CHAPTER 5: Accomplishment of Purposes

Major Challenges

• Research support. A flourishing research enterprise is placing pressures on the campus to increase institutional support for research activity, such as matching support for grant applications, administrative support of the grant application process, and accounting support of grant administration.
• Space constraints. Demands for additional and high-quality space continue to exceed campus capacity in spite of recent additions and renovations. For example, some research projects have been located off campus, resulting in decreased access and interaction with students.
• Assessment enhancement. Assessment of student learning varies considerably among campus academic units, resulting in the loss of opportunities to plan effectively in some areas.
• Outreach enhancements. In the process of developing a focus for its outreach efforts, the institution is finding that coordination of outreach interests, requests, and activities is challenging and time-consuming. Also, while communities appreciate the campus’s outreach contributions, full recognition has not occurred at the state level. Internally, recognition and rewards for faculty service efforts generally lag behind that for other areas.