FOCUS CAROLINA STRATEGIC PLAN - University of South Carolina

Focus Carolina Strategic Plan
University of South Carolina
December 2011
Contents
2 Our Story
2 Our Vision
2 Our Mission
3 Our Purpose
4 Our Values
4 Our Goals
5 Our Initiatives
5 Teaching and Learning
7 Research, Scholarship and Creative Achievement
9 Service Excellence
10 Quality of Life on the University Campus
13 Recognition and Visibility
14 Our Focus
14 Focus on Educational Quality
19 Focus on Leadership
20 Focus on Innovation
21 Focus on Diversity
22 Focus on Access
23 Focus on Global Competitiveness
24 Focus on Community Engagement
25 Measures of Achievement
1

Focus Carolina Strategic Plan
University of South Carolina
Our Story
What began in 1805 as a small college with one building in Columbia is now the Palmetto State’s
Flagship University of South Carolina system, serving the state’s citizens with eight vibrant campuses.
More than 33,000 of USC’s 44,557 current graduate and undergraduate students are South
Carolina residents, and nearly 165,000 of our 258,000 alumni live in this state. They are taxpayers,
professionals, parents, voters, corporate/community/civic leaders and retirees — people from all
walks of life who, with their USC education, advance our state socially, economically and politically.
The University of South Carolina is the Flagship University of the State of South Carolina.
Our Vision
The University of South Carolina, dedicated to enhancement of the quality of life for all citizens,
is a premier flagship university system, nationally and internationally recognized for excellence and
leadership and strives to
n achieve the highest quality in all academic endeavors, making academic excellence our trademark.
n lead globally in discovery, application and dissemination of knowledge; excel in creative
achievement and attain recognition for world-renowned scholarship.
n apply knowledge and problem solving to enhance the quality of life and sustainability for South
Carolinians and the nation.
n model best practices as a global leader in research, education and community engagement.
Our Mission
The primary mission of the University of South Carolina is the education of the state’s diverse
citizens through teaching, research, creative activity, and service. Founded in 1801, the University
of South Carolina system is the largest university in the state, serving more than 41,000 students
from its flagship Columbia campus, three senior campuses (Aiken, Beaufort, and Upstate), and four
regional campuses (Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter, and Union).
2

The University of South Carolina is a public institution offering degree programs at the associates,
bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels. Through the primary method of classroom and laboratory
instruction and through a secondary method of distance education delivered by the internet,
teleconference, streaming video and DVD, degree programs are offered in the areas of liberal arts
and sciences, education, engineering and computing, hospitality retail and sport management, mass
communications and information studies, public health, and professional programs such as law,
medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and business.
Recognized by the Carnegie Foundation as a top research and service institution, nationally ranked
in start-up businesses, and conferring nearly 40% of all bachelors and graduate degrees awarded at
public institutions in South Carolina, the University has a profound, relevance, reach, and impact
on the people of its state. The University of South Carolina provides all students with the highestquality
education, including the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for success and responsible
citizenship in a complex and changing world, through engagement in nationally and internationally
ranked research, scholarship, service, and artistic creation.
Approved by the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees July 23, 2010
Our Purpose
As a system, we educate, enrich and improve the quality of life of the state’s diverse citizenry through
teaching, research, creative activity and service. We model what is possible for educational attainment
throughout the nation.
The University of South Carolina is a comprehensive public system of eight campuses, each of which
contributes in unique ways to the overall mission of the University by
n providing our students with the highest-quality education and the knowledge, skills and values
necessary for success and responsible citizenship in a complex and changing world;
n pursuing excellence in research, scholarship and artistic creation to ensure the highest value of
the education received by its students and to apply research, scholarship and artistic creation to
improve the quality of life;
n fostering a campus environment that promotes diversity and welcomes faculty, staff and a student
body of all races, creeds and cultures as we address the needs of an increasingly diverse population
and a global economy; and
n connecting with and providing excellent and meaningful service to its communities, state, nation
and the world.
Our entire system holds academic excellence through excellent teaching and student-centered
learning as paramount while the relative emphasis of research and service varies among our
constituent institutions, depending upon our respective campus-specific missions.
3

