UW OSHKOSH ACADEMIC PROGRAM PLAN

As one of the seven key operational plans for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus, the goal of the Academic Program Plan is to provide an overview of existing academic structures, identify academic planning needs and assumptions, and develop new academic program priorities.The plan will also documentcurricular reform efforts and retention strategies and initiatives that support the principles of Inclusive Excellence.This document is meant to serve as a guide to conducting a widespread review of academic programs that will include students, faculty, academic staff and administrators.

Assessment of Plan

This plan serves as the foundation for the annual review process that will facilitate assessment of progress toward priorities and future planning. The entire plan is reviewed on a four-year cycle and annual updates are submitted to the Chancellor. During the 2009-2010 year, administrators as well as faculty, academic staff, and student governance groups reviewed a revised plan. A faculty group also reviewed the plan for the integration of the principles of Inclusive Excellence. Annual reviewswill focus on the existing academic structure, academic program inventory,and academic planning needs and planning priorities developed over the course of the year.

Academic Structure -

The College of Business (COB) comprises of six academic discipline departments, an Office of Undergraduate Programs, and an Office of MBA programs. College leadership is provided the Dean, an Associate Dean, and six department chairs, which make up the College of Business Administrative Council. Across disciplines, Undergraduate and Graduate Faculty Program Committees, chaired respectively by an elected representative on the committees, provide academic program leadership. The College also has center directors who provide outreach leadership jointly with the Dean including theCenter for Entrepreneurship and Innovation,the Center for Insurance and Risk Management, theSmall Business Development Center, theWisconsin Family Business Forum, and the Center for Sustainable Enterprise. Other formal leadership roles include a College Business Manager, Technology Director, MBA Director, Undergraduate Programs Director, Student Professional Development Director, Communications and Marketing Director, and a Development and Alumni Relations Director. Various additional staff members, administrative assistants, and student workers support the College's operations.

The College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) is directed by a Dean, one Assistant Dean and is organized into seven academic departments (Literacy and Language, Professional Counseling, Teaching and Learning, Special and Early Childhood Education, Human Services Leadership, Human Kinetics and Health Education, and Educational Leadership and Policy). Support divisions that are not

involved in teacher education include the Reading Studies Center and Project Success along with several divisions of support staff located within the Dean's suite including the Field Experience Office, the Professional Education Program Office (PEP), Alternative Careers in Teaching (ACT!), the Center for Additional Teaching Licenses, the Grants Office, K-12 Outreach, and the Office of Web & Social Media.

The College of Letters and Science (COLS) is directed by a dean and three associate deans, and is comprised of the Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, Math/Science, and Social Science Divisions.Within these divisions are 31 departments and six non-departmental programs, which combine to offer more than 50 majors, minors and emphases.The College also provides leadership and oversight to several other programs, including the Cooperative Academic Partnership Program (CAPP), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Center, and the UW System Women and Science Program.Each unit within the College has support personnel to provide administrative assistance.

Finally, the College of Nursing (CON) is directed by a Dean, three Directors/Assistant Deans (Graduate Programs, Undergraduate Program and Research and Evaluation) and receives support from 4 program assistants, 1 support staff, and 1 administrative assistant. The staff of the Living Healthy Community Clinic is supervised by a clinic manager and operates under the direction of the CON Dean and community partners.

Data related to faculty and instructional academic staff will be available in the Data Book for Planning Fall 2016 found on the Office of Institutional Research website.

In addition to the Colleges, several administrative units are vital to the success of our academic programs and student outcomes. Details on the following programs can be found in the Yearly Update By Areas:

