What will MSU-Bozeman be like in five years?

Montana State University-Bozeman Vision Statement:

Montana State University will be the university of choice for those seeking a student-centered learning environment distinguished by innovation and discovery in a Rocky Mountain setting.

Montana State University-Bozeman Mission Statement:

The mission of Montana State University is:

• To provide a challenging and richly diverse learning environment in which the entire university community is fully engaged in supporting student success.
• To provide an environment that promotes the exploration, discovery, and dissemination of new knowledge.
• To provide a collegial environment for faculty and students in which discovery and learning are closely integrated and highly valued.
• To serve the people and communities of Montana by sharing our expertise and collaborating with others to improve the lives and prosperity of Montanans.

In accomplishing our mission, we remain committed to the wise stewardship of resources through meaningful assessment and public accountability.

Montana State University-Bozeman Five Year Outlook:

Montana State University Bozeman is a geographically dispersed institution that provides programs in every county and reservation in Montana. The faculty, staff, and students in the MSU-Bozeman community have developed a description of what the institution will be like in five years. The description will become the outline of a strategic plan that is based on the Universityis Vision and Mission Statements (developed and adopted in late 2001), campus discussions led by President Gamble, the work of the University Planning, Budget, and Analysis Committee (UPBAC), the work of the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC), and the thinking of campus faculty, staff, and administrators.

The description is divided into six different but often overlapping areas: 1) Student Body, 2) Faculty and Staff, 3) Curriculum, 4) Research and Creativity, 5) Partnerships and Outreach, and 6) Physical, Technical, and Financial Infrastructure. In places, the description includes specific numerical goals. In other places changes to or extensions of current policies and practices are indicated. The description is not all encompassing, but it does represent a fairly general, comprehensive view of what a successful Bozeman campus will look like five years from now.

1. MSU-Bozeman will enroll approximately 13,000 headcount students. The current enrollment is approximately 12,150.
2. Approximately one-third of these students will be nonresidents, slightly higher than the current 31% nonresident rate (counting Western Undergraduate Exchange and international students).
3. We will increase graduate enrollment to approximately 14% of the student body (1,800 students) from 11% (1,385).
4. The student body will be more diverse than it is today. For example, the number of Native American students enrolled will increase by 50% from 223 to 335.
5. The number of international students will increase from 300 to 500 (67%).
6. Incoming freshmen will be better prepared than they are today. The number of freshmen with 3.60 and higher high school GPAs will increase by 10% from 770 to 850. The percentage of Montana University System Honors Scholarship recipients who choose MSU-Bozeman will increase from 45% to 55%.
7. The Fall-to-Fall retention rate of our incoming freshmen students will increase from 70.3% to 74%, which will ultimately lead to an increase in graduation rates.

1. MSU-Bozeman will have a strong sense of campus community and improve its competitive status as an employer, evidenced by lower turnover rates in staff positions.
2. MSU-Bozeman will offer competitive faculty and staff compensation packages. MSU-Bozeman will increase faculty salaries at a rate that narrows the gap that exists between MSU-Bozeman salaries and the averages at competing institutions. Faculty and administrative salaries are currently at 78% and 80% respectively of the national average for similar institutions. Staff salary levels need to be benchmarked against local and regional averages, and appropriate goals will be set.
3. There will be an increase in the number of named professorships from 4 to 10 and in the number of endowed chairs from 2 to 4.
4. Faculty and staff will have increased access to professional development programs. For faculty this will include sabbaticals, BEST awards, and short professional leaves. About ten percent of eligible faculty currently participate in one of these programs. We plan to double that participation to 20%. The University also will have implemented a staff training and development program for the purposes of improving the quality of support services, providing career growth opportunities, and improving employee recruitment and retention.
5. As the University experiences growth in its enrollment, research FTE, amount of facilities, and volume of advanced technology applications, there will be a corresponding level of growth in tenure track faculty and professional/staff positions that provide all essential support services. There will be approximately 30 new tenure track positions and 60 new professional and staff positions.

