2020 Strategic Vision
"Dedicated to Mission — Strong, Confident, Committed"
Strategic Planning Precepts
- Demonstrate and promote dedication to excellence in everything we do — whether in academic, student, public or administrative programs — while achieving true distinction in selected academic and professional fields.
- Sustain a culture of rigorous planning and assessment with systems that facilitate continuous review and prompt program innovation in keeping with the University's mission and opportunities.
- Express the Lutheran intellectual and spiritual heritage in higher education in a confident, articulate, and inclusive manner.
- Foster superior governance and leadership among the Board of Regents, the administration and the faculty.
Strategic Vision 2020
By 2020, CLU will have regional and, in selected fields, national and international recognition as a high-quality, comprehensive university that delivers outstanding academic and professional programs in an inclusive culture imbued with the values and ethics derived from its Lutheran heritage. CLU will continue to emphasize liberal learning, professional preparation, and character development as the principal pillars of its educational experience.
Emphasizing both undergraduate and graduate education, California Lutheran University will have built further upon its historical liberal arts foundation to become a highly regarded comprehensive university known for the quality of both its undergraduate and graduate programs.
CLU's undergraduate and graduate programs will have achieved a clear identity and a strong reputation for excellence. The University will consider new programs and reassess its current programs to assure that it delivers a consistently superior liberal arts and sciences experience and will become a destination of choice for high achieving students.
The Schools of Business and Education will have significantly increased prestige and visibility, and, where appropriate, national and international accreditation. The graduate programs will provide a superior professional preparation by emphasizing applied research, offering advanced study of complex material, utilizing faculty who are professionals in the field, and providing a collaborative classroom environment that integrates the students' own professional experience.
The University will attract and retain well-prepared, dedicated scholars who engage students in the classroom and in informal mentoring relationships. Students will find CLU a challenging environment. The curriculum will be supported by state-of-the-art technology and library resources. The physical facilities will meet expanded enrollment and program needs and reflect the institution's commitment to beauty, excellence, and professionalism. CLU recognizes its responsibility to demonstrate leadership in environmental stewardship and its moral obligation to nurture a healthy community.
The success of our academic, professional and co-curricular programs ultimately will be measured not only by what our students learn but also by how they live out what they have experienced at CLU. The true distinction of a CLU education will be graduates who are exceptionally well prepared for meaningful lives directed by a sense of vocation, leadership, and service.
Strategy
CLU's strategy for 2020 will emphasize quality improvements in the College of Arts and Sciences and the undergraduate programs of the professional schools in order to make CLU an increasingly desirable choice for prospective and continuing undergraduate students. While it is anticipated that traditional undergraduate enrollment will increase modestly from its current level of 1850 in Fall 2006, the primary emphasis will be on academic quality, increasing both student selectivity and retention, as well as the extra- and co-curricular undergraduate student experience.
The strategy for the graduate and adult programs will emphasize quality and selectivity and will include more aggressive growth in the new programs and enrollment to meet the continued demand for master's degree certifications. The size of the graduate and adult degree completion programs will increase from 1455 students in Fall 2006 to approximate the size of the traditional undergraduate program by 2020.
An increased percentage of CLU courses will be taught by full-time faculty. Levels of faculty compensation, including opportunities for housing, will be comparable to comparison groups of educational institutions. The Schools will be more fully engaged with their respective professional communities, and will have earned reputations of distinction in targeted program areas. The College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Business will be managed as strategic business units. The University will ensure that all undergraduate and graduate programs are represented in the faculty governance system.
The University will continue to pursue the southwest region as a major market, making strides to expand diversity among its students. As a university of distinction, CLU will expand its primary recruiting area beyond the southwestern region for traditional undergraduate students. The University will develop a more substantial number of international institutional partnerships to create additional study abroad opportunities for its undergraduate students.
The market area for the traditionally-delivered graduate and degree completion programs will continue to be primarily the Southern California region. Selectively, new markets will be developed for CLU's graduate and professional programs using alternative delivery strategies including distance learning and regional centers.
Funding for improvements in the traditional undergraduate program will have to come from a larger endowment and from the greater net tuition revenue provided by reduced discount rates. During this period of growth in traditional undergraduate enrollment, student selectivity will increase and the undergraduate discount rate will decline. Improvements of quality and scale in the graduate and adult programs will be achieved through improved marketing, sensitivity to changing educational and professional need, reinvestment of net revenues, diversified delivery methods, and endowment growth.
Fundraising will focus both on endowment (for faculty positions, student scholarships, academic centers, faculty and student research, international programs, building maintenance and renewal) and on bricks and mortar (to remediate significant gaps and accommodate growth in student enrollment). Additional science facilities, a performing arts center, another classroom and faculty office building, a new residence hall, and a number of building renovations will be required.
In order to implement the new Strategic Plan "Dedicated to Mission" California Lutheran University will recruit and retain a distinguished professional staff and continually improve its administrative systems in support of faculty and students alike. The University's administration and staff will be dedicated to the highest standards of service and will be compensated equitably. The University will also develop an ever larger community of volunteer supporters who will perpetuate the work of the University and enable constant innovation and renewal.
