University of South Alabama Strategic Plan
January 2022 through December 2027
Mission: The University of South Alabama, with a global reach and special focus on the Gulf Coast, strives to make a difference in the lives of those it serves through promoting discovery, health and learning.
Core Values: The University of South Alabama affirms the following core values as essential to the accomplishment of its mission:
- Diversity and a Global Perspective
- A Pursuit of Excellence
- Freedom in the Pursuit of Knowledge
- Integrity
- Transparency and Participation in Decision-Making
Vision: The University of South Alabama will be a leading comprehensive public university internationally recognized for educational, research and healthcare excellence as well as for its positive intellectual, cultural and economic impact on those it serves.
Student Access and Success: South commits to creating multiple pathways and partnerships that support admission of students from increasingly diverse backgrounds. South provides access to the tools and resources for a diverse student body to be academically and personally successful at USA and also prepares them to achieve their postgraduate educational and professional ambitions.
- Strategically increase enrollment over the next five years.
- Increase targeted recruitment efforts for special populations of students including students in the Gulf Coast region, adult learners, veterans, international students, dual-enrollment students, children of alumni and graduate students.
- Enhance continuing education opportunities to increase access and strengthen partnerships with business, industry and the community to meet the demand for continuing education.
- Develop high impact and high demand programs, leveraging our institutional strengths.
- Increase retention rates.
- Increase graduation rates.
- Reduce equity gaps among retention and graduation rates.
- Enhance preparation of all students in oral communication, written communication, and in skills necessary for the workforce.
- Provide faculty and staff professional development and support to enable them to meet the needs of all learners, including the ability to provide high levels of student support and engagement in academic settings.
- Increase the implementation of high-impact practices that support student engagement
and success.
- Provide all students with the opportunity to engage with role models or mentors with whom they identify.
- Provide all undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to connect with nonacademic activities to develop personally and/or as a leader.
- Increase the number and diversity of quality online and hybrid course offerings and programs.
- Strive to make campus an environment where students value the student services and student life experience.
Graduate Education: Graduate students and faculty are central to achieving both the educational and research components of our mission, to helping our community find solutions to its most pressing problems and to improving economic and social outcomes in our region.
- Ensure graduate students have meaningful engagement in research, clinical and/or other professional opportunities.
- Strategically maximize our strengths in the development of graduate programs.
- Recognize excellence in faculty research and practice as integral and inseparable from the success of graduate programs and graduate students.
Research, Discovery and Creative Works: The University of South Alabama faculty, staff and students conduct internationally recognized research and scholarship to create new knowledge and medical advancements, spur economic development, help our region find solutions to its challenges and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
- Recognize and support excellence in faculty research and scholarship with emphasis on the structural supports necessary to achieve higher levels of national recognition.
- Support the development of Centers of Excellence, including a focus on interdisciplinary and problem-based research, that strengthens our research capacity in areas critical to national and regional needs.
- Increase partnerships and collaborations with governmental agencies, community colleges, universities, industries and not-for-profit entities.
University Community Engagement: The University of South Alabama commits to active community engagement and valuing community impact as fundamental to the success of all University stakeholders.
- Ensure that every student’s education includes substantive engagement through collaborative community partnerships and with faculty guidance, to include internships, clinical placements, research experiences and/or other experiential learning (e.g., study abroad and service learning).
- Ensure that the University strategically engages with business, governmental, healthcare
and civic partners to identify and address critical challenges.
- Engage with business and industry to be responsive to the workforce development needs in the broader community.
- Monitor and evaluate the University’s impact on the local and statewide economy.
- Leverage the University’s strengths and talents to support the successful development and implementation of local, regional and state economic development and social impact initiatives.
- Engage our civic partners in the Gulf Coast region to identify, prioritize and address issues impacting the educational and health outcomes of our local community.
Excellence in Healthcare: As the only academic medical center along the upper Gulf Coast, USA Health and the University of South Alabama provides excellent healthcare through its hospitals and clinics, continuous research and technological advancements, and robust interprofessional and interdisciplinary partnerships.
- Ensure excellent fiscal management and financial health of the USA Health System.
- Ensure high satisfaction ratings among patients.
- Ensure the safety of patients in our care.