The USM in 2010: 

Responding to the Challenges that Lie Ahead

Bowie State University

Mission: Established in 1865, Bowie State University is the oldest historically Black institution of higher learning in Maryland and is one of the oldest in the nation. The institution evolved from a normal school into a comprehensive university that offers a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. Currently, Bowie State University serves a diverse student population, providing educational opportunities that will enable students to function in a highly technological and interdependent world. The university continues to honor its heritage of providing access to higher education for underrepresented populations, with a commitment to all students that attend Bowie State University. The university remains a leader in the graduation of African Americans in teacher education and technological fields.

Bowie State University fosters a supportive, rigorous, and collaborative environment that nurtures quality in academics and in professional and cross-cultural relationships. The university places particular emphasis on excellence in teaching, research, and teaching methodology to improve the teaching/learning process. Bowie State University produces graduates who are leaders among their peers in a global community, who think critically, who value diversity, and who are committed to high moral standards.

Goal I

USM academic programs will evolve to meet the changing educational needs of a growing and increasingly diverse undergraduate and graduate student population and will enhance the quality of life for all Maryland citizens.

Undergraduate Resident Tuition

• Moderate and then reduce the rate of growth of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees.
• Review the current non-mandatory fees and make recommendations for a phased in reduction or elimination of fees not directly related to maintaining quality laboratory services.
• Review the mandatory fees to ensure that they are comparable with those of other Systems institutions.

Baby Boom Echo

• Increase flexibility in offering programs and courses.
• Increase the offering of courses (and possibly programs) during day, evening, and weekend hours on and off campus, where possible.
• Target course offering at concentrated market areas (i.e., at distributed locations).
• Tailor programs to fit the educational and professional needs of the various constituents.
• Join Maryland Online in areas where Bowie State has expertise.
• Develop infrastructure for an anticipated increase in undergraduate enrollment.
• Continue to collaborate with Prince George's Community College and others community colleges to offer seamless programs based on the concept of 2+2 programs.

Minority Achievement

• Provide adequate need-based financial aid to all qualified Maryland applicants.
• Better utilize the Office of Institutional Advancement to increase giving/contributions to the university from the private sector.
• Utilize the Capital Campaign as a vehicle to raise funds for student scholarships.
• Increase student support funds from discipline-based grants and contracts.
• Continue to provide mentors and peer counselors for minority students.
• Increase contact and interactions among and between faculty and minority students.
• Continue to increase our relationships with minority communities and social organizations.
• Recognize outstanding academic performance, improvement, and academic effort.

Undergraduate Education

• Produce the highest quality of undergraduate education.
• Align standards and best practices in each academic discipline.
• Review, assess, implement, and monitor curriculum reform at the undergraduate level.
• Increase the number of accredited academic programs.

Graduate Education

• Ensure that all professional and other academic programs eligible for accreditation are accredited.
• Ensure that the majority of graduate students' credit hours are taught by full-time faculty.
• Concentrate on producing a broadly educated citizenry through graduate research, practica, internships, and service learning.
• Maintain a reputation for excellence in graduate teacher education.

Staff Development

• Increase professional development opportunities.
• Develop and implement a staff incentive and reward system.

Teacher Shortage

• Expand the number of programs for certified teachers that address current reforms in the Maryland school system.
• Participate vigorously in the K-16 Partnership to ensure that all high school graduates are academically prepared to succeed in postsecondary education and the workforce.
• Ensure that the education curriculum has rigorous mathematics, science, and technology content.
• Implement a co-admission articulation agreement for students in the community colleges who plan to major in education, beginning initially with Prince George's and Anne Arundel Counties.
• Develop an outreach programs for targeted middle schools to promote teaching as a viable career for minority students.
• Expand MIE's role in the promotion of the sciences in the public school system in the surrounding counties.
• Increase the number and quality of Professional Development Schools (PDSs) in low performing schools in Prince George's County and incorporate this initiative into the strategic plan.
• Expand the populations of Project AcCESS, the MIE Summer Academy, and the Summer Emerging Scholars Program.
• Recruit qualified persons capable of becoming effective teachers from other professions.
• Entice retirees of the public school system to return as mentors and coaches for new teachers.

