FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE:

SUMMARY OF PROGRESS AND KEY INITIATIVES

AUGUST 2011

BACKGROUND

In response to the October 2005 board retreat and after consultation with trustees Rick Brooks, George Matelich, Deanna Oppenheimer, and John Pierce, a strategic plan was presented to the board of trustees by President Thomas and the cabinet at its February 2006 meeting. The goal, objectives, and principles of the plan were endorsed and the plan itself was approved.

The plan calls for University of Puget Sound to:

Enhance and distinguish the Puget Sound educational experience:We will build upon our reputation for distinguished teaching and learning to be nationally recognized for providing the most successful integration anywhere of a traditional liberal arts curriculum with innovative interdisciplinary programs, distinctive centers for learning and research, vibrant cocurricular programs, and a campus community that embraces cultural diversity, the challenges of global citizenship, and meaningful partnerships in the region.

Build an inspiring physical environment for learning:We will implement the Tapestry of Learning master plan to create a campus that is an inspiring, fully integrated living and learning environment and an intellectual asset for our community—a place that takes full advantage of the resources of our urban and natural setting and the university’s distinctive architecture and landscape.

Forge lifelong relationships:We will be a first-choice college that instills intense pride and fosters membership in the Puget Sound family as an enriching, lifelong investment.

Strengthen financial position:We will create a culture of philanthropy and attract the resources necessary to meet the full educational needs of an increasingly diverse and talented student body and the campus in which they live and learn.

FIVE-YEAR UPDATE

This document includes:

  • 2006 Strategic Plan Analysis (page 2)
  • 2011 Five-Year Strategic Plan Update (page 3)

2006 STRATEGIC PLAN ANALYSIS

Our Goal:
Three decades of disciplined decision making and focus on mission transformed the University of Puget Sound from a regional, comprehensive university into a top-tier national liberal arts college.We must now establish the financial platform to sustain and advance these achievements anddistinguish our position within a new group of peers as one of the nation’s premier colleges with a distinctive set of assets, the educational opportunities of a great university, and the unique advantages of our urban and natural setting.

Our Strengths:

  • An excellent academic program that includes a distinctive combination of a strong, traditional liberal arts curriculum and pioneering interdisciplinary programs along with schools of business and leadership, music, and education.This makes Puget Sound an outstanding liberal arts college with many of the advantages of a great university.
  • The faculty and student body’s dedication to teaching and learning offers a transforming experience in life and learning, a commitment to self-expression and innovation, and leading-edge interdisciplinary study with a global emphasis.
  • A beautiful campus set in a dynamic urban context and a spectacular natural environment in the Pacific Northwest provides an inviting and vibrant setting for living and learning second to none.

Our Challenges:

  • We must focus on building demand and raising the university’s profile to successfully attract and yield the diverse and talented students who can succeed at Puget Sound.Now under-recognized and underappreciated in the market, we see rising application numbers but declining yields (around 20 percent and falling, with a lower yield of only 8 – 10 percent among the most talented students, which is the area where we are seeing the greatest growth in applications).
  • We must define our distinctive value by consolidating and building on our academic strengths, improving and unifying our physical campus, taking full advantage of our location, and engaging our alumni in the life of the institution.
  • We must organize and inspire our donor base to increase endowment and annual giving in order to meet the increasingly pressing challenge of being nearly 80 percent dependent on tuition and fees for revenue (the result of a low alumni participation rate, an endowment per student at about half of the average of our peers, and a student body with a relatively high degree of financial need).
  • We must offer competitive financial aid packages to qualified students with need to improve academic quality, diversity, yield, retention, graduation rate, and alumni giving levels.

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FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
JULY 2011

OBJECTIVE 1:

Enhance and distinguish the Puget Sound educational experience.

