Dear members of the College of Arts and Sciences community,
I am pleased to share the Strategic Plan for the College of Arts and Sciences. The plan will focus our work and guide our investment for the next four academic years. With your help, the college will come to exemplify what the liberal arts can mean at a twenty-first century land-grant university, distinguishing us from our peers and putting us at the center of national conversations about the promise of higher education.
The College of Arts and Sciences, in its current form since 2010, is at the academic heart of the university. Our faculty collaborate with colleagues from every other college—for example, on research that advances our understanding of climate change, the social determinants of health, and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, and on creative work that enriches our lives, challenges our assumptions, and helps us to imagine alternative futures. We teach almost every undergraduate and are home to roughly 20,000 students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees. And the reputation of our departments and programs, including several ranked in the top 20 nationally, contributes substantially to the overall reputation of the university.
The college serves the State of Ohio on each of our campuses, helping to meet the needs of our urban and rural communities and preparing today’s and tomorrow’s workforces. We are committed to the university’s mission of “education for citizenship” and to productive partnerships across the State. We train students to think critically; communicate effectively; and navigate linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries. Graduates leave with the competencies and the flexibility to thrive and to lead in varied and rapidly evolving workplaces.
The college has a global reach. We teach more than 30 world languages, offer dozens of global education programs led by ASC faculty, and engage in research and creative work on every continent of the globe. The college is a diverse and inclusive community. We are proud of the varied backgrounds of our faculty, staff, and students, and transformed by the insights those differences bring to our classrooms, laboratories, and performance spaces. And we are committed to being a welcoming, sustaining, and healthy place to learn and to work. The strategic plan will build on our successes. We will strengthen the faculty in core disciplines and support the growth of established and emerging fields that create opportunities for research and creative distinction. We will expand significantly and formally recognize the engagement work undertaken by our academic units. We will multiply extraordinary experiences for students, in and outside the classroom, and ensure all have access to them. We will create new opportunities for professional development for the staff who enable every aspect of the college’s mission. Finally, we will steward our resources wisely and pursue new sources of revenue that will enable the college to thrive.
This strategic plan is fully aligned with the provost’s Academic Plan. It is also informed by conversations with faculty, staff, students, and alumni that took place over the past twelve months. Those occurred in forums with the college’s chairs and directors; visits to many of our 38 academic units; meetings with advisory boards and committees; and town halls for faculty, staff, and graduate students. A draft plan was shared with the college community in Spring 2023. The final plan has been reviewed and revised by the members of the Dean’s Council: the divisional deans, associate deans, and senior directors who will have primary responsibility for achieving its goals. Beginning this fall, we will develop and share annual implementation plans that set concrete goals for the academic year ahead. The strategic plan will and should be a living document that responds to new opportunities and challenges. I am excited about the path it lays out for us and look forward to the collaborations that will move us forward.
Warmly,
David Horn
Dean