The Board of Trustees has endorsed a comprehensive strategic plan designed to strengthen the education offered at Union and enhance the College's competitive standing among America's leading institutions of higher learning.
The effort–called The Plan for Union– identifies the people, programs, and resources the College needs to reaffirm its position as one of the country's premier liberal arts colleges. At its heart, The Plan for Union is designed to make sure that the College takes every opportunity to give its students the knowledge, skills, confidence, and experience they will need to make their mark in the world.
Announcing the trustees' action, David B. Chapnick '59, chairman of the board, said, “The history of Union has been marked by bold and innovative decisions which enhanced education at the College, from the introduction of romance languages and engineering, to the establishment and encouragement of Greek societies, to the admission of women. I am confident that The Plan for Union will be a transforming event in the history of the College.”
President Roger Hull said, “We are investing our resources in the essential elements that have served this College well for more than 200 years — an exceptionally talented faculty and student body, first-rate facilities and educational resources, and an enriching co-curricular experience.” The plan, he said, “represents a careful balance of a respect for Union tradition and a recognition that change — both incremental and fundamental — is necessary.”
The plan calls for investments in a number of areas:
Faculty
The plan will enable the College to recruit talented new faculty members, retain them in the face of growing competition from other institutions, and support them at a level that will permit them to do their best creative work.
Noting that the “fundamental limitation to what we can accomplish is the time, expertise, and creative activity of the faculty,” the plan calls for adding twenty permanent faculty over the next five years; the resulting student-faculty ratio of 10:1 would be one of the best in the country. The plan says the change will mean enriched course offerings, more small classes and individual work with faculty, and more opportunities for innovative teaching initiatives and research.
Students
The plan will enhance the College's ability to attract and support bright, energetic, and committed students of all backgrounds and nurture in them their intellectual gifts and the qualities of leadership that will carry over into their later lives.
Specifically, the Union Scholars Program, which has been successful in attracting and retaining excellent students, will be improved; a second honors program will be started; and a competitive scholarship program based on merit will be developed to attract an increased number of academically-talented students. The College will continue its commitment to making a Union education possible for qualified students with demonstrated financial need.
Academic Programs
Under the plan, the College will strengthen and expand programs that already play a key role in the life of the College, including undergraduate research, international study, civic service, and the arts.
Internships and student research opportunities will be increased, opportunities to present the results of research will be expanded, a new term abroad will be added each year for five years (Union now has programs in twenty-eight countries), electronic capabilities for interacting with institutions around the world will be provided, courses will be developed that include opportunities for civic involvement, North Colonnade will be renovated to create an expanded arts facility, and the dance program will be expanded.
Technology and Engineering
The College will enhance its longstanding commitment to technology and engineering. A technical literacy standard will be established, net-based learning will be integrated into the curriculum, interdisciplinary courses will be developed within engineering, and the engineering complex will be renovated.
The organizing theme will be “Converging Technologies for a Changing World,” an approach that identifies and emphasizes those areas where electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering intersect with each other and with physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and economics. Students will be introduced to state-of-the-art converging concepts; bioinformatics, mechatronics, nanotechnology, photonics, digital communications, and intelligent systems are examples of how technologies are coming together to create new products and solve new problems.
Social and Residential Life
The plan calls for a number of improvements in students' social and residential life, including the establishment of a House System that will contribute intellectual, cultural, and social events to the campus (see separate article for details).
Dean of the Faculty Christina Sorum said the establishment of the House System “is the single most important academic initiative we will undertake in this plan. The underlying premise of a quality liberal arts college is that the living and learning environments are inseparable. This plan tightens the link between the academic and social life of the College.”
In addition to the House System, all residential facilities will be improved, the West College and Reamer Campus Center dining facilities will be renovated and expanded, and social spaces for concerts and parties will be created.
Other Programs and Facilities
The student advising and registration system will be improved, Becker Hall will become a unified advising center, an exchange will be developed with a historically black institution and an alliance will be formed with an urban university, and the library's acquisitions budget — which includes purchases of books, microfilm, periodicals, and electronic resources — will be increased. In athletics, significant investments will be made in intercollegiate, intramural, and fitness facilities, including the expansion or replacement of Memorial Field House and the renovation or replacement of Achilles Rink.
The total cost to implement the plan is estimated at $220 million.