Our Values
The University of South Carolina’s Carolinian Creed outlines our core values.
n Personal and Academic Integrity
n Respect for the dignity of all persons
n Respect for rights and property of others
n Celebration of differences in people, ideas and opinions
n Concern for others, their feelings and their need for conditions which support their work
and development
In addition, the University builds a sense of community, and in our work we strive for the highest
standards in:
n leadership
n sustainability
n global thinking
n interdisciplinary scholarship
Our Goals
Teaching and Learning:
We will improve quality of academic programs at all levels; develop and nurture a faculty devoted to
teaching excellence; and enhance the richness of the student experience in and beyond the classroom.
The teaching and learning environment of the University of South Carolina will equal or surpass that
of comprehensive state university systems that are deemed peer aspirants.
Research, Scholarship and Creative Achievement:
To be a top public university system dedicated to discovery, application, innovation and
dissemination of knowledge, we will strive for excellence in creative achievement and worldrenowned
scholarship and for recognition among comprehensive research institutions. With
our established ranking as a Carnegie Very High Research University, we will continue to build
collaborations and advance recognition of our scholarly research contributions.
4

Service Excellence:
As a dual Carnegie Service University, we engage the expertise and capabilities of faculty, staff and
students with local, state, national and global communities. Our outreach will advance educational
attainment at all levels, guide economic development and promote quality of life.
Quality of Life on the University Campus:
We aspire to make the multi-campus system a destination of choice for high-achieving faculty,
students and staff who value, benefit from and contribute to a rich and rewarding learning and
working environment where civility, ethics and collaboration create an inclusive culture of fairness
and respect. The USC campus environment facilitates the highest levels of intellectual and personal
achievement and establishes an academic culture that results in recruiting and retaining the highest
quality faculty, students and staff who advance the University’s mission and enrich the communities
where Carolinians live and work.
Recognition and Visibility:
We honor and value the unique contributions made by those who work, teach, study, graduate
and learn at the eight campuses of our USC System. We will recognize and show appreciation for
distinctive talents that advance our University.
Our Initiatives
Teaching and Learning:
We will improve quality of academic programs at all levels; develop and nurture a faculty devoted to
teaching excellence; and enhance the richness of the student experience in and beyond the classroom.
The teaching and learning environment of the University of South Carolina will equal or surpass that
of comprehensive state university systems that are deemed peer aspirants.
Major initiatives:
1. Recruit and retain a high quality and diverse student body
n Increase the quality of undergraduate students by increasing the number of students in the
Honors College and Capstone Program and the number of McNair and Carolina Scholars through
targeted recruiting and increased fiscal support
5

n Explore nonconventional metrics for assessing potential students, recognizing there is no single metric
for quality, and support programs designed to recruit and retain underrepresented minority students
n Facilitate targeted recruitment of academically talented international students
2. Enhance student academic and social support services beyond the classroom through
centralized advising, small group mentoring, supplemental instruction programs and
support of distance education
n Implement and support quality centralized advising services to help students develop a
comprehensive educational plan that combines curricular planning with beyond the classroom
experiences, experiential learning, leadership and service. This initiative will facilitate informed
decision making and timely degree completion
n Establish faculty to individual student or small group mentoring programs across the curricula
to facilitate opportunities beyond the classroom for students to help them meaningfully apply
knowledge, skills and aptitudes. Provide appropriate resources, incentives and rewards for faculty
mentorship activities
n Expand academic support services, including supplemental instruction, tutoring, early
intervention, the Writing Center and programs for special populations
n Enhance support for distributed learning
3. Foster innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching (e.g. use of
instructional technology, enhancement of learning beyond the classroom and co-taught
and cross-listed courses) by providing necessary resources and support
n Increase access to information technology both in the classroom and out as guided by the
Classroom Scheduling and Enhancement Committee and develop holistic methods of instruction to
ensure effective teaching
n Develop formal structures that encourage collaborative teaching between faculty at USC and other
institutions. Create a course load structure to foster interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching that
ensures such teaching is both valued and given full credit in tenure and promotion
n Develop an administrative framework that promotes and encourages curricular innovation and
interdisciplinary teaching including cross-listing of courses
4. Create a culture of student-centered learning
n Promote student-centered learning by presenting workshops including new faculty orientation,
giving teaching awards, and showcasing faculty who practice student-centered learning
n Support all students in making the most of their education by integrating course work with firsthand
learning experiences outside of the classroom
6

