THE UNIVERSITY PLAN
The University Plan (currently undergoing its annual update and revision) identifies four general areas in need of improvement if the University is to meet the needs of the varied public that it serves. Areas in need of improvement are: 1) academic programs, 2) academic and administrative support services, 3) physical assets and 4) management and organization. Identified areas planned for improvement include:
Academic Program
Professional Accreditation - Maintain accreditation for the baccalaureate degree programs in engineering technology and social work and to continue to build programs in these areas that maintain national patterns of excellence and serve the needs of both traditional and non-traditional students.
Off-campus, Evening and Weekend Course Work - Only a small percentage of Savannah State's students are part-time evening and weekend students (84.8% of students are full-time). The College offers only limited courses at other locations (12 EFT students in the Winter of 1995). If the College is to serve the educational needs of a growing Georgia and South Carolina Low Country we must expand evening, weekend and off-campus and distance learning opportunities.
Academic and Administrative Support Services
Enrollment Management - For the last several years the goal of the College has been to reduce the ratio of developmental to regular entering freshmen. While some progress has been made, this goal requires that the College carefully review admissions policies, marketing strategies, recruitment and retention efforts, and the organization of the admissions function of the College.
Campus Computer Network and Training - A major goal of the College in the last several years has been to develop a campus-wide computing network that would serve both the academic and administrative needs of the institution. In the next several years the network will be completed. Key to the success of these efforts is on-going training for faculty and staff in new hardware and software applications. It will be critical that the organization and administration of campus computing be updated to reflect the new importance of computing in the administrative and academic program of the college.
Faculty Development - The diversity, academic training, scholarship and continuing development of our faculty are the bedrock of our institution. New efforts must be made in the recruitment of highly qualified new faculty and the continuing development of our existing faculty.
Academic Advisement and Intervention - The College must establish more comprehensive and systemic academic support services in two areas: academic advisement and learning support services.
The appropriate committees and academic administrators will propose, approve and implement policies and procedures that will result in the improvement of the academic advisement and the academic counseling of the College's students.
This problem will require a careful review of current admissions and learning support academic standards and eventually the development of learning support as an effort that assists students at all levels, rather than for only a brief period after being admitted. Learning support will also have to be expanded, through collaboration with K-12 educators, to meet the needs of under-prepared students prior to entering the College.
Physical Assets
Renovation Projects - A large number of the College's buildings are old and in need of significant renovation. Over 30% of College buildings are from forty-five to ninety years old, 43% are from twenty-five to forty-four years old and only 24% have been built or fully renovated since 1970. The new System initiative to direct more capital funding for renovation projects is a sound method for protecting the System's substantial investment in physical plant that will allow the College to better meet the educational needs of citizens of Georgia. The following buildings have been identified by the College for major renovation efforts: Adams Hall, Hammond Hall, Herty Hall, Hill Hall, Kennedy Hall, Morgan Annex, Payne Hall, and Powell Hall.
Campus Master Plan - Also critical to the maintenance of our rather unique campus is the development of a comprehensive campus plan to assure that we develop our campus in a way that will assure an aesthetic, efficient and effective physical facility into the next millennium. The College, in partnership with the University System, will develop a campus Master Plan by 1998. When completed this plan will be updated every five years.
Management and Organization
Reorganization - Since the early 1980's the administrative organization has grown piecemeal. The last official organizational chart was prepared in 1983. There is a need for reorganization in academic affairs, student affairs, business and finance and institutional advancement. The ultimate goal of such an effort is to provide adequate staff support for the divisional operations of the College.
Student Affairs - The student affairs function has identified four areas in need of attention: organizational structure, assessment of effectiveness, staff development and training, and programmatic improvement and expansion. The goal of student affairs is to improve service to students by developing specific plans to address each identified problem area.
Institutional Advancement - Specific plans are being developed to increase alumni participation, improve campus and community communications, and a comprehensive
fund raising plan.