Academic Plan 2010-2015

Goal I:
Enhance Academic Quality and Value

At URI, we believe that the value of the URI experience for students, staff, and faculty is paramount.

For this reason, the first goal of our academic plan is to enhance academic quality and value through focused efforts in enrollment planning and strategic investments in teaching and scholarship.

As part of its ongoing effort to enhance the URI experience, The University of Rhode Island has been awarded an $825,058 grant from RI Office of Higher Education via the RI College Access Challenge Grant Program. With this grant URI will strengthen recruitment and graduation of RI residents from historically under-represented backgrounds, expand the pre-college preparation program for non-traditional age students at the Providence Feinstein campus, and collaborate with the Pawtucket Child Opportunity Zone and the RI Family Literacy Initiative.

URI has also implemented a program to assist students who have not completed their degrees by providing an opportunity to return to the University. The Finish What You Started Program helps students who have left the University to return and complete their degrees. The program includes a degree completion advisor, on-the-spot readmission, and the potential to earn credit for out of classroom experience.

A new office of Student Learning, Outcomes Assessment, and Accreditation opened to more effectively support faculty in the development of online courses and the assessment of learning.

The University has expanded and continues to expand its online offerings with many new courses. These new courses may be found at: http://www.uri.edu/online/

A new Joint Committee on Online and Distance Learning was implemented in September 2012. The committee will propose, examine and recommend policies and practices for developing, planning, evaluating, and implementing online and distance learning offerings with a focus on quality, sustainability, and connection to URI's mission.

The Office of Advising plans to institute a new training program: contents will include curriculum overviews, career information, student characteristics such as retention and research, academic policies, higher education legal and ethical issues, techniques to monitor academic progress, and technological advancements in advising including an upgrade to PeopleSoft 9.

Goal II:
Prepare Students for a Changing World

At URI we recognize that the world is constantly changing. In order to prepare our students to succeed in this environment of change we know we must also embrace innovation in our classrooms.

That is why the second goal of our academic plan is to implement a contemporary model of active and collaborative learning and achievement that prepares students for the rapidly changing world of the 21st century.

As part of this effort URI has created new interdisciplinary majors, minors, and opportunities for collaboration. Among these is the Harrington School of Communication that unites six academic areas to provide enhanced resources for students. URI has added interdisciplinary undergraduate majors/minors in Applied Communications; Business Institutions; Health Services Administration; Human Studies; African and African American Studies; Film Media; Woman's Studies; and Engineering, and interdisciplinary graduate degree programs in Biological and Environmental Sciences; and Neuropsychology. URI has also added post-baccalaureate certificates in Thanatology and Women's Studies.

URI has thirteen new technology initiatives currently underway to help our students experience innovative education and prepare them to be part of the changing world. Faculty/staff grants totaling $291,722 were awarded to fund these exciting new initiatives, including initiatives in the areas of Multimedia Course Development, Two-dimensional Motion Analysis, Online Transformative Learning, and Virtual Desktops.

A future plan for the Library was completed in 2012, and along with it the new Learning Commons in the Robert L. Carothers Library opened in September. The learning commons boasts a new learning environment for a new generation, including group study rooms, study pods and booths, a laptop bar, a video and PowerPoint presentation practice room, and flexible social spaces. Technical Support for technology in addition to Information and Research Assistance are available on site to fully support the student learning experience.

Goal III:
Research and Innovation

At URI we believe we must embrace a new 'scholarship of innovation' that moves us from the traditions of scholarly work steeped in describing problems to a focus on designing solutions leading to a sustainable and desirable future.

The third goal of our academic plan reflects these beliefs; it is to work with the Division of Research and Economic Development to promote existing and new interdisciplinary endeavors in faculty and student research, scholarship, and creative work that address major societal challenges and opportunities, add value to the human experience, and expand a new innovation-based knowledge economy.

Because inquiry-based learning is of great value at URI Experiential Learning and Community Engagement has undertaken the work of identifying barriers to and providing guidelines for integrating experiential learning into the curriculum. As part of this effort they conducted a faculty Survey and one-on-one meetings between faculty and coordinators or advisors. The resulting data from these efforts will assist URI in its efforts to further incorporate experiential learning in our curriculum.

Goal IV:
Global Citizenry

At URI we value a culture of inclusion, respect, understanding, and global citizenry.

The fourth goal of our academic plan is to ensure that students and faculty are equipped with knowledge and experiences to function as responsible and inquisitive global citizens.

As part of its commitment to Global Citizenry, URI partnered with Associates in Cultural Exchange (A.C.E.) to develop an English Language Institute. The fall class included 15 students from China, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Korea, and Taiwan.

URI has also expanded its ability to promote international admission and prepare international students by signing an articulation agreement with EC Language Centers. International students can study at any one of the 15 EC centers and by passing at a specified level demonstrate the required English language proficiency for admission to URI.