n Revise the required Provost teacher evaluation questions to measure teaching behaviors that
exemplify student-centered learning
5. Elevate the importance of quality teaching and mentoring within the University by
improving classroom conditions, valuing teaching in hiring and compensation decisions, and
providing faculty with support to improve their teaching skills or to develop new courses
n Lower faculty-to-student ratios through the Faculty Replenishment Initiative
n Place more emphasis on teaching in hiring decisions and incentivize quality teaching as demonstrated
in the USC Columbia Faculty Manual requirements for promotion to the rank of professor
n Provide resources and financial support to faculty with a need or desire to improve their teaching
skills and develop new courses or innovative teaching strategies
6. Create and implement assessment systems for all programs that inform program
improvement
n Evaluate the assessment processes at the University
n Create a faculty committee to work with the Office of Institutional Assessment and Compliance to
establish and maintain a framework for a University-wide program assessment process
n Increase support for the Office of Institutional Assessment and Compliance as needed to assist
units in establishing discipline-appropriate assessment processes and enhance assessment expertise and
support in administrative positions
n Provide professional development for those in positions of leadership in relation to program
assessment including deans, associate deans and department chairs
n Integrate the use of assessment data to meet other university needs such as extramural research,
other scholarship activities and faculty evaluations
Research, Scholarship and Creative Achievement:
To be a top public university system dedicated to discovery, application, innovation and dissemination
of knowledge, we will strive for excellence in creative achievement and world-renowned scholarship
and for recognition among comprehensive research institutions. With our established ranking as
a Carnegie Very High Research University, we will continue to build collaborations and advance
recognition of our scholarly research contributions.
Major Initiatives:
Advancing our status as a top-tier research university requires that we continually reevaluate our
research strengths and identify areas where we can be a leader both nationally and internationally. To
facilitate this, the following recommendations are presented.
7

1. Develop and maintain a standing Presidential Advisory Council comprised of USC’s
most qualified, active and externally visible faculty from across the University. This
committee will:
n Recommend improvements in the quality of our educational and research programs to achieve
greater recognition and standing amongst our peer and peer aspirant universities
n Identify future areas of emphasis for long-term institutional support of sponsored research,
scholarship and creative achievement
2. Develop programs to attract, develop and retain faculty. These include:
n Creating a carefully regulated, proposal-driven hiring initiative, administered by the Provost’s
Office to develop and strengthen targeted areas of research excellence
n Developing a program to identify our most highly regarded faculty and provide them with the
additional resources needed to pursue innovative ideas
n Establishing a “Humanities Center” to foster cross-disciplinary research, scholarship and
collaboration on targeted issues of contemporary interest to scholars among the humanities, arts,
social sciences and sciences
n Establishing new University awards that are given annually for excellence in “creative
achievement”
n Providing faculty with the administrative resources and seed money needed to organize small-tomedium-size
conferences at USC on an annual basis
3. Enhance the quality of graduate programs and the quality of life for graduate
students engaged in research, scholarship and creative activities
n Make graduate assistant stipends, tuition abatements and health insurance for all graduate
assistants competitive with those at other comprehensive research universities to ensure our
competitiveness and to advance our standing
4. Provide resources and commit to developing the reputation, status and visibility of
the professional schools
5. Improve our administrative, technological and physical research infrastructure system
to increase our competitiveness. For example, we must:
n Develop centrally managed multi-user facilities for equipment and facilities broadly used in
research and educational programs
n Support the development of an intellectual property structure to grow University-industry
collaborative research activities
8

6. Re-examine our current budget model and implement changes that will direct more
resources to research, scholarship and creative achievement
Service Excellence:
As a dual Carnegie Service University, we engage the expertise and capabilities of faculty, staff and
students with local, state, national and global communities. Our outreach will advance educational
attainment at all levels, guide economic development and promote quality of life.
Major Initiatives:
1. We should establish a Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement to
coordinate service learning and community. Among other things, a Center would:
n Serve as a “clearing house” to facilitate service learning and community service by connecting
students, faculty and staff with outside people, institutions and agencies that provide service learning
and community service opportunities
n Enhance our interdisciplinary collaboration by bringing together academic and nonacademic units
with overlapping or complementary interests in service activities
n Provide guidance to inexperienced faculty and students who wish to implement service learning
courses
n Promote community service opportunities for “unaffiliated” students
n Facilitate research associated with service learning and community service
n Coordinate and expand existing university-wide service activities, such as the annual Martin
Luther King day of service, and develop new projects of this type
2. University leadership should send a clear message to academic units that service
excellence is valued in tenure and promotion
n Create ways for faculty to integrate service activities with research, publication and other scholarly
activity
3. High-level university representatives should expand outreach to representatives of
local and state government and other community leaders to identify service needs where
our expertise is valuable
n Commit to service excellence and identify regularly the community’s highest-priority service needs
n Supplement the “grass-roots” and “lower-level” contacts between the university and non-university
communities
9

