FOSTERING STUDENT EXCELLENCE

These archived pages present the Academic Plan adopted by the Board of Trustees in August 2003.

A new academic plan is being formulated. Please check the Academic Plan homepage for updates.

PART ONE: UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

The University of Connecticut will continue to promote a campus culture that fosters undergraduate intellectual development from recruitment through commencement at all University campuses. This goal was cited repeatedly in meetings with student government leaders, honors students, Student Affairs administrators and staff, and the Undergraduate Education and Instruction Offices. The University will continue to refine, enhance, and complement the many new programs and commitments undertaken in undergraduate education over the last decade. To achieve these goals, we will increase our efforts at coordination, synergy, and cooperation between academic affairs and student affairs.

• Recruitment :
  A high-quality undergraduate experience is our best advertisement so the University will continue to improve and augment the initiatives listed in the other sections of this subcommittee’s report. In addition, all involved in the undergraduate experience will continue to work with Communications and Admissions to ensure that word of our many outstanding opportunities for undergraduates reach an excellent and diverse pool of applicants. In cooperation with Institutional Advancement, our goal is to increase the number of such important recruiting tools as Nutmeg and Day of Pride scholarships and establish new scholarships. We will build on our increasingly successful efforts to recruit and retain a diverse student body.

• Curriculum and Academic Program Delivery Issues:
  The curriculum and academic program delivery is at the heart of every undergraduate education. With the development of the Office for Undergraduate Education and Instruction in the 1990s, great strides have been made at the University of Connecticut in emphasizing and improving undergraduate education overall. However, challenges remain. Some of the most important of these are discussed below.
  
  Time to Degree: The University of Connecticut possesses a time-to-graduation rate that is in line with its peers. However, there are a number of students who do not graduate in the “traditional” four year time frame. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, including encouragement of experiential learning activities away from campus and, in a few cases, a curriculum that is structured more towards an anticipation of a four and one half year degree completion rate. While it is inevitable that some students will continue to take more than four years to graduate, the time to degree completion issue should be examined, with a goal of attaining the maximum four-year graduation rate.
  
  The First Year Experience: The University should continue to enhance its nationally-recognized work in the First Year Experience, including living-learning communities, themed block scheduling, one-credit first-year courses on study skills, and opportunities for enrichment, support, mentoring, and community service. A welcoming, challenging, and supportive atmosphere for first year students promotes academic excellence and can improve the University of Connecticut’s already strong record in retention.
  
  Advising: The University should continue its efforts to provide advising that meets students’ changing needs as they progress in their studies: 1) basic advising about general education and academic advising 2) more focused advising on courses of study and research within a major, and 3) mentoring for post-graduate study and/or careers. The American College Testing (ACT) advising survey administered in February 2003 will serve as a source of information about advising needs within schools, colleges, and departments; as a source of comparison with other universities; and as a benchmark to assess our continued progress in meeting the varied advising needs of undergraduates. The University will continue to coordinate and publicize student support services as well as research and experiential learning opportunities in order to make them readily accessible to advisors and students. The planned Writing and Quantitative Centers are examples of such services that augment advising and promote student achievement.
  
  General Education and Major Courses: Courses at the University of Connecticut respond to a variety of needs in a variety of schools, colleges, and departments. Thus, the only rule of thumb that can be applied is that excellence in instruction should be reinforced. We will provide a suitable mix of small, intermediate, and large classes from the freshman through the senior year. The particular curricular needs of each course will be met through appropriate class sizes and classrooms, from small seminars to large classrooms and through up-to-date technology. In accordance with the University Senate’s recently passed general education requirements, curricular development will include diversity and multiculturalism. We will continue to find means of evaluating, encouraging, and rewarding excellence and innovation in teaching.
  
  The Senior Year Experience: As a complement to the existing First Year Experience, the University of Connecticut administration should continue to work with the deans and academic departments to ensure a program of options for the academic and personal development of seniors to assist them with a transition, in this case to post-graduate study and/or careers.

• Experiential Learning and Co-Curricular Activities:
  The University will continue to expand, coordinate, publicize, and complement various kinds of experiential learning, such as internships, research assistantships, and service learning. Such opportunities respond to great student demand and are an academically meaningful way of making the transition from college to career. The University will also continue to explore the possibility of co-curricular transcripts that highlight a student’s leadership, campus activities, community service, and experiential learning as a complement to the academic transcript. Study Abroad opportunities can be expanded by providing increased capacity within UConn-directed programs and by facilitating the transfer of credits from excellent programs directed by other universities. In order for these initiatives to succeed, faculty and student affairs will continue to reinforce their efforts to work together to promote a campus atmosphere that stresses that learning does not stop at the classroom door.

• Enhancing Academic Excellence:
  The University of Connecticut will continue to expand its efforts to provide opportunities for academic excellence for all students through the Undergraduate Education Office. Particular examples include:
  
  Undergraduate Research : We can build upon our current strengths by increasing, coordinating, publicizing, and funding opportunities for undergraduate research in all areas of the curriculum from the arts to the sciences to the professional schools.
  
  Honors Program: We will continue to build a strong and visible honors program or college that will recruit and retain excellent and diverse students through scholarships and merit aid, challenging course work in general education and majors courses, and independent and group research, and civic and community engagement. The honors program will continue to pilot innovative pedagogical strategies that can be used throughout the university curriculum.
  
  Prestigious Fellowships: The University has begun and will augment its efforts to identify outstanding students early and assist them in preparing for and applying for prestigious international fellowships such as Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, and Truman.

Quality of Undergraduate Student Life

A great deal of UCONN 2000 and 21 st Century UCONN capital investment has been in areas having a strong impact on the undergraduate population. Some of the most notable of these projects include creation of the Wilbur Cross Student Services complex, creation of the Center for Undergraduate Education, construction and significant renovations of dormitories, suites and apartments for undergraduates, and significant enlargement and renovation of the Student Union. These projects have positively affected the quality of the undergraduate student experience .

There are still challenges to be faced in improving the quality of student life at all campuses. While the physical facilities of the University of Connecticut have improved dramatically, the adjoining town continues to be perceived by many students at Storrs as lacking interesting places to go. Within the Storrs campus, recreational facilities seem inadequate for student needs.

Next: Graduate & Professional Education