Examples

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APPENDIX 2
Examples of Areas of Common Interests

1. Innovation in Education

It is important that our innovations in education encompass both undergraduate and graduate education with a comprehensive effort to develop the whole person. Many portfolios proposed teaching and learning innovations in undergraduate and graduate programs. Portfolios stressed the need for developing nationally recognized programs and improving the preparation of our graduates as strong teachers as well as strong researchers and scholars. Recommended innovations include improving the connection of teaching and research at Michigan Tech, developing collaborations between departments and information technology for research in teaching and learning, and creating the future of technological education.

Strategic initiatives that would accomplish this and fall within the “Innovations in Education” area include, but are not limited to:

Approaching teaching and learning in a multidimensional fashion, to develop standards in technological literacy, and develop nontraditional educational delivery systems that include studio-style and Web-based instruction;
Expanding innovative technical education which develop learning contexts that extend beyond the confines of the traditional academic environment, such as internships, on-site practice, distance and distributed learning, partnerships between universities and industries, community-based client projects, and service learning;
Integrating teacher education programs and research in learning into the institutional agenda;
Expanding the role of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development; and
Addressing widely known and recognized critical issues and national needs in the science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) teaching workforce; aligning the University with the national action agenda; and providing us with excellent funding opportunities.

2. Emerging Technologies and Research

The development of research initiatives will support the traditional graduate and undergraduate education role of Michigan Tech. The common element in each of these research areas is inquiry–driven faculty productivity. Faculty must teach the courses, write the research proposals, and supervise the graduate students if any significant progress is to be made toward the goal of achieving national prominence in these areas.
Strategic initiatives that would accomplish this and fall within the “Emerging Technologies and Research” area include, but are not limited to,

Nanotechnology. Research in nanotechnology that will lead to understanding and control over the fundamental building blocks of all physical things and will likely change the way things are designed and made. (i.e., vaccines, computers, common consumer goods);
Biotechnology. Research in developing new materials, combating diseases, increasing food production, reducing pollution, and enhancing the quality of life (i.e., genomic profiling, biomedical engineering, therapy and drug developments, genetic modification, and DNA identification and applications);
Natural Resources/Environment/Remote Sensing. Research on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems as well as natural resource management and pollution prevention and mitigation. Research on remote sensing spanning a number of disciplines, including imaging science, signal processing, visualization, and data mining; and.
Information Technology. Research on developing new IT-enabled devices, applications, and services (i.e., wireless connectivity via hand-held devices, decrease in equipment costs, increase in performance).

These areas, which are very broadly defined, encompass much of what Michigan Tech is already doing well, and there are additional plans for new directions in research and education. We can continue to support faculty members by maintaining broad definitions of these fields. For example, "biotechnology" can be defined to include most of the efforts of several divisions: bioengineering, biology, chemistry, civil and environmental engineering, forestry, and others.

3. Residential and Community Campus

Several unit plans included strategies for achieving the vision of a residential student-centered learning environment. Michigan Tech needs to identify its competitive niche in an environment where the e-commerce markets try to segregate knowledge delivery, knowledge creation, and the social aspects of a traditional college education. Fewer institutions will offer robust residential programs devoted to the student-centered development of educated citizens and leaders. Michigan Tech must take advantage of its beautiful location on the shores of Lake Superior and become a university where students have the developmental experience of living and studying in a small, residential setting among a true community of scholars.

Strategic initiatives that would accomplish this and fall within the “Residential and Community Campus” area include, but are not limited to,

Creating an attractive physical environment, including gathering places for socializing and schoolwork;
Developing opportunities for student/faculty interaction outside the classroom;
Providing excellent housing options;
Sponsoring diverse options for social activities; and
Enhancing mentoring and advising services.

Examples of how these might be combined in strategic initiatives include

Developing an Advising and Learning Center that would serve first-year students by providing information about course requirements and educational programs, as well as offer career exploration services and coordinate intervention for students with disabilities and students having difficulties;
Sponsoring diverse social and professional opportunities that would provide students with the ability to pursue interests outside the classroom that would serve to increase both emotional development and campus connectivity; and
Developing a “town square” that would improve the quality of student life by providing a broader range of housing options, social gathering places, areas for studying, organizational meeting spaces, and areas for faculty-student interaction outside of the classroom.

4. Resources, Size, and Composition

"Quality is embodied in our people ... It will be the ubiquitous contact between our faculty and staff and our students in active, discovery-based learning settings that will be the hallmark of this University."

Quality is not driven by the absolute size of the University but by having enough faculty and staff to enable this learning environment. The faculty must be eminent in their fields if we are to "prepare students to create the future." Then we must have faculty who are creating the future through innovative teaching, research, and scholarship. Thus, key enabling ingredients in Michigan Tech's quest to become a national university of choice will be to determine the right size for the University, implement the right student-to-faculty ratios along with the right composition, and then find the resources necessary to accomplish this.

Strategic initiatives that would accomplish this and fall within the “Resources, Size, and Composition” area include, but are not limited to,

Developing and implementing programs designed to increase enrollment to 7,000;
Developing and implementing programs designed to increase graduate enrollment to at least 15 percent of the total enrollment with half of these at the Ph.D. level (some programs may increase Ph.D. student levels more since not all programs, departments or schools have graduate programs);
Designing and implementing ways to maintain or develop student-to-faculty ratios in each of the colleges and schools that are consistent with those of nationally recognized programs (e.g., 16 to 1);
Benchmarking various areas of campus to determine the optimum size, then developing and implementing methods to reach target numbers for non-degree students and degree students;
Developing ways to increase the percentage of minorities and women in all programs;
Adding distance education programs that contribute to our on-campus programs and reach out to alumni and industry;
Developing and implementing ways to increase our resource base to support the infrastructure for quality research and teaching;
Developing ways to restructure tuition rebate dollars to attract certain types of students (e.g., students with need, diverse students, merit scholars, students in under-subscribed programs) as well as reducing our amount of rebate dollars while still attracting students; and
Evaluating the quality of high-cost programs, such as our entire fee structure (lab, computer, etc.) to make sure that all stakeholders are receiving quality service and facilities for the price.

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