4. The university should identify one or several thematic areas that could serve as targets
for interdisciplinary service learning and community service
n Choose thematic areas such as at-risk youth, the elderly, the homeless, literacy and the environment/
sustainability where we would match our university-wide expertise with community needs
• Select specific interventions to address the thematic area of need and involve all disciplines whose
expertise addresses the area of need
5. The university should establish a “lifelong learning institute” in Columbia
n Offer informal courses, lectures, field trips and other educational activities to the community,
including older adults, at a nominal fee. Such programs currently exist at USC Beaufort and USC
Aiken. The Bernard Osher Foundation has provided grants to fund lifelong learning institutes at 120
colleges and universities, including Clemson, Furman, Coastal Carolina and USC Beaufort.
6. The university should seek external funding to support service activities (including the
proposed Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement).
n Seek charitable donations for community-service-related projects through the Development Office
n Seek other potential sources of funding such as the “Edward Kennedy Serve America Act.” School
dropout crisis, health care and energy are specifically mentioned as target areas for which public service
opportunities will be created with federal funding. Service learning is mentioned prominently in the
legislation.
Quality of Life on the University Campus:
We aspire to make the multi-campus system a destination of choice for high-achieving faculty, students
and staff who value, benefit from and contribute to a rich and rewarding learning and working
environment where civility, ethics and collaboration create an inclusive culture of fairness and respect.
The USC campus environment facilitates the highest levels of intellectual and personal achievement
and establishes an academic culture that results in recruiting and retaining the highest quality faculty,
students and staff who advance the University’s mission and enrich the communities where Carolinians
live and work.
Major Initiatives:
1. Compensation
Surveys of USC faculty, staff and graduate assistants consistently identify compensation as the leading
quality of life issue that needs to be addressed
n Establish salary and compensation goals for faculty and staff that will ensure that USC is
competitive relative to our peer and peer-aspirant institutions
10

n Develop effective strategies to meet our salary goals and address salary equity and compression
that recognizes the productivity of longstanding faculty and staff
n Establish goals for graduate stipends that will ensure USC’s graduate stipends are competitive
relative to the graduate programs of our peer and peer-aspirant institutions
n Monitor annually the progress we have made to meet our compensation goals
2. Physical Environment/ Deferred Maintenance and Safety
Faculty, staff and students identify their physical environment as important to their sense of wellbeing
and ability to work effectively and live safely
n Establish a plan, to begin in 2011, with a budget and a yearly timetable, to address both
short-term and long-term deferred maintenance and safety issues in existing buildings, including
classrooms, to be complete by the year 2030
n Establish a policy of addressing future maintenance of all new construction at the time the
construction is approved. Monitor and assess annually whether we have met our goals
3. Benefits
In our recent Quality of Life surveys of USC faculty and staff, the second most cited quality of
life issue is future benefits. Faculty and staff listed tuition waivers for spouse/domestic partner and
dependents, preventive health care and vision care as the three categories of benefits they would like
to have. In addition, surveys indicate the need for a system-wide family leave policy and domestic
partner benefits for faculty, staff and graduate students
n Provide graduate students with full health care benefits
n Develop an action plan to enhance the above listed categories of benefits for our faculty, staff and
graduate students during the next five years
4. Fostering a Culture of Excellence
The University of South Carolina should foster a culture of excellence in which faculty, staff
and students feel respected, engaged, informed and valued and have a voice in decision-making.
All members of the USC community should be held to high standards of performance and
accountability. To that end we recommend the following actions:
n Establish a Staff Senate to allow staff to have a voice in university governance
n Coordinate a unified system of student advisement and develop a Student Bill of Rights and
Responsibilities to better communicate to students and the university community the processes by
which complaints and grievances may be addressed
11

n Establish an Office of Internal Communications to make internal communications more effective
and streamlined
n Give deans, department chairs, directors and governance bodies resources to recognize and show
appreciation of faculty, staff and students efforts and accomplishments
n Establish a system-wide, interactive web calendar and an updated, user-friendly, web-based
directory of faculty, staff and students; and immediately.
n Address campus and system-wide deficiencies in technology and infrastructure that have a
deleterious impact on efficiencies, costs and internal communication
5. Diversity
The Quality of Life Committee recommends that the University:
n Increase the level of faculty, staff and student diversity. [Diversity includes, but is not limited to,
historically underrepresented groups — African Americans and women]
n Determine and implement best practices for recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and
students at USC Columbia and the USC system
n Set affirmative action goals by division, college and school rather than at the university level
n Assess the success towards meeting these goals on a quarterly basis
n Make every effort to hire, promote and retain diverse university officers at all levels of central
administration and with a particular emphasis on the presidential cabinet
n Create an inclusive learning and working environment that empowers underrepresented groups
and recognizes their contributions by initiating and supporting programs of professional mentorship
n Hold those in authority, including the university president, provost, vice provosts, vice presidents,
deans, directors, chairs and search committees accountable for increasing diversity through
recruitment and retention by assessing progress on a regular basis and modifying the plan if need be
to increase its effectiveness
6. Continuing Quality of Life Assessment
n Establish an on-going task force to assess quality of life on all campuses of the University of South
Carolina by developing a survey instrument to assess all aspects of quality of life at USC for faculty,
staff, undergraduate and graduate students and alumni and determining how to strengthen positive
aspects and improve areas in need of attention
n Develop and implement an action plan to strengthen and improve quality of life on the basis of
the recommendations of the Quality of Life Task Force
n Reassess quality of life at USC every three to four years to determine the effects of the measures
taken and additional measures that are needed
12

