College of the Arts Strategic Plan

Ensure students in the College of the Arts are equipped to thrive, belong, graduate and grow to become engaged alumni and lifelong learners committed to a life of impact.

AY 2023-24

Retention and Graduation

• Update COTA presentation for DKS to include academic success strategies and promote unique opportunities within the COTA.
• Help students interact with their academic community and develop successful academic behaviors and responsibilities. 
• Initiate comprehensive reviews of retention data for all academic programs in the COTA. 

Student Support and Sense of Belonging

• Continue to communicate with students about mental health resources. 
• Educate faculty/staff on appropriate support for student mental health, provide training. 
• Refine scholarship process and provide oversight and management at the school and college levels. 
• Support faculty in successfully meeting SAS accommodations for qualified students through partnerships with CTL and supplemental training. 
• Examine and refine the process and guidelines for accessing COTA student emergency funding. 
• Identify, disseminate and create more accessibility resources for students, faculty and staff. 

Curricular Development

• Educate COTA community about the meaning and impact of KSU’s classification as an “access institution” and curricular implications.
• Establish “program completion” as the main goal of the COTA.
• Review COTA curricula/schedules for potential barriers to student success. 

Recruitment

• Expand Art Without Limits to a multi-disciplinary, high-profile event; engage local high school students to impact recruitment and pipeline building. 
• Create a college-level recruitment plan and budget. 
• Add student ambassadors to assist with tours and recruitment events.

Alumni Engagement

• Create accurate contact lists for alumni from each school to facilitate future communication.
• Create a system for identifying and sharing alumni successes.

AY 2024-25

Retention and Graduation     

• Develop and implement strategies to improve student retention and completion rates, set goals for programmatic improvements on these metrics.

Student Support

• Expand opportunities to create a sense of student belonging, including campus engagement and employment. 
• Provide information and support to faculty/staff to allow for greater understanding and success in supporting accessibility to all students. 

Recruitment

• Initiate campus partnerships to enhance/expand Art Without Limits, increase participation of KSU students and local high schools.
• Improve marketing and communication about the experiences of current students.
• Deploy College-level recruitment plan, expand support for on-campus events for prospective students. 

Curricular Development

• Collaborate on revitalizing curricula with a focus on student success and completion, along with disciplinary best practices. 
• Enhance career-based education in classes, events and the COTA web site. 

Alumni Engagement

• Develop systematic methods of communicating with COTA alumni.
• Expand alumni outreach: revisit Alumni Awards program, explore the option of engaging alumni as career models.
• Create deliberate mechanisms for engaging alumni with current students and programs.

Create and support a diverse learning environment through the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body, faculty and staff. Represent diversity of perspective and art in coursework, presentations, performances and exhibitions.

AY 2023-24

Creating the Environment

• Raise the level and quality of IDEAS training offered by the university and the College of the Arts.
• Engage nationally recognized facilitators and organizations related to DEIA to engage our community in dialogue that advances this goal and enhances our community. 
• Increase community and belonging within the College of the Arts through continued support of the BIPOC Safe Space, refined mentorship programs and facilitating the mingling of student groups.

Representation

• Create a more inclusive web site by highlighting stories of all students, faculty and staff. 
• Expand our student experience by encouraging faculty to teach beyond the Western Canon in all disciplines and programing works and exhibitions by traditionally underrepresented populations and entities.

Increasing Diversity of Faculty, Staff and Students

• Create and implement educational interactions for search committees, to ensure best practice in conducting searches without bias and increasing diversity within our community. 
• Identify barriers to success for faculty, staff and students from traditionally underrepresented populations. 

AY 2024-25

Creating the Environment

• Continue to expand on IDEAS training, measure outcomes and progress through website analytics, evaluations of instructional materials, audience feedback and community surveys.
• Measure impact and outcomes of community and belonging initiatives to adjust and improve efforts in this area. 

Representation

• Build inclusivity on college web site through imagery, storytelling and faculty/student/alumni highlights. 
• Track metrics on inclusivity in public exhibits, presentations and performances to ensure appropriate representation within our community. 