  1. The Division of Lifelong Learning and Community Engagement at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh are comprised of four units:Adult Student Resources, Program Advising, Professional and Personal Development, and Adult Online Degree and Certificate Programs.The division provides campus-wide leadership foroff-campus credit and non-credit programs; development of new online and hybrid degree programs and majors for working adults; partnerships with business/industry, community and technical colleges; on and off-campus access and services for adult nontraditional students; graduation project for assisting UW Oshkosh student stop-outs to re-enter and complete their baccalaureate and associate degrees; and expanded university outreach across the state, region, nation.
  2. Graduate education at UW Oshkosh represents all four Colleges through 19 master’s programs, one professional doctorate in Nursing, and 19 graduate certificate programs. Three of the graduate degree programs are available cooperatively/collaboratively through five other UW institutions and one UW College.
  3. The University Studies Program, a 41-credit general educationprogram, introduces UW Oshkosh students to the opportunities of university life and the goals of a Liberal Education. Students participate in learning communities and courses designed to build intellectual curiosity and to lay the foundation for lifelong intellectual development and global citizenship. The program is structured around three interconnected areas: quest/explore/connect.
  4. The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning offers a variety of professional development activities to assist faculty members by offering events, tools and resources focused on intellectually rigorous investigation and integration of research into practice.
  5. The University supports research, teaching, and the professional development of teacher/scholars through its Office of Grants and Faculty Development. This office incorporates the university’s unique Faculty Development Fund with other support services to enhance teaching, research development, student research, grantseeking, and research administration and compliance.
  6. The Undergraduate Advising Resource Center, in partnership with the campus community, seeks to empower students to articulate and achieve their personal, educational and career goals. Advisors work with students to explore goals, values, abilities, interests and limitations; explore career goals; select and design an academic major that supports those goals; and, select appropriate courses. Advisors work with faculty to help departments organize and design their advising process and provide accurate information andconceptual supportfor faculty advisors.
  7. Polk Library supports the curricularand research needs of the University by providing reliable information and real service that is available 24/7. Itprovides access to books, videos, print periodicals, archival materials and many forms of electronic information, such as full text periodical articles, electronic books and more. Computer facilities within the library include workstations in Polk 101, and a general computer access lab is located in Polk 118 for other computer needs.
  8. The Center for Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence) is a one-stop, student support center, serving the needs of underserved students. The CASIEincludes Multicultural Retention Programs, Multicultural Education Center, Pre-College Programs and Student Support Services.
  9. The UW Oshkosh Office of International Education (OIE) is responsible for providing international students and visiting scholars with immigration services, advising, and campus and community programming and for providing UW Oshkosh faculty, staff and students with services related to educational study abroad opportunities and educational exchanges. The Office of International Education works with faculty leading study abroad programs to promote short-term programs to community members.
  10. The University Honors Program (UHP) is designed to challenge UW Oshkosh’s best students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, and community leaders through a special curriculum, co-curricular opportunities, and a supportive community.It is a program open to students pursuing any major in any of the campus’s four colleges.The faculty members who teach in the UHP meet specific standards regarding teaching effectiveness and professional activity established by the University Honors Council.
  11. The Women's Center endeavors to become a vital force to ensure that all women on campus and in the community fulfill their potential while also supporting an awareness that men and women can work, play and live together based on mutual respect and an understanding of gender differences, differences of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class.
  12. The LGBTQ Resource Center's mission is to identify and respond to the concerns and needs of LGBTQ students, faculty, staff, and allies; to provide high-quality support services that contribute to the academic and personal growth of LGBTQ students, faculty, staff, and allies; and to offer a safe, supportive and welcoming environment for LGBTQ people and their allies.
  13. The Division of Information Technology includes three units:Academic Computing, Administrative Computing & Networking,and Learning Technology.The Division supports all computer applications, services and systems associated with technology across the campus.
  14. The Office of Institutional Research is responsible for the collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of accurate and timely information on all aspects of the university in support of institutional decision-making, planning and reporting.
  15. Inclusive Excellence is the umbrella framework under which the UW System and its institutions will move forward in coming years to strategically address equity, diversity and inclusion. The central premise of Inclusive Excellence holds that UW System colleges and universities need to intentionally integrate their diversity efforts into the core aspects of their institutions—including academic priorities, leadership, quality improvement initiatives, decision-making, day-to-day operations, and organizational cultures—in order to maximize their success.
  16. The Center for Academic Resources (CAR) is funded by Differential Tuition and provides tutoring and Supplemental Instruction for undergraduate students in gateway courses.Programming decisions are linked to data from the Equity Score Card. Several new learning assistance services are through CAR, which is located in the Student Success Center.

Curriculum Structure and Program Array

Faculty members have the formal responsibilityto ensure and maintain the quality and academic rigor of all academic programs. The University’s current array of undergraduate programs has the following distribution of majors and minors among the four colleges: COB (9 majors/6 minors and15 emphases); COEHS (10 majors/12 minors); COLS (45 majors/44 minors); and CON (3 major/with two unique options that lead to the BSN degree: Traditional, Accelerated and Collaborative Nursing Program called the BSN@Home program. The College of Nursing offers two graduate degrees (MSN and DNP), the College of Business offers2, the College of Education and Human Services offers 7 and the College of Letters and Sciences offers8. Within the COLS, 8 undergraduate programs are interdisciplinary in nature. Within the Provost’s area, the Division of Lifelong Learning and Community Engagement offers two interdisciplinary degree programs, the Bachelor of Liberal Studies (1 major and 2 emphasis areas in Organizational Administration and Leadership Development) and the Bachelor of Applied Studies with majors in Fire and Emergency Response Management and in Leadership and Organizational Development with an additional emphases in Aviation Management and Public Safety.See Appendix 1 for a listing of majors, minors, graduate, professional, and interdisciplinary programs and Appendix 2 for a summary of graduate and certificate programs.