Recognition and Visibility:
We honor and value the unique contributions made by those who work, teach, study, graduate and
learn at the eight campuses of our USC System. We will recognize and show appreciation to our
faculty, staff and students.
Major Initiatives:
1. Promote excellence with the University
n Enhance efforts to improve the excellence of faculty to increase our competitiveness for national
and international honors
n Establish a Faculty Excellence and Recognition Task Force to
• Identify our most talented and highly regarded faculty and provide resources to them to pursue
scholarship and creative endeavors
• Assist chairs and deans in nominations of faculty for prestigious and nationally recognized
meritorious awards
n Establish a National Peer Recognition Task Force to lead the effort to increase our national
ranking and external visibility by advising on infrastructure investments, organizational changes and
areas for publicity to enhance external visibility and recognition of our academic programs and to
disseminate best practices to all academic units for publicizing their accomplishments to external
audiences
n Create a Multidisciplinary Research and Scholarship Council to advise the Provost and Vice
President for Research to support and sustain multi-disciplinary scholarship and creative activity by
facilitating trans-discipline research and scholarship
n Improve the visibility and recognition of students by creating a Student Excellence and
Recognition Task Force to coordinate the efforts of existing student-oriented offices focused on
raising the visibility and quality of our student body
2. Improve recognition of student achievements, scholarship, creative endeavors and
teaching excellence to statewide, regional, national and international audiences
n Establish and fund the Provost’s Annual Symposium Series to bring nationally and internationally
recognized scholars and artists to campus for lectures, research symposia, master classes and
performances
n Develop and fund targeted advertising for faculty, undergraduate and graduate programs and
student recruitment to top-level disciplinary and interdisciplinary publications
n Reward faculty for exemplary service to scholarly societies’ governing bodies at the regional,
national, and international level
13

3. Translate Achievement to external audiences
n Enhance publicity efforts, modernize our homepage and develop an interactive master calendar to
communicate our academic and student achievements to local, regional and national audiences
n Implement a Carolina Distinguished Lecture Series, “Carolina’s Best,” that would feature a public
lecture and podcast
n Establish a centralized “Lectures for the Public” list of speakers and topics
n Develop the “Imagine South Carolina without the University” campaign with state maps depicting
the geographic dispersion of USC-educated alumni in vital occupations such as physicians, teachers,
nurses and other professionals and then without those USC-educated professionals.
Our Focus
The University of South Carolina has priorities that drive decision making and resource commitments.
To achieve excellence, we will invest time, people and finances to our core areas of focus.
Our seven focus areas are
n Educational Quality
n Leadership
n Innovation
n Diversity
n Access
n Global Competitiveness
n Community Engagement
Focus on Educational Quality
1. Focus on increasing the number of faculty through the Faculty Replenishment
Initiative
n Improve the student to tenure-track/tenured faculty ratio: Hire 200 new faculty in four years,
including 50 professors and 150 associate and assistant professors who meet the following criteria:
• Academically excellent with strong teaching and research records
• Dedication to student mentoring and teaching
• Ability to enrich and add strength to the research/scholarly/creative environment
14