Increasing Diversity of Faculty, Staff and Students

• Refine educational interactions for search committees, to improve on best practice in conducting searches without bias and increasing diversity within our community. 
• Create and implement specific strategies to support faculty, staff and students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds and improve retention rates.

Bolster idea generation, innovation and national distinction through investment in top-tier teaching, research and creative activities, and co-curricular artistic programs.

AY 2023-24

Idea Generation and Innovation

• Improve career preparation and future career outcomes for students by supporting and highlighting student research/creative activity, increasing student submissions for national/international competitions and other events, and expanding partnerships/internships with industry partners and alumni. 
• Lead conversations, informed by data, on opportunities for innovative curricular development.

National Distinction

• Increase engagement with local and global communities by broadening the scope of the College of the Arts viewbook; focus on sharing student/faculty research and creative activity, showcase successes of the schools/museum. 
• Transform our College of the Arts websites to highlight the unique aspects of the college, sharing specific information about each program and easy to navigate stories that feature national and international achievement and recognition. 
• Evaluate current marketing expenditures. 
• Gather web site stats from all schools and the museum to use as foundational data and inform future work. 
• Evaluate current use of social media, identify models for best practice. 

Research and Creative Activity

• Increase the research/creative activity profile of the College of the Arts through incentivized collaboration, funding to support faculty research/creative activity and resources to disseminate the work of students and faculty. 
• Increase the number of full professors across the College of the Arts by providing support for mid-career faculty research/creative activity and improved faculty retention and mentorship.      

Co-Curricular Artistic Programs

• Elevate the national reputation of the College of the Arts by promoting and expanding new interdisciplinary programs, growing curricular programs (minors and certificates) that appeal a broad range of students and facilitating unique artistic collaborations. 

AY 24-25

Idea Generation and Innovation

• Provide focused support for student career preparation and improved outcomes, along with increased resources for student opportunities for supplemental education/professional development, internships and industry partnerships.
• Advance curricular proposals that position the College of the Arts to meet the needs and match the interests of future students.

National Distinction

• Expand the reach of college marketing materials, as indicated by the geographic scope of individual programs.
• Increase, improve and utilize the body of visual imagery and videography for College of the Arts marketing materials, web sites and social media. 
• Extend the reach of the college’s presence both online and on social media through a deliberate and strategic plan aligned to the unique position of each program.
• Create a year-long plan to test and evaluate results of marketing plans for major events across the COTA, work to drive attendance and engagement. 

Research and Creative Activity

• Continue to increase the College of the Arts productivity in research/creative activity through sustained funding, support in identifying and attaining both internal and external funding and the strategic dissemination of this work. 
• Increase the number of full professors across the College of the Arts by providing support for mid-career faculty research/creative activity and improved faculty retention and mentorship. 

Co-Curricular Artistic Programs

• Streamline existing curricular programs to encourage broader student participation (particularly minors and certificates), propose new programs that capitalize on the unique strengths of the College of the Arts.

Leverage College of the Arts resources and relationships to positively impact the culture and prosperity of the City of Kent, Northeast Ohio and the State.

AY 2023-24

Leveraging Resources

• Facilitate communication among arts faculty and staff across the Kent and regional campuses to identify common goals and opportunities. 
• Expand Art Without Limits to encompass all disciplines in the COTA and incorporate a recruitment aspect by engaging students from local high schools. 

Cultural Impact

• Identify current audience sectors and survey their level of engagement.
• Update website to include stories of impact and to present a cohesive narrative of the college’s research, economic impact and educational value.
• Create an inventory of existing school and community partnerships, then evaluate relationships to determine viability. Identify potential new partners. 

Building Relationships

• Identify new targets to engage across multiple COTA programs. 
• Continue stewardship with donors, sponsors, and grant funders, identify vehicles for gathering perceptions of lead donors, sponsors and grant funders.

AY 2024-25

Leveraging Resources

• Continue to increase the impact of Art Without Limits, with a goal of including at least 500 high school students. Create a spring semester all-college recruitment event as a follow up. 