We will build upon our reputation for distinguished teaching and learning to be nationally recognized for providing the most successful integration anywhere of a traditional liberal arts curriculum with innovative interdisciplinary programs, distinctive centers for learning and research, vibrant cocurricular programs, and a campus community that embraces cultural diversity, the challenges of global citizenship, and meaningful partnerships in the region.

  • Develop resources for embracing curricular innovation that focuses on environmental, international, and civic concerns
  • Create new faculty lines to enhance faculty recruitment and retention, strengthen targeted programs at the intersection of disciplines, and generate opportunities for faculty research and student mentoring across disciplines
  • Strengthen and promote academic achievements and partnerships in the arts and music, education, health sciences, and business and leadership that engage regional issues for their national significance and recognition

Progress to date:

Faculty Hires

  • During the past six years, 60 new faculty members (31 percent of the tenure-line faculty) have joined Puget Sound.
  • Strategic advancement of the educational program depends, fundamentally, on the strength of the faculty. These replacement hires have produced curricular innovation in traditional disciplines and interdisciplinary programs and, with continuing faculty and staff colleagues, have contributed to significant enhancement of the Puget Sound educational experience.

Environmental Responsibility

  • The distinctive environmental policy and decision making program minor has expanded its scope beyond domestic issues to include emerging international issues.
  • The Henry Luce Foundation Initiative has been implemented.
  • The Sound Policy Institute has been implemented.
  • The Mellon Foundation has funded a new tenure-line position in global environmental politics,as well ascomplementary faculty development and student research support.
  • Faculty members have joined with staff colleagues and students to launch, support, and further develop many visible practices of sustainability on the campus. Faculty workshops on sustainability across the curriculum extend this work into the academic program.

Global Focus

  • Puget Sound has strengthened its international curriculum with new hires bringing expertise in:
  • Africa
  • East, South, and Southeast Asia
  • The Middle East
  • Latin America
  • Eastern Europe and Russia
  • Islamic religion and societies
  • International development economics
  • International agribusiness
  • Faculty and staff have initiatedand developed the following programs:
  • Interdisciplinary emphasis in global development
  • Interdisciplinary emphasis in Asian languages and cultures, with majors in Japanese language and literature, Chinese language and literature, and East Asian languages
  • Oaxaca, Mexico, study abroad program, a partnership with Pacific Lutheran University
  • Short-term study-travel programs to Botswana, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Namibia, Thailand, and Vietnam
  • The Trimble Family has provided funding for student study-travel in Asia, with emphasis on China. Sixteen faculty members have benefited from Trimble Family Professional Development grants for summer research and travel in Asia.
  • Faculty and staff have reviewed (and pared, based on academic strength and curricular needs) more than 100 study abroad program offerings, and study abroad pricing policy was adjusted to help sustain the long-term academic and financial viability of the program.
  • Since 2005 increasing numbers of students have been mentored by faculty and staff to successfully obtain fellowships for international travel, research, and education, including:
  • 40 Fulbrights (or government equivalents), including achievement of Puget Sound’s first research Fulbrights and first awards for Taiwan, Argentina and Uruguay
  • 11 Watson Fellowships (including Puget Sound’s hosting of the 2009 returning Watson Scholars Conference)
  • 5 Rotary Ambassadorial Awards
  • 3 Goldwater Scholarships
  • 2 National Science Education Program Fellowships
  • 2 National Science Foundation Scholarships
  • 2 Udall Fellowships
  • 2 Princeton-in-Asia Scholarships
  • 2 Gilman Scholarships for study in South Africa (2010)
  • 1 Mellon Fellowship
  • 1 Rhodes Scholarship finalist (2011)
  • Puget Sound continues among the top 20 baccalaureate institutions in terms of numbers of students who study abroad and the top 10 among small colleges producing Peace Corps volunteers, with 257 alumni serving since the program was launched in 1961.