Measures and Criteria
• Decrease student-to-faculty ratio from 19 to 17
• Ensure more than 50 percent of all credit hours in each major are taught by full-time faculty
• Increase the number of full-time faculty
• Ensure more than 25 percent of credit hours in each major taught by faculty with the highest
terminal degree
• Increase the number of full-time faculty total and in each college
• Increase the number of tenure-track/tenured full-time faculty total and in each college
• Monitor the number of nontenure-track faculty who are full-time or part-time total and in each
college
• Increase the number of tenure-track/tenured faculty with the highest terminal degree
• Monitor the number of nontenure-track faculty with highest terminal degree
2. Focus on improving student quality while providing access
n Increase freshman class average SAT scores to 1220 within five years
n Optimize the number of students per class in the Honors College and the number of students per
class for the Capstone Scholars Program
n Increase the diversity of Honors College students and Capstone Scholars through targeted
recruiting efforts
n Provide access for students through the USC Bridge Program and the regional campuses
• USC Bridge Program
—Track the number of students enrolled
—Track the number of students who matriculate to USC Columbia
—Track the persistence of the students to graduation
• Regional campuses
—Track the number of students enrolled
—Track the number of students who matriculate to USC Columbia, to the senior campuses of
USC Upstate, USC Aiken, USC Beaufort and the Palmetto Programs
—Track the persistence of the students to graduation
15

3. Focus on retaining students through strong and purposeful retention efforts
n Achieve a consistent university freshman-to-sophomore retention rate of at least 90 percent in five
years from 86 percent
• Track the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate in each college
• Increase the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate in each college
• Assist colleges by providing additional student academic support
• Engage students through USC Connect to enhance their educational experiences in and beyond
the classroom
• Stimulate student learning through the Carolina Core
• Encourage faculty to enhance the richness of the student experience through student-centered
learning
• Support faculty teaching through the Center for Teaching Excellence
• Develop a program for graduate teaching assistants and adjuncts to improve their teaching skills
• Promote proactive advising for students
• Create statistical models to pinpoint groups of at-risk students
• Determine early warning indicators to identify potential future dropouts
n Achieve a 95% university sophomore-to-junior retention rate
• Build a sense of community for students within the academic majors
• Instill a sense of connection between students and the university
• Promote proactive advising
• Assist at-risk students through additional academic support
• Create statistical models to pinpoint groups of at-risk students
• Determine early warning indicators to identify potential future dropouts
n Increase the number of scholarship holders who achieve the mandatory grade point average and
retain their scholarships each year
• Assist students at risk of losing their scholarships with additional academic support
• Counsel students on available strategies such as grade forgiveness
4. Focus on undergraduate student success
n Increase the 6-year graduation rate from 67 percent to a consistent 75 percent or higher within
five years
16

• Promote proactive student advising to help students make satisfactory progress toward their
degrees
• Evaluate degree program requirements in terms of reasonable time toward degrees
n Assist students through proactive career advising and job placement
• Increase student placement rate within each cohort by 5 percent per year and student
satisfaction with placement services through proactive career advising
• Assist students with intern and cooperative education placements
• Track graduates in terms of job placement upon graduation
• Track alumni in terms of job placement, career advancement and job satisfaction
5. Focus on distributed learning courses
n Increase the number of courses using distributed learning, especially fully on-line and blended
courses
• Improve the faculty’s expertise in designing and delivering distributed learning courses by
providing
—Design support and training for faculty as they develop distributed learning courses
—Seed funds for developing distributed learning courses
• Assess the quality of the distributed learning courses by conducting a random audit every two to
three years
• Support faculty and students engaged in distributed learning courses through the Center for
Teaching Excellence
• Develop virtual laboratory opportunities for students
—Use virtual laboratories to enhance learning
Evaluate student learning in parallel sections of those with virtual learning and those without
—Engage faculty in the development of virtual laboratory courses and course segments
6. Focus on graduate education
n Provide excellent service to graduate students through a revitalized graduate school
n Increase financial assistance to graduate students for stipends, tuition abatement and health
insurance
n Promote diversity among the graduate student population through recruitment, retention and
enhanced financial support
17

7. Focus on the recruitment, retention and graduation of Ph.D. candidates
n Provide competitive stipends and tuition packages for Ph.D. candidates
• Develop a plan to increase the stipend levels in the College of Arts and Sciences by 3 to 8
percent on average before FYE 2013
• Award Presidential Fellowship Program fellowships for Ph.D. candidates
• Award dissertation stipend to promote timely degree completion for Ph.D. candidates
8. Focus on placing Ph.D. graduates at recognized universities and colleges
n Improve the quality of Ph.D. programs by focusing on metrics important for quality and the
NRC ratings
n Develop the reputation of Ph.D. programs through the reputation of quality faculty
• Track the placement of Ph.D. students for 10 years to determine the rate of placement of Ph.D.
graduates at recognized universities
• Monitor reputational measures to determine the effect of quality improvements in the Ph.D.
program
9. Focus on professional schools in medicine, pharmacy and law
n Recruit and retain quality faculty in the professional schools
• Track the scholarly productivity of the faculty
• Track the faculty’s success in obtaining external funding, prestigious awards and invitations to
present at prestigious venues
• Recruit the best qualified students into the professional programs
—Seek students with high LSAT, MCAT and GRE scores
—Seek students who have performed well in their undergraduate programs as demonstrated by
their GPAs
10. Focus on faculty awards
n Encourage and provide opportunities for faculty to apply for faculty fellowships and awards
n Ensure that faculty who receive distinguished fellowships and awards receive their full salaries
n Provide a salary incentive for faculty who receive distinguished awards
18

