • Align CLASS instructional budgets with costs of instruction to ensure all majors can support best practices.
  • Review majors for possible use of open-source learning materials to lower costs.
  • Develop a clear and accessible process for notifying students of scholarships, professional internships, and other award opportunities.

• Objective 3: Increase Experiential Learning. 

  Metric:

  • At least one-third of our majors will participate in at least one experiential learning opportunity: internship, Learning Abroad, Learning Away, research, or service learning.

  Actions:

  • Each major will review its degree plan for opportunities to integrate experiential learning opportunities in research, community (including civic and public service), and industry (professions).
  • Increase administrative support for internship programs, including staff support and seed or match funding. 
  • Incorporate experiential learning opportunities in development activities, events, alumni engagement, and community-engaged programs and partnerships.  
  • Engage alumni to support students through internships, networking, co-curricular opportunities, and other developmental activities.
  • Create standard agreements with community partners that incorporate experiential learning opportunities.
  • Partner with other campus offices and centers: e.g., University Career Services, Sugar Land and Katy learning sites, Institute for Global Engagement, Learning Abroad, Office of Community Engagement, Office of Neighborhood and Strategic Initiatives. 

• Objective 4: Be innovative and creative in instruction.  

  Metrics:

  • Use best practices in pedagogical strategies and instructional technology to facilitate access and learning,
  • Incorporate or expand co-curricular activities and learning, including learning communities, cohorts, and community participation events.

  Actions:

  • Review curricula for opportunities to integrate discovery and creativity into learning.
  • Provide support for faculty adapting classes to include active learning, flipped classrooms, hybrid and hyflex formats, streaming/“on demand”, and multimodal learning.
  • Integrate community partners into curriculum for real world context and content.  
  • Expand faculty and staff development activities related to instructional strategies and modes.
  • Charge departments with reviewing curricula and student evaluations to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Engage alumni as subject matter experts and partners in student success.

• Objective 5: Improve graduate and professional programs.  

  Metrics:

  • At least two of our graduate programs that receive outside rankings will attain new top 50 status.
  • At least two of our graduate programs that do not receive outside rankings will attain national recognition (e.g.  additional accreditation or professional awards).
  • Develop and implement at least 6 sustainable and successful graduate level or professional certificate programs.

  Actions:

  • Improve marketing towards, recruitment efforts of, and financial packages for graduate students in all programs.
  • Review curricula and programs for opportunities to share interdisciplinary courses, resources, and to incorporate community partners in training students.
  • Leverage alumni and community partners to promote and support programs, with a focus on attracting students from underserved communities.  
  • Improve the learning environment and learning community for graduate students through facilities (workspaces, break spaces), activities (colloquia, social events), and collaboration (financial support).
  • Graduate programs without outside rankings will identify a set of aspirational recognitions.

• Objective 6: Create programs for working professionals and lifelong learning.  

  Metric:

  • We will develop and implement at least 6 sustainable and successful lifelong learning (postgraduate/professional) certificate programs.

  Actions:

  • Cooperate with the business community to identify certificates or microcredentials that are aligned with their needs.
  • Identify programs that can provide continuing education credit for practitioners in accredited professions.
  • Partner with community organizations to identify and address needs and provide job placement pipelines for students obtaining certificates or credentials.
  • Leverage UH learning technology and platforms, like UH Extend, to reduce barriers and burdens to learners.