Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

The USM in 2010: 

Responding to the Challenges that Lie Ahead

University of Maryland, College Park

Mission: As the State's comprehensive public research university, its original land grant institution, and the legislatively-mandated flagship institution of the USM, the University of Maryland, College Park serves the citizens of the State through three broad-based mission areas of research, teaching, and outreach. The university is the State's primary center for graduate study and research, and it is responsible for advancing knowledge through research, providing high quality undergraduate instruction across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, and extending service to all regions of the State.

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.

• Expand opportunities for students to take advantage of the special resources and learning arrangements that are available at a world-class research university and increase substantially the opportunities for students to be involved in research with faculty members.
• By 2004, achieve an 80% participation rate of undergraduate students in campus-based living/learning programs, new and cross-disciplinary education, research activities, internships, independent study experiences, or special projects with off-campus institutions.
• Support and encourage innovative course design that stresses student participation, team-based problem solving, and technology enhancement and ensure that high academic standards are maintained in all our courses.
• Hold annual increases in tuition and fees to 4% or less.
• Raise an endowment for undergraduate scholarships sufficient to ensure that no student admitted to the University of Maryland is forced to leave solely for economic reasons or has to work to an extent that hinders academic progress.
• Increase the amount of scholarship/grant aid for graduate students and reward achievement of diversity in allocating individual student aid and block grant awards to programs.
• By 2004, increase the six-year graduation rate for all UM students to 70%; increase the six-year graduation rate for African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic students to 60%, 70%, and 60% respectively; and increase the five-year graduation rate for all full-time UM students to 85%.
• Significantly enhance academic advising for all students by making greater use of peer mentoring, improving the availability of both faculty and professional advisors, and increasing the use of technology in advising.
• Maintain a campus environment that promotes community involvement, enhances the total educational experience, and fosters a lifelong affiliation with the university.
• Bring every classroom up to an established minimum standard for information technology capability and create special purpose information technology enhanced classrooms and laboratories as required.
• Bring all students to a level of information technology proficiency appropriate to their disciplinary needs. Establish information technology fluency and information literacy requirements for all undergraduates.
• Develop strategies to increase the enrollment of undergraduate and graduate ethnic minority students and improve their graduation rates.
• Expand undergraduate enrollment to meet growing demands by expanding the campus programs offered at the Shady Grove Campus.
• Ensure a university environment that is inclusive as well as diverse and that fosters a spirit of community among family, staff, and students.

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.

• By 2004, be ranked among the nation's top 15 public research universities.
• Increase the competitiveness of our faculty compensation packages to allow us to recruit and retain the very best faculty and raise our average faculty salaries to the 75th percentile of AAU public universities (85th percentile of Carnegie I institutions).
• Continue to elevate the standards for appointment of new faculty and the expectations for promotion and tenure of existing faculty to the level of our peers, across all academic units.
• Develop strategies to maximize the quality and impact of our graduate and research programs, as measured by national surveys of program excellence.
• Strengthen the university's biological science programs through the selective investment of new resources in the university's multi-disciplinary BioSciences Initiative.
• Strengthen the university's research programs in the computer sciences, the information sciences, and technology and their impact on society by building on current strengths and capitalizing on our proximity to corporations and government laboratories that focus in this area.
• Build increased strength in the behavioral and social sciences supporting research on major social and public policy issues.
• Ensure that the key programs in the liberal arts and humanities are commensurate in quality and national reputation with our leading programs in science and technology.
• Elevate the importance of preparing students for teaching careers and engage faculty in the arts and sciences disciplines with those in education to ensure high quality education for future teachers.

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.

• Achieve the MHEC funding guideline target of funding per FTE that is equal to the average of our five peers: the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, the University of California-Los Angeles, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
• Develop a research and technology park close to campus that will leverage campus, corporate, and agency strength to create a powerful center of research excellence and promote economic development for the region.
• Expand the university's family of friends and alumni by developing greater opportunities to reach out and to draw them back to campus and communicating more effectively our accomplishments in which they can take pride.
• Establish a fund raising organization that rivals that of our peer institutions in both structure and performance, whose goal is to raise $125 million per year by 2004, and to double the number of alumni donors from 12,500 to 25,000.
• Examine the adequacy of current operating budgets and staffing levels for fulfilling the missions of all campus units, and adjust as necessary as resources allow and in line with university priorities.
• Engage the campus and local community in an update of the 1991 Campus Master Plan to create the structure and vision for a campus of national prominence that is aesthetically pleasing, environmentally sound, and meets the operational needs of the university.
• Aggressively promote appropriate development concepts for the area east of Baltimore Avenue as a high quality college town environment including retail, office, and residential facilities with an increased hotel and restaurant capacity and cultural opportunities.
• Promote a strong "customer-first" orientation in all campus units that demands and delivers the highest quality of customer service in all administrative processes to every internal and external client and continually monitors customer satisfaction.
• Develop comprehensive short and long-term strategies to work with the USM, the Governor, and key members of the General Assembly to achieve funding of the university's highest priority capital projects.