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Pacific Union College |
Strategic Plan for 2002-2007
The Mission’s Context
Founded in 1882 at Healdsburg, California, Pacific Union
College moved in 1909 to its current location in Angwin, a
former health-resort town that overlooks the renowned Napa Valley,
about 70 miles north of San Francisco. With 2,000 acres of forested
and agricultural land and 30 miles of on-campus trails, this breath-taking
environment, conducive to learning, has nurtured students for more
than 90 years, and the evidence is unmistakable. students score
very high in national test scores, and the admission rate into professional
programs is also high. What’s more, PUC students benefit from
one of the most culturally diverse campuses in the nation, according
to U.S. News & World Report. The college’s motto, “Where
Nature and Revelation Unite in Education,” captures these
strengths.
The college offers about 50 associate and bachelor degrees and
one graduate degree. Several off-campus adult programs demonstrate
the college’s commitment to the educational needs of the broader
community. Pacific Union College has chosen to keep the name “college”
rather than to change to a “university” because “college”
signifies our primary focus on teaching in a learning community
where the student is the only reason for the institution’s
existence. Excellence is a goal in all academic offerings. The college
is especially known for its strong pre-medical and pre-dental programs.
An important ongoing objective is to prepare graduates for careers
in the church and in the broader world of work as lay persons.
The core values driving this mission include a continuing search
for truth, excellence, integrity in human relationships, and dedication
to Christian witness, service, and community. While offering many
professional programs, the college focuses on the importance of
the broad range of liberal arts through a program of rigorous general
education requirements that are part of a student’s preparation
for life beyond a specific vocation. These programs center around
a Christian world view, integrating faith and learning that teach
critical analysis and create conversations in which the learning
community may discern which understandings of the world are better,
may practice the skills of appropriate persuasion, and may cultivate
the disposition to do good. The college’s seal containing
the phrase from John 6:45—“They shall be all taught
of God”—summarizes a major purpose. The words of Ellen
White, one of the college’s founders, from 120 years ago,
enjoin us to produce “thinkers, not mere reflectors of other
people’s thoughts”; and these words remain a constant
ideal.
Adventist education focuses on the whole person, emphasizing the
importance of helping students improve their mental, physical, social,
and spiritual life as they serve their fellow human beings. Part
of this effort includes an emphasis on art, music, and intramural/intercollegiate
sports/recreation. The college concentrates on enabling students
to explore and create personal value systems in an independent setting,
surrounded by loving Christian adults and peers. The joy of Christian
relationships is deliberately cultivated as an essential aspect
of truly successful education. The result of this open exploration
is committed church members and reflective spiritual individuals
who continue to serve others as witnesses to Jesus Christ.
Strategic Goal Assumptions
Our five strategic goals for the next five years assume
that we will average a traditional on-campus student head count
of 1,550-1,600 and a non-traditional student head count of 250-300
students, including our Continuing and Professional Education (cape)
program and off-campus nursing programs. The college will continue
to emphasize its residential nature with residential halls operating
close to capacity. We will continue to offer a wide range of traditional
liberal arts and professional programs, only subsidizing on a long
range basis those academic programs considered central to the college’s
mission. A limited number of courses will enable students in liberal
arts majors to gain a “hands on” experience in life
skills as included in the general education component and other
offerings.
We will achieve a balanced budget each year, based on tuition
increases comparable to national averages for like colleges, church
subsidies from the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
(the college’s sponsoring organization) based on average tithe
increases, and contributions in unrestricted funds, producing an
average of $1,200,000 in gifts per year. The college’s Development
Office will help increase endowments from $15,000,000 to $25,000,000
with a focus on increasing student scholarship funds and faculty
professional development. These increases will enable the college
to remain competitive with other colleges in scholarships and tuition
discounts being offered. As resources provide, departmental budgets
will be more adequately funded according to need. Ongoing physical
maintenance and landscaping on a campus with many old buildings
will remain an important priority. As part of its community responsibility,
the college runs a small town, which it will operate in a financially
prudent manner through Howell Mountain Enterprises and other services.
The college is committed to being a constant learning organization
itself, driven in part by self-study reports and accreditation reports
from the Accrediting Association of Seventh-day Adventist Colleges
and Universities, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges,
and other professional accreditations. wasc “Institutional
Capacity” and “Effectiveness of Academic Programs”
requirements will become a regular part of campus study. Accountability
and assessment will be tough-minded, thorough, and fair. The results
will produce systematic plans that are implemented on a consistent
basis. Throughout this process, we affirm that shared information
will be our advantage as we interact, intersect, and integrate in
breaking down barriers that separate campus functions. This learning
organization will exemplify a productive, cooperative environment
that excels in meeting the needs of both students and employees,
thereby modeling the purpose of true education. We recognize the
importance of adequately funding a continued expansion and maintenance
of technology in the college’s infrastructure and curriculum.
Collaboration with La Sierra University, PUC’s sister institution,
and the Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities will
result in greater efficiency, more excellence, and increased enrollment
possibilities.
The following five strategic goals represent campus-wide goals.
Each campus area (such as academic administration, student services,
financial administration, enrollment services, auxiliary services,
marketing, development, facilities, and technology) will develop
more detailed strategic plans that fit within these goals.
Goals
GOAL 1. A CHRIST-CENTERED CAMPUS
A loving relationship with Jesus Christ will be integral
to the academic and community life of our college.
