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Suggested titles:
“Mining Minds: The Silver of Nevada’s Future”
“The Silver Minds of Nevada’s Future”
“Creating Minds, Building Nevada’s Future”
“Discovery: Leading Nevada’s Future”
Strategic Plan – 2015 to 2021
University of Nevada, Reno
Vision
The University of Nevada, Reno is a dynamic land-grant University with locally, nationally and internationally respected programs that attract outstanding faculty and graduate and undergraduate students in Nevada, the nation, and the world.
It is an integral component of the Reno-Sparks community and is fully engaged in serving the citizens of Nevada. It uses resources wisely and efficiently.
Mission
Inspired by its land-grant foundation, the University of Nevada, Reno provides excellent learning, discovery, and engagement programs that serve the economic, social, environmental and cultural needs of the citizens of Nevada, the
V
ALUES nation, and the world. The University is committed to a culture of inclusion and accessibility to all qualified students.
In all of its activities, the University is guided by the following values:
 We expect excellence in all of our endeavors.
 We are committed to being accessible and affordable to qualified students.
 We are engaged with issues that are relevant to the citizens of Nevada.
 We are an inclusive university that respects diverse cultures.
 We are committed to a culture of inquiry that yields creative expression as well as discovery and innovation.
 We are committed to enhancing the economic prosperity of Nevada and its citizens.
 Our research and educational programs are of global significance.
 We are committed to being good stewards of our resources.
 We maintain the highest level of integrity in all that we do.
 We are committed to providing a safe, secure, healthy and welcoming
environment.
 We embrace a culture of collaboration across disciplines and programs and seek partnerships with external stakeholders.
 We are committed to the protection and enhancement of the region’s natural
and social environment.
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Background:
Founded in 1874, the University of Nevada, Reno (“University”) proudly embraces its historic place among the nation’s land-grant universities and the enduring mission of learning, discovery, and engagement associated with this prestigious designation. The
University was relocated from Elko to Reno in 1885 and graduated its first class of three students in 1891. From this beginning, it has grown into a comprehensive university with **,*** students in the fall of 2014 and a research budget of over $**** million.
Implicit with its land-grant mission to diffuse useful and practical information to the public, and in accordance with Nevada Revised Statutes, the University presents research-based knowledge and programs to address critical community needs across the state. It is home to the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Small Business
Development Center, Nevada Industry Excellence, the Nevada Seismology Laboratory, the University of Nevada School of Medicine, and other statewide programs.
It is a Tier-1 Research University as designated by U.S. News and World Report. The
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies it as a “High Research
University”, as well as a “Balanced Art and Sciences/Professions High Graduate
Coexistence University”.
While maintaining its commitment to being accessible and affordable, the University maintains high academic standards and attracts outstanding undergraduate and graduate scholars from Nevada, the nation, and the world. Its world-class research and arts and engagement programs contribute tangibly to fundamental knowledge while also providing practical contributions to issues that are directly relevant to the citizens of Nevada. Building upon this historic and contemporary foundation, we offer the following plan that guides the University’s development over the next six years.
**INSERT PARAGRAPH ON UNR ROLE AS ECONOMIC DRIVER**
We recognize that several forces are currently or are likely to significantly influence the development of the University. For example, anticipated enrollment and research growth will strain the capacity of the University, both in terms of facilities and personnel. Limited resources from the state will most likely persist for the foreseeable future, which will necessitate an increasingly entrepreneurial business model. Firstgeneration students and those who are from underrepresented minorities will represent an increasing percentage of our community. Major developments such as Nevada’s designation as a major test site for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and the global challenge of cyber security will influence the University’s educational and research programs. Alternative modes of educational delivery will fundamentally influence the structure of higher education. Nevada’s growing population will continue to generate demand for health-care providers. Joining the Mountain West Conference raises expectations for and demands on the athletic programs. It is a certainty that these and additional unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances, both positive and
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TRATEGIC
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In a 2013 self-study for the NWCCU, the University established three core goals related to its Learning, Discovery, and Outreach programs.
 Goal 1 – Learning: Prepare graduates to compete globally through highquality undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and selected professional programs.
 Goal 2 – Discovery: Create new knowledge through basic and applied research, scholarship, and artistry in strategically selected fields relevant to
Nevada and its role in the wider world.
 Goal 3 – Engagement: Improve economic, environmental and social conditions by engaging Nevada citizens, communities, and governments.