The University, led by the faculty and input from other relevant campus personnel, examines the program array through the programapproval and review processes to see what new programs and emphases are needed to meet the needs of current and prospective students.Additional opportunities for growth are supported through the funding of the UW System “Growth Agenda Initiative.”This initiative provides the university with opportunities tocreate urgently needed new programs to meet the critical need for a more highly educated workforce.

Academic Planning Needs and Assumptions

In developing this Academic Program Plan several assumptions are being made.

  1. The high school graduate pool (statewide and in 6 primary feeder counties) is expected to decline in projections to the year 2018. In contrast, the number of students of Asian, African American, American Indian, and Latino descent graduating statewide in the primary feeder counties will increase. In these counties, the graduation of students of color will increase dramatically over the next few years.With the implementation of Inclusive Excellence on the UW system campuses along with the increase of the student of color population in contrast to the majority population, there will be increased competition among UW institutions to attract students of color from across the state.
  2. The data from the Equity Score Card, the Give Students a Compass Project and the WI Transfer Equity Study and Inclusive Excellence goals for retention of underservedstudents all indicate that there will need to be improvements in retention rates, particularly of first-year and minority students.In addition, Inclusive Excellence goals suggest that there will need to be broad-based curriculum infusion of multicultural issues. The forms of support for multicultural students aimed at increasing the success of these students must be diverse and attuned to the specific needs of underserved, students with disabilities, LGBTQ, poor and working-class, and women students. The hiring of multicultural faculty and staff who themselves reflect the diversity in the student population must be at the forefront of IE efforts.
  3. Demand for higher education among the workforce continues to grow but this growth will not necessarily be in our traditional undergraduate degree programs. There are several opportunities for growth in graduate, STEM, adult, nontraditional student and off campus enrollment including: the BAS in Fire and Emergency Management and in Leadership and Organizational Studies with new Aviation Management and Public Safety emphases;increased degree completion options for working adults who are graduates of associate degree programs, and conversion and delivery of selected majors to working adults in nontraditional format (e.g., off-campus accelerated, hybrid, and on-line).To meet this need, the University offers collaborative degrees such as the MS in Sustainable Leadership and three Engineering Technology majors in Environmental, Mechanical and Electronic Engineering Technology.
  4. Due to budget constraints and decreases in resources, reductions of support and service may continue to occur in both academic departments and administrative offices. A commitment to Inclusive Excellence promotes re-assessing and re-prioritizing current resources in order to make diversity central to the campus mission.
  5. As a result of the University Studies Program, programs reviewed how they support the essential learning outcomes and creatednew courses or course revisions.
  6. The strategic expansion of graduate level programs across the colleges is under consideration.
  7. The university recognizes the value of participating in high impact practices as a way to support retention and success of underserved students.
  8. Growth Agenda goals focus on increasing the number of degrees by the year 2025.

Academic Programming Priorities

The four Colleges of the University, as a result of the strategic planning process, identified four strategic initiatives that their individual plans and mission have in common. The four initiatives allow cross-college activities while maintaining the distinctive character of each College’s faculty, staff, students and curriculum. Academic program planning should be clearly tied to these cross-college initiatives.

Engaged Learning

Each of the Colleges is committed to providing an environment of engaged learning, one in which faculty and academic staff include students as partners in the learning and discovery process. Classroom and out of the classroom experiences will increasingly focus on student-centered education through high impact practices that demonstrate underlying theoretical constructs, service learning, advising, internships, project-based classes, student teaching, undergraduate research and scholarship collaborative research and open-ended laboratory exercises. Greater attention to out of classroom high impact practices such as advising, student life, student affairs and athletics will promote the university wide learning outcomes and will increase student engagement. In keeping with the principles of Inclusive Excellence, learning will involve engagement with real-life problems and address issues of diversity. Engaged learning should involve collaboration with diverse communities such as ethnic and racial communities as well as LGBTQ communities.

Globalization and Diversity

The University Studies program includes a requirement for all students to take required courses to promote global citizenship. In addition, all four Colleges recognize the importance of having a global perspective: an understanding of countries and cultures beyond the borders of the United States as well as an appreciation of the diverse cultures resident in our country. The Colleges are committed to enhancing opportunities for faculty, instructional academic staff and students to travel to other countries, and to culturally diverse portions of our own country, to conduct research and study. As well, they are committed to finding new ways to bring issues of globalization into their classrooms on campus.As indicated in the UW System’s Inclusive Excellence initiative, the Colleges and University as a whole must continue to pursue their goal of creating a campus environment that will increase the recruitment, retention and graduation of underserved students.They should also expand their efforts to enrich the curriculum and faculty so that cultural diversity becomes a prominent and pervasive trait campus-wide.