Civic Scholarship

  • Many faculty members are active participants in the component programs of the forthcoming Center for Strategic Issues, and have incorporated civic scholarship projects into their courses or developed new courses with an emphasis on community-based learning. Examples include:
  • Race and Pedagogy Initiative (R&PI)
  • Hosted quadrennial national conferences in 2006 and 2010.
  • Led by a four-faculty member steering committee; six teams of 68 faculty members, staff, and students addressing all dimensions of the event; 30 community organizations participating inthe Community Partners Forum; and broad support by the entire campus.
  • Approx.800 participants from across the nation participated in the 2010 three-day event, including more than 35 presentations by Puget Sound faculty and staff and 15 student poster presentations.
  • Student involvement in R&PI included a youth camp that enabled parents to attend the May 2009 Parent and Guardian Summit; the Black Student Union fundraiser for the national conference; and student-organized Youth Summit at Lincoln High School, hosting nearly 1,000 youth in discussion, music, film, and panel events.
  • Sound Policy Institute
  • Community and campus environmental needs assessment provided research opportunities for three courses, three student summer research projects, an independent study project, and an internship.
  • Two faculty-student-alumni backpacking trips and one overnight senior seminar trip were supported in 2010, providing students extended environmental fieldwork opportunities.
  • Two partial-credit courses for students and community members will be added in 2011-2012.
  • The Road Home Project
  • This and a second homelessness research project involved five faculty members and 65 students in research over the past three years.
  • Faculty members have presented nine papers or posters at regional, national, and international professional conferences; produced a book chapter and a policy report; and presented on- and off-campus talks related to the homelessness projects.
  • Three students have presented research at conferences.
  • Other civic engagement projects include:
  • A faculty member and three students assisting with research on transfer development rights, producing a white paper for the state and two working papers
  • Three students joining a faculty member in the Tacoma Creative Cities project, culminating in a community forum and paper submitted to a scholarly journal
  • 21faculty members presenting talks for the Physician Lifelong Learner Program
  • Two faculty members and two classes joining 50 elementary students to bring “Play in Peace Day” to the community-based Zina Linnik Project, creating safe playgrounds
  • Two faculty members working with the Pierce County Auditor on analysis of voting data
  • Two faculty members leading community discussions as part of the ITVS National Community Cinema program
  • A dozen faculty members participating in the Senior University program at the Franke Tobey Jones retirement center

Strength in the Sciences

  • The Science Center, including the new Harned Hall and renovated Thompson Hall, was completed in 2008, creating more opportunities for scholarly collaboration and research.
  • The William T. and Gail Weyerhaeuser Center for Health Sciences, increasing collaboration and interaction among occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, exercise science, and new interdisciplinary emphasis in neuroscience, was completed in 2011.
  • Revitalized computer science department with two new hires and the tenuring of a third.
  • Strong hires in chemistry, two of whom earnedMurdock start-up grants upon entry.
  • New biochemists hired to support the new biochemistry and molecular biology program.
  • First two endowed chairs of the campaign created, in biophysics and neuroscience.
  • Sherman Fairchild, Murdock Charitable Trust, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation have supported the work of the faculty with substantial grants for instrumentation, staff support, research projects, and the Slater Museum of Natural History.
  • The Slater Museum of Natural History has emerged as a centerpiece for education and research for local school children, the Pacific Northwest, and the world.
  • An interdisciplinary emphasis in neuroscience was launched in fall 2007, the collective product of faculty initiative across several undergraduate and graduate departments. The Center for Health Sciences, a new hire in neuropsychology, and appointment of the Jennie M. Caruthers chair will strengthen this high-demand area of the curriculum.
  • Puget Sound was recognized in March 2011 as among top 50 baccalaureate origin institutions among its Carnegie Classification group for Ph.D. research scientists.