In pursuit of these goals the University has established objectives that recognize and respond to its obligations, aspirations, and anticipated forces of change. We have identified specific activities and metrics by which we will measure our progress.
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Goal 1 – Learning: Prepare graduates to compete globally through high-quality undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and selected professional programs.
Objective 1: Provide high-quality undergraduate degree programs taught by wellqualified faculty who continually improve the curriculum through assessment and innovation.
 Grow faculty primarily through hiring tenure-track faculty with outstanding scholarly credentials.
 Reduce student-faculty ratio to 18:1, the national median of land-grant
Universities.
 Implement the use of student-achievement analytics to improve academic advising and student learning.
 Implement fully the “Silver” core-curriculum plan.
 Increase participation of undergraduate students in research.
 Integrate Extension faculty into campus-based education through appropriate guest lectures.
Objective 2: Provide access to the growing number of Nevadans prepared for university study and recruit high-achieving students and a diverse student body.
 Maintain academic standards and credentials of students while increasing enrollment to 22,000.
 Increase the number of National Merit, National Achievement, National
Hispanic, and Presidential Scholars.
 Transform the Honors Program into an Honors College.
 Provide scholarships for students with financial need.
 Increase the diversity of our student and faculty community.
 Establish and evaluate learning outcomes for all courses.
Objective 3: Develop and implement the “Pack Promise”, a contract to guide students toward timely graduation after which they will be well prepared to succeed professionally and in future studies.
 Implement “15 to Finish” NSHE initiative, a program to encourage full-time students to complete at least 15 student credit hours each semester.
 Provide residence halls that promote a culture of learning and a sense of university community.
 Provide intensive academic orientation for entering freshmen.
 Provide academic advising that meets the needs of our students.
 Provide career counseling that helps students identify employment opportunities or additional education.
Objective 4: Provide high-quality graduate programs taught by research-active faculty who continually improve the curriculum through assessment and innovation.
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 Increase the number of graduate teaching and research assistantships.
 Increase stipends of graduate teaching assistants to nationally competitive levels.
 Increase diversity of graduate students.
 Revise policies and procedures to reduce time-to-completion while maintaining high standards.
 Apply for federal traineeships and other graduate student funding in order to enhance graduate programs.
Objective 5: Have a broad array of choices for instructional format, location, and delivery times.
 Redesign selected undergraduate and graduate courses for alternative delivery modes following best practices at peer and aspirant institutions.
 Provide incentives for faculty to demonstrate and implement innovative instructional designs.
 Recruit and retain leading-edge instructional design staff.
 Evaluate comprehensively the feasibility of a trimester calendar as a means of reducing time to graduation and increasing utilization of university resources.
 Increase student participation in study-abroad programs.
Objective 6: Be actively engaged with K-12 programs and students.
 Work with school districts to improve college-readiness of high school graduates.
 Use online delivery to provide dual-credit courses to qualified high school students.
 Establish and lead statewide initiative to implement UTeach model of secondary STEM teacher education.
 Prepare youth for college readiness through experiential, classroom and outside-the-classroom youth education and 4-H programs.
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Goal 1 Metrics
Objective 1
New tenure-track faculty lines
Student-faculty ratio
Classes w/< 19 students
Full implementation Silver Core Curriculum
Undergraduate participation in research
Number of guest lectures provided by Extension faculty
Objective 2
Undergraduate enrollment
Freshman class with ACT > 26
National Merit, National Achievement, National Hispanic, and Presidential scholars
Diversity of undergraduate students
Diversity of faculty
Financial aid for low-income students
Objective 3
Fall-to-Fall freshmen retention
6-year graduation rate
Student-advisor ratio
Implement student tracking system
Student participation in NevadaFIT
Employment rate
Admission to professional or graduate schools
NCAA GSR
Objective 4
Additional GTA lines
Grant-supported research assistantships
PhD enrollment
UNSOM entering class
PhD 6-year completion rate
Diversity of graduate students
Objective 5
Online courses offered
Faculty participating in online workshops
Report on feasibility of trimester by June 30, 2016
Undergraduate students who participate study abroad
Objective 6
High school graduates prepared to enroll in college level math and English
High school students completing dual-credit courses
Students pursuing UTeach teacher certification
K-12 students in University-driven college-readiness activities, including 4-H
44.4%
**
**
**
11%
**
80%
X
**
794
70
**
**
**
80%
47%
**
400
**
**
2014
21.6
19%
**
**
25%
**
**
**
2021
Total of 272
18:1
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**%
**
**
**
1000
**
**
**
**
**
>80%
X+252
**
**
100
**
**
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Goal 2 - Discovery: Create new knowledge through basic and applied research, scholarship, and artistry in strategically selected fields relevant to Nevada and its role in the wider world.