1. MSU-Bozeman will be nationally recognized as a leader in the integration of learning and discovery at the undergraduate level.
2. MSU-Bozeman will have graduate programs that are nationally recognized for research and teaching excellence.
3. MSU-Bozeman will be recognized for its commitment to the teacher-scholar model in which students are taught by distinguished faculty even in the first two years. These distinguished faculty will continue to teach at least 50% of the lower division student credit hours (which is 110% of the average taught by faculty at other research institutions nationally).
4. Academic offerings will be increasingly interdisciplinary. Fifty percent or more of all new courses, options, and degree programs will have an interdisciplinary basis. Students will have increasing opportunities to participate in internships and international experiences (150 to 200 students currently participate).
5. All undergraduates will participate in an undergraduate research or creative experience course, and all new freshmen will participate in First Year Seminars (55% of 2002-03 freshmen participated in a First Year Seminar).
6. There will be a vibrant (and financially sustainable) series of evening, weekend, distance, and Summer Session course offerings for MSU-Bozemanis regular student body and for others including place-bound citizens of Montana.
7. MSU-Bozeman will maintain currency in informational technologies that support studentcentered learning and the rapidly evolving educational needs of all MSU students, whether on or off campus.

1. We will have grants and contracts activity in excess of $130 million, up from just over $82 million in FY 2003.
2. We will continue to grow a powerful research/creativity enterprise that spans the range of basic, applied, developmental and commercialized research. MSU-Bozeman will increase its technology transfer enterprise and through these efforts enhance the Montana economy. MSU-Bozeman will double the cumulative number of invention disclosures (from 12 to 24), patents issued (from 4 to 8), and technologies licensed (from 45 to 90). We will continue to have the majority of our licenses with Montana companies.
3. We will double the number of national labs or research centers on campus from one to two.
4. There will be a demonstrable increase in the involvement of graduate and undergraduate students in grants and contracts activity.

1. The four campus MSU family will be more integrated in its array of program offerings, research, outreach, and business services.
2. The College of Technology n Great Falls will have a stronger presence on the Bozeman campus in order to better serve studentsi needs for entry level postsecondary course work and the business communityis vocational employment and training needs. (The COTnGreat Falls is currently generating about 16 FTE on the Bozeman campus and provides additional coursework at its downtown campus.)
3. We will have additional strategic partnerships with the K-12 system and with campuses and other organizations outside the MSU system that will foster additional collaborative learning experiences for students.
4. We will double the number of strategic partnerships with local and state businesses from the current 150+ collaborations with Montana companies. Such partnerships will include sponsored research agreements, subcontracts to companies, Small Business Innovation Research awards and Small Business Technology Transfer awards, companies assisted by MSU-Bozeman, testing agreements, and intellectual property agreements.
5. MSU-Bozeman faculty and staff will directly contribute to outreach by disseminating the positive outcomes of the facultyis innovation in research and instruction.
6. The MSU County Extension offices will serve as a portal to and from the entire University.
7. Montana State University will enhance its partnership with agriculture producer organizations, producers and agricultural communities to ensure collaborative, successful efforts to promote and protect the interests of Montana agriculture.
8. MSU-Bozeman will increase its service and development assistance to state, local, and nonprofit agencies through increased University based partnerships with these entities.
9. We communicate with approximately 67,400 alumni. We will have 25% of these alumni actively engaged in the accomplishment of this five-year outlook.

1. MSU-Bozeman will have well developed and integrated processes for capital and land use planning that support and complement the Universityis Mission and 5-Year Vision; are coordinated with related academic planning; and, are informed by the planning of surrounding communities or other agencies, as appropriate.
2. MSU-Bozeman will have enhanced the natural beauty, sustainability, and functional character of the campus in ways that improve the learning and teaching environment. We will have better use of space and information technology for teaching and learning, research, and student services. Classroom utilization will increase from 88% of the national standard to 100% of that standard.
3. Research space will grow from the current 203,000 square feet to approximately 300,000 square feet. New and renovated spaces, utilizing state, private and Facilities and Administrative (F & A) funds, will be designed to meet the needs of collaborative learning and discovery, with special attention paid to the integration of students in research and creative activities.
4. MSU-Bozeman will have reduced the current cost value of its backlog of deferred maintenance (Facility Condition Inventory Priorities #1 & 2) from 10 percent of Current Building Replacement Value (CRV) to 9 percent of CRV.
5. MSU-Bozeman will have implemented a business-continuity plan for its primary administrative information systems, enabling critical business processes to occur in the event of a major disaster; and will have extended gigabit telecommunication capability to the desktops, classrooms, and laboratories in 40 percent (12 of 30) of the primary academic and research buildings on the main campus.
6. MSU-Bozeman will have implemented a financial management model including a process for tuition management and related tools, which will help to identify and produce the resources required to sustain the Universityis continued growth and strategic investments.
7. The MSU Foundation will have raised its endowment to $75 million and have begun a $100 million campaign that focuses on funds for scholarships, endowed chairs, and other instructional goals. The number of alumni donors will increase from 8,000 to 12,000 (50%). The median gift from this group of donors will increase from $50 to $75 (50%).

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 7/18/2006