Focus on Leadership
1. Focus on Student Leadership development through the Carolina Leadership Initiative
n The Leadership Initiative
• Promotes a vision for leadership development on the USC campus
• Serves as a focal point and clearinghouse for information about leadership opportunities
• Catalyzes the creation of new leadership projects on campus
n Introduce best practices in leadership development in and out of the classroom with emphasis on
civic responsibility, service, citizenship and appropriate risk taking.
• Evaluate the impact of the leadership best practices through the measures developed by USC
Connect
n Prepare our graduates to be experienced in leading in real-world settings through extended
leadership opportunities including internships, community service, international experiences and
undergraduate research opportunities
n Motivate students to develop skills to make a positive difference in their communities and
throughout our state, nation and world
• Measure student participation in community engagement and service and outreach activities
through the measures used for USC Connect
• Survey alumni every five to seven years to evaluate their engagement with the community and
their service activities
n Provide opportunities for students to pursue projects that benefit our university and communities
while networking with like-minded students and learning about cutting-edge scholarship on
leadership
• Evaluate the number and impact of the projects that involve students
• Survey the students to determine their engagement in leadership activities and their level of
responsibility
2. Focus on academic leadership development for faculty, chairs and directors
n Participate fully in the SEC Academic Consortium Academic Leadership Development Program
n Engage chairs, directors and academic leadership in leadership development
n Promote leadership through the Visiting Executive Leadership Program
19

Focus on Innovation
1. Focus on key research areas
n Aerospace science, engineering, materials, simulation, systems analysis, applied research and
development, policy, environmental issues and supply chain logistics
n Sustainable energy and alternate fuels, including hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cells, solid oxide fuel
cells; alternative energy, including catalysis for renewable fuels, biomass, photovoltaic, and other
green energy sources; and nuclear energy
n Fundamental science, materials, composites and nanotechnology
n Sustainability, the environment and our state’s ecosystem
n Biotherapeutics and health sciences for improving total health and creating a healthier state and
nation
n Access to quality higher education by improving K-12 and providing access and opportunity for
students in higher education
n Rule of Law
n Humanities and the creative and performing arts
n Policy, business and the social sciences
Measures and criteria
• Determine the amount of federal and private funding available in a given area
• Assess the trends of research funding at major federal agencies
• Encourage faculty participation in federal agency faculty rotatorships
• Increase the scope of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary work
2. Focus on faculty research and scholarship
n Increase faculty scholarship and creative activities through the Internal Grants Program and
ASPIRE awards
Measures and Criteria
• Increase citations of USC scholarship through Scholar Commons and other indicators
• Increase faculty research through internal research initiatives
• Increase and incentivize interdisciplinary research activities and evaluate their effectiveness
20

3. Focus on innovation and economic development through the SmartState Center of
Economic Excellence Program Endowed Chairs and Centers
n Complete the hiring of endowed chairs to fill remaining SmartState endowed chair vacancies at a
rate of 4 or more per year until filled
Measures and Criteria
• Increase intellectual property including, but not limited to, patent applications, patents awarded
and licensing of patents
• Acknowledge the value of innovation and patents in the tenure and promotion process in
STEM disciplines
• Increase the number of start-up companies and the number of jobs created by these start-up
companies
4. Focus on increasing research grant awards and expenditures
n Assist faculty in developing grantsmanship skills and increasing their success rate in obtaining
extramural research funding
n Provide opportunities for the faculty in disciplines that have not traditionally obtained extramural
funding
Measures and Criteria
• Monitor total research awards and total research expenditures
• Monitor research awards and research expenditures on a per capita basis
• Monitor the percentage of faculty who are receiving external funding
—Federal
—State
—Private: from industry, business and foundations
—Non competitive
Focus on Diversity
1. Focus on increasing diversity among the faculty, staff and students
n Increase the number of underrepresented minority faculty, staff and students,
• Hire African American faculty and other underrepresented minority faculty, particularly in areas
where a candidate pool exists
21