Partnerships in the Arts

  • The School of Music
  • Strengthened by new hires in music history, band and wind ensemble, voice and choir
  • The distinctive Puget Sound Piano Trio made its debut and is providing extensive outreach for School of Music and the college
  • Community music faculty and students have supported CSI’s Summer Brass Camp
  • Fine Arts
  • A successful partnership has been established with Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) for a joint position to direct Kittredge Art Gallery
  • Puget Sound has also become a regular member of Project Muse, enabling faculty members to take classes to TAM exhibits at no cost and allowing faculty, staff, students, or student families to gain reduced admission and membership rates to the museum.
  • Art faculty and students have participated in the Tacoma Wayzgoose program
  • Visibility has been raised for the university’s Abby Williams Hill collection via campus and regional exhibits. Hill papers and artifacts in the university archives have been organized and cataloged, with a culminating exhibit and two biographical performances in Collins Memorial Library. Hill works are also part of a collaborative exhibit with the Museum of Glass.
  • Theatre Arts
  • Partnered with the Civic Scholarship Initiative (CSI) to work with local schools and to bring more than 500 local youth to campus productions
  • Collaborated in hosting the DoubleShot Festival, an effort that is gaining success in bringing live theater to Tacoma
  • Interdisciplinary
  • Faculty across the arts and humanities have contributed or presented as part of Tacoma’s “November Art at Work” each year
  • The Race and Pedagogy Initiative partnered with local arts organizations for joint events during the national conferences in 2006 and 2010. These include:
  • Broadway Center
  • Grand Cinema
  • Hilltop Artists
  • Museum of Glass
  • Tacoma Art Museum
  • Washington History Museum
  • Regional visual and performing artists
  • “33 Moments of Art” incorporated into the 2010 conference
  • Collins Memorial Library has become a new center for the arts for campus and community audiences, with frequent guest presentations, displays, and a series of music performances by Puget Sound students
  • Funding Support
  • The Catharine Gould Chism Fund for the Humanities and the Arts has supported arts events for the campus and community, including:
  • Classical Greek Theatre of Oregon
  • Chinese calligrapher Kunpei Kawachi
  • Mexican artists Rina Lazo and Arturo Garcia Bustos
  • Theatre Nogaku
  • Michael Cunningham with the Northwest Sinfonietta.
  • Funding oftwo-thirds of all summer student research awards in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, enrichments in First-year Seminars, and significant scholarship awards.
  • The Matthew Norton Clapp Visiting Artist Fund has been enhanced and has supported programs and master classes, including the recent residency of Carter Pann as part of Puget Sound’s hosting of the International Society of Composers conference.
  • Dolliver, Chism, and Clapp funds have been used to support an ongoing artist-in-residence relationship with local playwright C. Rosalind Bell, resulting in the premieres of two plays: The New Orleans Monologues and 1620 Bank Street.

Diversity in Faculty and Curriculum

  • Progress has been made in the recruitment and retention of an increasingly diverse faculty, but results for racial-ethnic diversity are mixed: 10 tenure-line faculty members of color were hiredin the past seven years;four have not been retained.
  • During the past six years, seven women have been hired in the sciences; one of those is Puget Sound’s first female geologist. Three other tenure-line hires are the first (or only) women in their departments or interdisciplinary programs. The Philip M. Phibbs Professorship was redeployed to hire a political theorist who is the college’s first woman in that field.
  • Puget Sound has hired and retained LGBT faculty members into tenure-line positions.
  • Recent hires include two married couples in full-time positions. The new Shared Faculty Appointments Policy allowed us to retain a second couple sharing a tenure-line position.
  • Through promotion Puget Sound hiredachief diversity officer and clinical associate professor of education who leads implementation of the diversity strategic plan, overseesAccess Programs, and serves in multiple capacities, including Affirmative Action and Title IX officer.
  • The healthy income of the James Dolliver NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor fund allowed Puget Sound to name two Dolliver Professors with overlapping appointments. Each has used the professorship to provide faculty curriculum development seminars related to diversity. Faculty participants have been exuberant in their praise for the seminars, the first on “Teaching Difficult Texts” and the second on “Suzan Lori-Parks and Her Friends.”

Faculty Support for Research and Mentorship of Student Research