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On April 30, at the annual University Community Forum, Dr. John R. Johannes, vice president for Academic Affairs, presented the Academic Strategic Plan for the University. The Academic Affairs Committee of the board of trustees reviewed the proposal in early April, and Johannes is expected to present it to the full board in June. The plan will serve as the centerpiece for the overall University strategic planning process, which is already underway.

Johannes was introduced by the Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A., University president, who pointed out that this plan was yet another example of what he characterized as “a culture of planning” that has permeated the University over the past 10 years.

Johannes began by stating that the clear consensus was that the University would build on its existing strengths and position. “There was little enthusiasm for transforming ourselves into a research university, on the one hand, or for abandoning graduate studies and scholarship in favor of a virtually exclusive emphasis on undergraduate studies,” he said. “Balance, quality, and progress are the watchwords, with a four-part focus for the rest of the decade.”

Undergraduate mission

The University’s future rests first and foremost on distinctive, holistic, scholarly and values-based undergraduate education: in other words, transforming hearts and minds. The plan calls for enhancement of the Villanova’s Catholic and Augustinian values and intellectual traditions, strengthening of the faculty-student relationship, emphasis on independent student learning, stress upon international and multicultural perspectives, interdisciplinary learning and improved student advising and support services.

Graduate studies goals

The master’s degree is rapidly becoming the career entrance “must-have” that the baccalaureate degree was 30 years ago. Graduate programs enhance the University’s stature. Finally, graduate programs attract highly qualified faculty, fostering innovations that can reach the undergraduate level. For these and more reasons, the Academic Strategic Plan calls for growth in the University’s five year, joint bachelor’s-master’s programs along with the establishment of a limited number of doctoral programs that meet rigorous criteria.

Specific college goals

Within the framework of the Academic Strategic Plan, the individual colleges have sent specific goals for the next three years. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which is at the heart of academic enterprise, has committed itself to ongoing curriculum and program review, to the addition of full-time faculty, and to staffing the Department of Humanities and Augustinian Traditions, It will also encourage the building of facilities to enhance student learning and support recruitment while providing educational opportunities through graduate coursework and research. The college will also selectively develop new graduate programs.

The College of Commerce and Finance will work to increase enrollments and quality in its graduate and executive programs. It will strive to provide funding via the University’s self-help or entrepreneurial policy (for example, creating partnerships in the business arena) to advance undergraduate and graduate programs. The college will support competitive salaries and faculty summer support through implementing a coherent strategy and budget for using part-time faculty. It will develop academic centers for advising and professional development, leadership and technology by securing the services a development officer dedicated to the College of Commerce and Finance

The College of Engineering pledges to offer rigorous and innovative undergraduate programs, differentiated from other major colleges by mean of an advising center, program enhancements and outcomes assessment. It intends to increase the number of master’s level programs by 50 percent in the next three years by establishing distance learning classrooms, and an associate dean and staff for graduate programs. Engineering will establish one distinctive, interdisciplinary doctoral program. The college will demonstrate leadership in center-based research areas that are integrated into the educational programs. This will include establishing structures and antenna labs as well as enhancing the Center for Advanced Communications.

The College of Nursing looks forward to a state-of-the-art facility, while intending to maintain its reputation for excellence in both undergraduate and graduate education, and inaugurate a doctoral program. The college will expand its international initiatives in study, service, research conferences and consulting. It will seek to increase its revenues through innovative degree programs, focused development activities, the establishment of a board of consultors, and funded research.

In a statement prepared by Johannes, he noted that the Academic Strategic Plan also emphasizes the need to invest more in recruiting, supporting, and rewarding top-quality faculty. Accordingly, it calls for enhanced salaries, more funding for recruitment and start-up packages for new faculty, support for faculty development as teachers-scholars, funding for sabbatical programs, the addition a number of permanent full-time faculty and support staff, along with upgraded or additional offices, classrooms, labs and library, and additional operating budgets.

Finally, Johannes said in this statement, Villanova will re-emphasize its role of intellectual and cultural leadership in the extended local area, promoting itself and offering its services and expertise. At least 40 percent of all U.S. college students study on part-time basis. Approximately 60 percent of all students are over the age of 25, he stated, pointing out that “. . . opportunities exist to expand Villanova’s historical service to adult learners, bringing to the campus both new aspects of diversity and exciting intellectual and pedagogical challenges.”