• Hire African American staff and individuals from other underrepresented minority groups in
paraprofessional and professional staff positions
• Recruit African American students and students from other minority groups to attend USC
n Increase the number of international undergraduate and graduate students
2. Focus on developing an academic environment that welcomes diversity of concepts,
ideas and approaches
n Survey the faculty to evaluate the academic climate and environment every three to five years
n Conduct exit interviews for faculty members
3. Focus on increasing compensation and benefits for faculty and staff
n Perform a salary study every three years
• Retain faculty by providing competitive compensation packages
n Provide opportunities for dual-career couples
• Determine the percentage of success for the requests for dual-career accommodations
n Provide benefits for those in our university who are not currently or adequately covered
• Determine the needs of those not currently receiving benefits
• Evaluate the degree to which those needs have been met
Focus on Access
1. Focus on our commitment to admit, teach, and serve every qualified South Carolinian
either on campus or through distributed learning
n Determine annually the change in the number of citizens who have
• Attended college
• Received an associate’s degree
• Received a bachelor’s degree
• Engaged in graduate education
2. Focus on structuring the regional campuses and Palmetto Programs into the Palmetto
College to increase access to higher education for place-bound students
22

3. Focus on distance learning through “Back to Carolina” to increase the number of
South Carolinians who have a bachelor’s degree
n Provide three to five additional online degree programs in the next three year
Focus on Global Competitiveness
1. Focus on developing relationships with international universities and governments
n Provide opportunities for exchange of faculty and students
n Provide opportunities for faculty scholarship in international settings
n Develop discipline-specific international relationships that broaden research and scholarly
opportunities for faculty and students
2. Focus on doubling by 2015 the number of USC students who are involved in
education abroad programs
n Increase the opportunity for students to participate in education abroad programs by developing
major specific exchange agreements and by providing scholarship opportunities and financial
assistance
• Track the number of students who participate in education abroad by class, major, term, type of
program and destination
3. Focus on increasing the number of international students in the undergraduate and
graduate programs
n Actively recruit international students focusing on target countries
n Increase the percentage of EPI students who matriculate to USC
n Provide opportunities for qualified international students to enter USC through the Bridge
Program
• Track the number of international students by degree level, major and country
4. Focus on fostering intercultural understanding
n Provide students on-campus opportunities to develop their intercultural awareness and
understanding
n Complete the International House at Maxcy College as a global living-learning community, select
a faculty principal and develop relevant programming
23

Focus on Community Engagement
1. Focus on encouraging students and faculty to participate in community engagement
through service learning, service scholarship, outreach and service activities
n Develop service learning opportunities and classes in which students are learning to serve while
serving to learn
• Participate in service learning to make learning relevant and real to students
—Monitor the number of students participating in service learning compared to the baseline
number of fall 2011
—Evaluate the relevance of service learning to students by assessing students’ reflection on
relevance and realness of the course content
• Develop connections with people in the community, both local and world-wide
—Obtain data through Community Service Programs’ database and Community Partner Needs
Assessment and Faculty/Community Partner Service-Learning Agreements
—Evaluate students’ participation through community partner engagement and assessment
• Increase students’ ability to connect with and understand other people and participate in
meaningful community service
—Measure by evaluating students’ reflection pieces on how the experience enabled them to
better connect and understand other people
—Measure by using the community partners’ assessment of students’ participation
• Establish the foundation for a life-long commitment and involvement of students in the
community, working with people to help with their needs
—Measure by evaluating students’ reflection piece on how the service-learning experience might
impact his/her future commitment to community engagement
n Provide logistical support for service learning and service activities
• Obtain data regarding need for logistical support through Community Service Programs,
Honors College, and Office of Student Engagement to be analyzed by the Coordinating Office
for Community Engagement and Service
n Provide introductions and knowledge to different sectors in the community
• Monitor data from new contacts made by Coordinating Office for Community Engagement
and Service, with additional data from Community Service Programs
24

2. Focus on developing educational outreach programs that engage and stimulate
learning within the community
n Obtain and monitor data from community sources
3. Focus on enriching the community through creative performances, exhibits, lectures,
films and other works
n Catalogue, assess the interest and monitor the attendance of performances, exhibits and events
that are open to the public
Measures of Achievement
n Establish a comprehensive system of measures to monitor progress on all foci
n Evaluate achievement by the University of South Carolina by benchmarking important measures
against peer and peer aspirant universities
n For our strategic plan, we have identified our peer institutions to be:
• University of Georgia
• University of Tennessee
• University of Kentucky
• Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
• University of Connecticut
n Our aspirant peer universities include:
• The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• University of Virginia
• University of Missouri, Columbia
• Indiana University
• University of Maryland
25