Objective 1: Enhance the quality, innovation, and range of the university’s engagement in research and artistry. Be recognized as a “Carnegie Research/Very High
University”.
 Provide additional grant-writing training and support for faculty.
 Align teaching loads with discipline-specific standards at peer and aspirant research universities.
 Encourage commercialization of intellectual property and facilitate partnerships with the private sector.
 Fund graduate assistantships at a nationally competitive level.
 Add faculty members who are funded primarily from research contracts and grants.
 Increase the number of graduate teaching assistant lines in PhD-granting programs.
Objective 2: Invest in disciplinary and interdisciplinary research areas that build upon existing strength and that are responsive to emerging needs and opportunities.
 Recruit tenure-track faculty with expertise in computational methods within their discipline.
 Incentivize community-based research projects.
 Cyber security…
 Alternative energy…
 Earthquake engineering…
 ….Identify others based on input from deans, community-based faculty,….
Objective 3: Provide infrastructure required to support world-class discovery, scholarship, and creativity.
 Build and renovate research and performance facilities that allow faculty and students to realize their potential.
 Provide High-Performance Computing resources necessary to support computational research.
 Add administrative and technical support positions needed to accommodate growth and translate discovery into innovation.
Objective 4: To operate with rules, policies and procedures that promote entrepreneurial activities including competition for research and training grants.
 Minimize the need for paper in all university business.
 Review existing procedures, improve what can be improved under current rules, request needed changes to existing rules and laws as appropriate.
 Create incentives for entrepreneurial activity by faculty and students that benefits the University .
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 Encourage and reward collaborative work in all of its manisfestations across all dimensions of the Institution.
Goal 2 Metrics
Objective 1
Research expenditures
Patents issued
Graduate teaching assistantship stipends
Research (non-tenure track) faculty supported by grants
Objective 2
National/International awards and honorifics received by faculty
Priorities forthcoming from deans….
Number of community-based research projects
Objective 3
Begin construction on Engineering building
Complete upgrade of Church Fine Arts facilities
Renovate and repurpose historic and dated buildings
Addition of administrative and technical support positions
Objective 4
Paperless transactions
Metric for entrepreneurial activity…?
Number of cross-disciplinary field and campus-based collaborative projects
2014
$98 million
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**
**
**
2021
$180 million
**
Median of peer/aspirant universities
**
**
Total of 168 new positions
90%
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Goal 3 – Engagement: Strengthen the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of people by engaging Nevada citizens, communities and governments. Be formally recognized as a “Carnegie Community Engaged University,” truly setting a standard for land-grant institutions in “addressing critical societal issues and contributing to the public good.”
Objective 1: Work in concert with government and industry to diversify and develop
Nevada’s economy and communities.
 Identify and pursue opportunities to support the economic plan of the State of Nevada.
 Promote economic development through state programs such as the Nevada
Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Small Business Development Center, The
Agricultural Experiment Station, Cooperative Extension, Nevada Industry
Excellence, and the Nevada Seismology Laboratory.
 Enhance Cooperative Extension-campus-county partnerships.
Objective 2: Improve mental and physical health and quality of life for Nevada’s diverse and growing population.
 Expand undergraduate enrollment in the medical school.
 Expand the capacity of the B.S.N. program.
 Achieve accreditation for a Master of Public Health and a PhD in Public
Health.
 Forge partnerships with public and private hospitals to enhance medical education throughout the State of Nevada.
 Address challenges to quality of life and health specific to Nevada communities, in part by providing preventative outreach programs that encourage good health and nutrition.
 Expand Extension health and quality of life partnerships in the counties in collaboration with other University and NSHE units, as appropriate.
 Assist communities in emergency and disaster preparedness through programs such as the Great Nevada ShakeOut, Living With Fire and Nevada
Flood Awareness Week.
Objective 3: Provide leadership in furthering the City of Reno’s reputation as a
“University Town”.
 Implement plans for the Gateway Project that will provide a visible and tangible connection to the Reno community.
 Improve transportation corridors between campus and north Reno.
 Establish environments that promote synergistic interactions between faculty and students and the community
 Use satellite facilities, including Cooperative Extension offices, to offer existing and new educational programs.