Guiding Strategies for Goal 1:
- Establish an interdisciplinary task force to develop a coordinated,
intentional, all-
college approach to student and faculty/staff spiritual growth,
resulting in a spiritual
master plan with appropriate assessment strategies for continual
improvement.
- Increase student participation in worship, personal devotions,
service activities, peer
family groups, Friday evening vespers, and Sabbath worship activities.
- Establish a coordinated plan promoting healthful living.
- Create a weekly all-college chapel/assembly program, attended
by at least 75 percent of all students and employees. This program will enable the college
community to
convey important college values and spiritual principles that will
develop school spirit
and a campus-wide pride in the college and in the Seventh-day Adventist
Church.
GOAL 2. A VIBRANT ADVENTIST LEARNING COMMUNITY
We will foster an environment in which all members of the
college family nurture a vibrant, wholistic approach to learning.
Guiding Strategies for Goal 2:
- Begin the phased construction of a new library (or renovate
the current library) by
2007 that will become the student-focused study center of the college’s
learning
community.
- Develop a regular student advising program that stresses
accuracy, care for student
goals, development of student values, and the importance of academic
regulations.
- Create opportunities for faculty members to improve their
teaching while maintaining
current knowledge of their academic disciplines.
- Create a learning environment in which faculty and students
learn together, across
disciplines where possible.
- Continue a review of current and possible new academic programs
with a focus on
student need, academic priorities, excellence, rigor, and financial
contribution.
- Create a community where it is safe to challenge assumptions
and to ask questions in
the God-ordained mandate to seek truth.
- Refine student learning outcomes with appropriate assessment
strategies.
- Enhance the learning community through additional on-line
courses and by strengthening or expanding off-campus programs offered by Continuing Education Prorams,
Nursing, and
Education.
GOAL 3. STUDENT ACCESS AND PERSISTENCE (RETENTION)
We will improve student access and methods of helping students
persist at PUC by strengthening financial assistance, student employment
opportunities, campus climate, and spirit.
Guiding Strategies for Goal 3:
- Stabilize and increase enrollment through the active involvement
of every employee
as implemented through a new marketing plan.
- Appoint employees to develop student persistence strategies
and oversee their
implementation.
- Create a campus culture that views student persistence as
the responsibility of each
employee.
- Develop an inviting, attractive student center where students
can interact with each
other on a casual basis.
- Continue to enhance student service areas such as residence
halls, counseling, food
services, public safety, affinity groups, social events programming,
and spiritual
climate.
- Continue to strengthen such support areas as Enrollment
Services, Records Office,
Student Finance, and the College Bookstore.
- Feature strengths of campus diversity while concurrently
assisting students from
international and culturally diverse backgrounds to find identity
within the campus.
- Provide an academic curriculum connection between student
persistence and one or
more General Education courses for freshmen within existing courses
to deal with
issues that could lead to student departure.
- Respond to all individual inquiries from students and constituents
within 24 hours
and no more than five working days if a committee response is needed.
- Provide students with regular feedback on class performance.
- Improve performance gaps as identified in the annual results
of the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory.
- Strengthen access for potential students through effective
marketing, financial
assistance, and career counseling.
GOAL 4. STRONG FACULTY AND STAFF RETENTION/RECRUITMENT
We will be known for our outstanding faculty/staff who have
such high morale and commitment to Christian education and the college
that they will want to remain as employees, thereby making recruitment
of new college family members an easier task.
Guiding Strategies for Goal 4:
- Continue implementation of increased pay for faculty.
- Receive approval from county authorities to provide land
for affordable housing for
employees, where they may continue to live, even after retirement.
- Increase by 15 percent the number of faculty holding doctorates
through sponsored
graduate study leaves and recruitment of individuals already holding
a doctorate.
- Continue funding faculty sabbaticals and research study
as part of the regular budget
and through the creation of endowments for faculty development.
- Prepare a strategic plan for replacement of retiring faculty,
as part of an academic
master plan on what programs will be continued, strengthened, or
discontinued.
- Create an environment of academic freedom in which the Adventist
understanding
of progressive revelation and truth can be pursued while respecting
appropriate
contexts for such exploration.
- Review on-campus governance and decision-making structures
for opportunities to
create greater efficiency and to facilitate better time management
by administrators,
faculty, and staff. The aim will be to foster a more cohesive and
focused community
that enjoys the benefits of good relationships between all campus
entities.
GOAL 5. FINANCIAL STABILITY
We will operate from a position of long-term stability and
annual economic balance.
Guiding Strategies for Goal 5:
The following sample guiding strategies from Board reports will
be emphasized:
- Achieve close partnerships between departments, streamline
business processes, and
standardize operations.
- Establish benchmark target goals for key financial areas
based on similar colleges in
such areas as staffing, fundraising expenses, maintenance and operation
costs, and
building efficiency.
- Maintain vigilance on all expenditures.
- Achieve a student:faculty ratio of 13 to 1 for 2002-03 and
15 to 1 for 2003-04 or
through equivalent financial reductions.
- Maximize the use of college land, buildings, and assets
to further the mission of the
college.
- Budget a realistic amount of student financial aid that
will result in an increase in the
number of students able to attend the college.
- Repay half of all external operating debt within five years.
- Build a cogeneration plant by 2004.
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