In the next two years, 12 faculty members will be hired into four interdisciplinary clusters. Three of the new hires will be part of a collaborative for Islamic and Mediterranean Studies, a university-wide interdisciplinary initiative, working together with colleagues across the University to create interdisciplinary teaching and research opportunities for Islamic and Mediterranean Studies. Three of the new hires will be part of a coordinated strategy for developing an interdisciplinary Ocean Renewable Energy Program at URI. Three of the new faculty hires will advance the major goal to establish a leading interdisciplinary water and water resources program at URI by bridging natural, social sciences, engineering, and outreach activities. These three new faculty hires will help build a new interdisciplinary, trans-college collaborative known as "Water: Engineering, Science, Economics, Society." The final three faculty hires will fill positions with broad characterizations of these faculty lines: (1) health economics, (2) health care policy, and (3) health disparities and the gendered, racial, and sociocultural life course determinants of health.

Goal V:
Ensure an Equitable and Inclusive Campus Community

Fairness, Diversity and Respect are three of our core values at URI. That is why the fifth goal of our academic plan is to ensure a campus climate that celebrates difference and creates a rich learning community built upon respect, inclusion, and understanding of issues related to class, race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, and culture.

As part of this effort URI's Division of Academic Affairs Diversity Task Force established the Multiculturalism and Diversity Enhancement Fund. The intention of the fund is to encourage faculty and staff to enhance cultural competence within the Division of Academic Affairs. Through a competitive process, the following projects were awarded $3,000 each to support curricular change, faculty development, and research on multicultural competence in the 2011-2012 academic year.

1. Measuring the Cultural Adaptability of Students Who Participate in International Experiences with J. Hazen White Fellows. PI's: Jennifer Audette, Physical Therapy, and Rosaria Pisa, Sociology and Anthropology.
2. Infusing Multicultural Content in a Psychology Course. PI's: Department of Psychology Task Force on Multiculturalism and Diversity
3. An Urban after School Intervention Program: Promoting Healthy Lifestyle in Overweight Minority Children and Adolescents. PI: Furong Xu, Kinesiology
4. Dimensions of Diversity. PI: Timothy W. Tierney, Information Technology Services
5. Increasing Retention of At-Risk Nontraditional and Adult Students. PI: Tamara Bolotow, Feinstein Providence Campus
6. LGBT Faculty Fellows Program. PI's: Annemarie Vaccaro and Delores Walters, Human Sciences and Services

The College of Nursing and the Multicultural Enhancement Fund supported an additional project, entitled The Integration of Multicultural Competency into the Nursing Curriculum at URI. Patricia Burbank, Diane Martins, Mary Mumford Haley, and Delores M. Walters provided suggested resources for integrating LGBTQ, and race/ethnicity/content throughout the undergraduate and graduate nursing curriculum according to cultural competency guidelines from professional nursing and other organizations.

In addition to the Multiculturalism and Diversity Enhancement Fund, the University of Rhode Island has also established the Multicultural Faculty Apprentice Fellowship. The goal of the Multicultural Faculty Apprentice Fellowship (MFAF) Program is to increase the diversity of the faculty at the University of Rhode Island and advance issues of diversity in research and teaching within academic programs at URI. This year, through a competitive process, the fellowship opportunity was awarded to the Harrington School of Communication and Media to recruit and hire a postdoctoral fellow with expertise in Latino or Caribbean-American community media. The search committee is soliciting applications for bringing in a fellow to start in January 2013.

To further strengthen our Faculty in the development of cultural competence the College Diversity Committees Workshop was held on May 23, 2012. Over 80 faculty, administrators, and staff from the diversity committees within the units in the Division of Academic Affairs attended a day-long workshop which consisted of panel discussions, facilitated roundtable discussions, and time for strategic goal-setting and planning for diversity committees.

Finally, we are pleased to announce that at its May 3, 2012 meeting, the Faculty Senate approved the recommended learning outcomes for the new general education program, including the development and exercise of cultural competencies. The definitions of cultural competencies that will be used in the new program were adopted from "A Framework for Multicultural Learning within the URI Community" endorsed by the Division of Academic Affairs Diversity Task Force.

Goal VI:
Institutional Effectiveness

There is a close relationship between how a university is run and the quality of the education it can provide. At URI we aspire to administrative and academic excellence.

Our sixth goal is to improve institutional effectiveness, academic quality, accountability, and performance.

Towards improving the quality of teaching and learning and effectively assessing progress: In spring 2012 the Academic Program Review Committee implemented a biennial electronic survey for program review, which was completed by departments Chairs. The survey assesses quality of programs as well as how efficiently and effectively they are delivered. The results were distributed to all departments so that they could be used for planning purposes to continue to improve quality.

Relative to improving the learning environment: Significant technological improvements were made to classroom auditoria in the Summer of 2012. Kirk, White, Quinn, and Edwards Auditoria as well as the Galanti Room in the Library received significant technology upgrades, including digital media and sound at the cost of nearly $400,000. The auditoria all received furnishing, lighting, and other room enhancements. Assisted learning technologies were also installed in 6 classrooms. Classrooms at the Providence ASFCCE campus were significantly improved in the summer of 2011 with technology and furnishings.

Furniture, window shading, and flooring upgrades were made to many classrooms (listed in the JCSC report of 2011-12) in excess of $300,000 to continue to modernize the learning environment in support of new learning pedagogies.