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Objective 4: Provide access to informal and formal learning and services for citizens of all cultural backgrounds, ages, abilities, and locations.
 Increase student participation in service-learning classes and community work through Cooperative Extension and other programs.
 Increase youth and adult experiential learning through programs such as 4-H and Master Gardeners.
 Provide programs to develop early childhood literacy and school preparedness for Pre-K children.
 Provide volunteer development opportunities to increase the number of volunteer hours delivering outreach programs, such as 4-H.
 Use Internet-based videoconferencing for workshops, seminars and other outreach activities to serve Nevada businesses, agencies and institutions.
 Provide incentives for campus-based faculty who engage in providing education and programs in Nevada communities.
Objective 5: [Note: While Objective 5 is good and deserves inclusion in the Strategic
Plan, it does not appear to relate to engagement. Recommend it be placed elsewhere.]
Provide resources and facilities that are consistent with our values and that encourage healthy lifestyles.
 Become a tobacco-free campus.
 Promote respect for the environment and others who depend on a healthy environment.
 Create a childcare center that supports the needs of faculty, staff, and students.
 Provide the athletic facilities and related infrastructure required to be a conference leader.
 Address energy conservation and sustainability issues in both new construction and renovation.
 Promote personal-decision making, including responsible use of alcohol, that results in good physical and mental health and enhanced personal safety.
Objective 6: Develop and adopt a unified concept and vision for the University’s public engagement mission.
 Embrace a broad and inclusive definition of the land-grant mission of the
University that is directed at local, state, national and global communities.
 Recognize and highlight the public engagement of faculty across resident instruction, research and Extension.
 Develop University-wide mechanisms to promote interconnections across all forms or types of engagement (Extension, tech transfer, translational research, clinical programs, service-learning, etc.) without introducing new centralized structures.
 Develop enhanced strategic partnerships between on-campus education programs and community-based Extension and outreach.
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 Strengthen collaborations with University alumni in order to enhance the public impact of faculty resident and engaged research and education.
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Goal 3 Metrics
Objective 1
Sponsored research projects that align with Nevada economic plan
License and option agreements
Non-degree professional certificates
Contract expenditures for instruction and public service
Data collected through annual county commission surveys
Number and scope of collaborations
Program and outcome data
Number of Extension and University faculty and professionals working in each county
A ratio of Extension faculty to campus-based faculty that is at least equal to the average of this ratio at other Tier 1 land-grant universities
Objective 2
Establish a full 4-year school of medicine in Reno
Accreditation for a Master of Public Health and a PhD in
Public Health.
Clients served through clinical services
Size of entering UNSOM class
Capacity of B.S.N. program
Formal agreements with hospitals
Graduate Medical Education residencies and fellowships
Number of participants in disaster-related communitybased educational programs
Objective 3
Develop the University south of 9 th Street
Upgrade of Virginia Street and Evans Street corridors
Develop new programs in Sinclair Street “Innovation
Center”
Expand educational offerings at Redfield Campus
Objective 4
Students participating in Service Learning
Children participating in 4-H and other community-based experiential learning
Adults engaging in community-based, experiential learning
Number of faculty without formal Extension appointments collaborating with Extension
Number of students, faculty and staff involved in outreach activities, with particular attention to underrepresented populations
Number of participants in community-based educational programs
Number of program participants adopting recommended practices
Objective 5
Designation as “tobacco free campus” by August 2015
Begin construction on a new childcare facility by ***
2014
401
4
198
$29M
**%
**
407,000
70
**
**
**
2021
**
**
**
**
**
100
**
**
**
**%
**
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Open new Fitness Center by January 2017
Metric of success in athletic programs…?
Metric of student alcohol abuse…?
Objective 6
Adoption of a broad and inclusive definition of land-grant engagement at the University
Creation of engagement awards for each type of University engagement
Implementation of an annual engagement report
Creation of mechanisms to promote interdisciplinary and inter-college connections
Development of a reporting mechanism and tracking of strategic partnerships between on-campus education programs and community-based Extension and outreach
Development of a reporting mechanism and tracking of collaborations with University alumni in order to enhance the public impact of faculty resident and engaged research and education
T
HE PLANNING PROCESS
:
This institutional strategic plan is a requirement of the Nevada System of Higher
Education and serves as a guide for university development. The plan has been developed with the input of the entire university community, as well as external stakeholders, and has benefited from the assistance of consultants. This final draft was submitted to the President for approval and presentation to the Board of Regents.
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