Cultural Impact

• Identify several pilots to test cross system (Kent and regional campus) partnerships (e.g., summer programs for middle and high school students). 
• Participate in Ohio Arts Council legislative advocacy, meet with OAC to gather data on legislative activity in our region. 

Building Relationships

• Phase out existing school and community partnerships, as appropriate, to prioritize the support of thriving partnerships and implementing new opportunities aligned to the mission of the COTA. 
• Develop and implement survey tool to gather perceptions of lead donors, sponsors and grant funders.

Leverage, expand, and elevate the College of the Art’s global relationships, international engagement and integration of global perspectives.

AY 2023-24

Global Relationships

• Create high-impact college-led initiatives to support faculty in international research and creative activity.
• Provide dedicated college liaison support for global initiatives. 
• Incentivize research and creative activity and teaching with international impact through funding and workload assignments. 

International Engagement

• Leverage collaboration and coordination of all schools and the museum to foster education abroad opportunities. 
• Streamline information sharing about study abroad resources within the COTA. 
• Transform student opportunities by expanding study away programs and centralizing student support for these programs. 

Integration of Global Perspectives

• Create opportunities, connections and support for international students within the COTA. 
• Foster a welcoming environment in the COTA on a global scale.

AY 2024-25

Global Relationships

• Expand college support for international research and creative activity.
• Establish a college fund (endowment) to support international research/creative activity experiences for faculty and students.
• Expand research and creative activity and teaching with international impact through funding and workload assignments. 

International Engagement

• Establish college-wide international study tour experiences. 
• Build support for study-away programs for all schools within the college, start to identify donors to provide funding for students with financial need. 

Integration of Global Perspectives

• Develop scholar exchange programs across the COTA.
• Leverage connections to invite international scholars/critics to Kent State.

Ensure a culture of continuous improvement of infrastructure and the careful and responsible management of college resources.

AY 2023-24

Infrastructure and System Development

• Design and implement a formal process for requesting faculty hires.
• Create an environment where good stewardship is the standard and resources are deployed strategically. 
• Establish staff positions in philanthropy and alumni engagement, create plans to expand efforts in these areas. 
• Conduct an audit of faculty workload assignments.
• Conduct an audit of graduate assistantships and workload assignments; develop workload policies.
• Provide professional development funding and support for staff.

Resource Management

• Continue research on financial resources and applications, to ensure financial managers are equipped to manage resources.
• Complete an accurate scholarship database and formal process for awarding and tracking scholarships throughout the COTA. 
• Research all foundation funds, align use with intent of the gift, ensure all available resources are consistently deployed. 
• Improve budgeting process to allow for transparency and accountability throughout the COTA. 
• Reduce numbers of low-enrolled courses throughout all programs.
• Work towards collaboration in scheduling of facilities and events and shared resources whenever possible. 

Revenue Growth

• Review all advisory boards, develop plans for future engagement in this area. 
• Increase awareness of DPAE efforts, build partnerships for future success. 
• Conduct an audit of existing grant activities in the COTA. 
• Review all course and program fees; align with expenses to grow revenue. 
• Increase unrestricted scholarships for all programs. 

AY 2024-25

Infrastructure and System Development

• Assign faculty workload for maximum benefit to the school and college. 
• Build structures to support graduate assistants and provide professional development and mentorship. 
• Expand professional development for staff to include workshops and additional funding. 

Resource Management

• Analyze resource distribution throughout the COTA, aligning resources strategically for future success. 
• Increase oversight of spending throughout the COTA, track and forecast consistently for greater accountability and sustainability. 
• Refine scholarship process, develop plans for strategic deployment of these resources. 
• Reduce numbers of low-enrolled courses throughout all programs. 
• Establish collaborative scheduling/centralized calendaring/strategic use of facilities to the benefit of the whole college. 

Revenue Growth

• Expand efforts in community and alumni engagement; build pipelines to future support. 
• Identify and engage new philanthropic prospects. 
• Determine viability of existing/new advisory boards: develop clear charges for each board, analyze membership, fill openings strategically. 
• Expand COTA grant opportunities through research, support, connections with university personnel. 
• Increase unrestricted scholarships for all programs.