This fall, significant work has taken place with our Strategic Plan and preparations for the spring 2022 semester. Dr. Cureton was able to provide an overall update on the plan to the Board of Trustees this week. I'd like to highlight the objectives and deliverables for each of the projects that are a part of the Grow Theme. At the end of each initiative is a link to see more information about what work has taken place this fall and what the planned next steps in the spring will be. Your prayers for this important work and for the teams involved is appreciated.
Academic Programs
Create a compelling program portfolio that reflects institutional mission and achieves strategic enrollment growth.
Strategically developing a compelling program portfolio is critical for institutional growth that is:
Mission centric/based•Relevant and market driven/informed(clear metrics)
Viable and sustainable (favorable margin)
Distinctive (competitive advantage)
Because of the challenge of creating a strategic program portfolio, we must have a process to assess program opportunities that
Is supported by the university
Is outcomes based
Includes offices from across the institution
Provides recommendations on current or future programs to launch, grow, maintain, and sunset
Is efficient and effective
Conducts a holistic analysis to understand true impact on mission and financial viability, current and future
Combines growth and elimination processes around programs to be effective
A model for appropriate cross-venue flexible student registrationfor existing courses and modalities.
A model for courses and modalities that are available to students in multiple venues/programs by design.
A model for appropriate use of emerging modalities, including the following:
Hyflex/Multimodal: one course section with multiple modalities (face-to-face, virtual synchronous, and virtual asynchronous) available.Students can choose their preferred modality each week.
Multivenue: a course offering that is intentionally designed to be offered to students across multiple venues/student populations (e.g., Trad, AU, and DE).
Multivenue Dual Degree: a “multivenue” (see above) course offering that also includes a cross-listed graduate level option.
Trad Online: a “Trad” venue course offering that is 100% virtual.
A model for universal non-degree student engagement with Northwestern.
As we approach the end of the semester, you may have questions about preparing for and administering final exams. Please review the communication sent earlier this week in regards to support available for you in delivering and for students in completing final exams.
Commencement Attendance
Attendees to commencement on Friday, December 17 (i.e., full-time faculty, academic administrators, and others who have volunteered to attend) can participate either in person or virtually. You are encouraged to attend this important academic event in person if you are comfortable doing so; face coverings are encouraged, and there will be enough reserved seating so attendees may choose to space themselves every other seat. For those who prefer to attend virtually, we are pleased to be able to offer this option for you. The virtual livestream will be available through this link.
If you choose to participate in person, please accept the invitation sent by Academic Affairs by 4 p.m., Tuesday, December 7, to allow enough time for our teams to finalize preparations for the event. Additional details can be found on the Fall Commencement Planning web page. We look forward to celebrating the success of our students together!
Submitting Final Grades
As you are preparing for the upcoming break, please be aware of the deadline for submitting final grades. As the communication from the Registrar's Office stated, Monday, December 27th, at 10:30 PM is the deadline for submitting Quad 2 and Full Semester grades. Thank you for ensuring grades are submitting prior to this deadline.
Share Your Thoughts
Moving through the end of the semester can be a time of joy, anticipation, stress, and more. For this week's feedback, I'd love to hear how you're feeling as we approach the end of the semester. Please usethis anonymous form(feel free to include your name if you'd like) to share your thoughts. Grateful to be on this journey together with you Colleagues!