Goal II

USM research and scholarship will position Maryland as a national leader in science, technology and other key areas, providing the knowledge and infrastructure to ensure the State's continued economic growth, sustainable development and international competitiveness.

Online Learning

• Make high quality post-secondary education available to all citizens by distance teaming, using electronic media.
• Expand the offering of courses/programs via interactive video and the Web, where possible.
• Incorporate the Internet and Web technologies into the learning process in order to gain access to educational resources and, hence, provide supplementary education.
• Further utilize the Internet to develop course offerings at the BSU Shady Grove, Southern Maryland, and other remote locations.
• Encourage students to use technology by requiring them to use e-mail, individual, assignments, electronic reserves, Internet searches, technology presentations in-class, and Web pages.

Technologically Competent Workforce and IT Worker Shortage

• Encourage the instructional use of technology, as appropriate, to improve learning and curricula.
• Develop a campus Information Technology Strategic Plan, including technology support, including software, hardware, and maintenance, for faculty, staff, and students.
• Equip the instructional facilities with the appropriate technology.
• Infuse technology into the teaching and learning processes.
• Make technology training a priority in the faculty and staff development program.
• Provide electronic library services and materials available to the faculty and students of all Maryland postsecondary institutions in a cost-effective manner.
• Make the library's online resources accessible through the campus network to all campus facilities, including the residence halls.
• Enhance the library's subscription to online databases, electronic journals, digital libraries, and other types of resources.

Competition for Faculty

• Attract and retain the finest faculty.
• Articulate and implement a set of both generic and discipline specific faculty characteristics and expectations in keeping with the university's Mission Statement.
• Simultaneously, attempt to provide competitive salaries to faculty and consistently apply faculty merit and longevity awards to achieve the average 85th percentile per rank for continuing faculty and thereby create parity.
• Maintain an intellectually stimulating environment.
• Ensure the hiring of credentialed and knowledgeable adjunct and non-tenure track faculty by implementing a more rigorous selection and on-going review process and providing more competitive salaries and applicable benefits.
• Advertise nationally to attract highly trained, diversified, and committed faculty obtain and maintain highly competitive faculty salaries.
• Recognize and reward outstanding performance by faculty.

Faculty Development

• Enhance the faculty development initiatives and offerings of the BSU faculty.
• Expand the opportunities for research training and funding through a comprehensive faculty development program.
• Recruit, retain, and provide support to qualified faculty interested in applied research that will assist in the realization of university goals and objectives.

Research and Economic Development

• Employ existing and emerging applied research to address societal problems facing Maryland.
• Mobilize and/or build on existing applied research efforts in the following areas:

0. Applied computer science and information technology applications in areas such as environmental sciences, biotechnology, and Earth and space sciences.
1. Intellectual development of children through their involvement in the arts.
2. Substance abuse.
3. Ethics and intellectual properties.
4. Pedagogical research with emphasis on the laboratory-based learning paradigm.

• More closely link research and the learning process and further integrate research activities into undergraduate, graduate, and professional education.
• Integrate research into the undergraduate curriculum, with emphases on laboratory-based learning at the lower division and inquiry-based learning at the upper division.
• Engage a larger number of students in research-based internship and cooperative education opportunities.
• Expand the opportunities for research training and funding through a comprehensive faculty and staff development program.
• Recruit, retain, and provide support to qualified faculty interested in applied research that will assist in the realization of university goals and objectives.
• Expand the research initiatives that undergird the graduate curriculum.

Goal III

The USM will achieve its legislative mandate of national eminence and its fundamental mission to serve the public good while carefully managing growth and developing System resources.

Accountability

• Embrace a comprehensive system of accountability that recognizes the needs of all stakeholders while respecting the finite nature of public resources and the fiscal constraints of students and their families.
• Contribute to the overall efficiency of institutional operations through continuing design and use of cost containment measures
• Develop and implement a reengineering plan for operational activities of the university to eliminate any duplication of activities and tasks.
• Unify institutional tasks into coherent business processes to ensure the effective and efficient use of university resources.
• Using unit assessment plans and the strategic plan, begin to reallocate university financial and human resources.