APPENDIX M-1
Approved by the RCB Faculty Spring 1998.
Georgia State University
J. Mack Robinson College of Business
Strategic Plan
I. Mission -- The J. Mack Robinson College of Business (RCB) is committed to academic excellence through advancing the creation and dissemination of knowledge in business and management. Moreover, the College seeks to prepare its students for the practice of management with the knowledge and skills needed to remain effective in a global, culturally diverse and technologically advanced world that is characterized by rapid change and complex interdependencies. As an academic unit of Georgia State University, the RCB seeks to add value to private, public and not-for-profit organizations through excellence in its research, education and outreach programs. The College enjoys a location that is distinctive among business schools and is committed to taking full advantage of its proximity to multinational corporations, entrepreneurial enterprises, federal, state and city agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.
II. Core Strategy and Priorities for Continuous Improvement: 1998-2003 -- The College's core strategy is to continue to build on the strength of its graduate programs, while maintaining strong and distinctive offerings at the undergraduate level.
Continuous improvement in the following areas is important to the execution of the College's strategy:
The RCB will also continue its efforts to leverage the potential of international linkages by developing strategic alliances that: 1) facilitate faculty research on global issues, 2) further the internationalization of the curricula, 3) provide the means for it to attract, develop, and maintain an internationally diverse, highly talented, languages-proficient, and culturally sensitive student body, and 4) enable it to capitalize on its proximity to international businesses and multinational corporations in Atlanta and the southeast region.
By focusing its efforts, the College seeks to be recognized by both business and academic communities internationally as one of the top business schools in an urban research university.
III. Faculty -- One of the key strengths of the College is its faculty, with its demonstrated commitment to research, teaching and service. The College strives to strengthen its research standing while maintaining its focus and reputation for high quality classroom instruction.
The composition of the RCB faculty is balanced and optimized to accomplish the mission of the College. Each department's faculty is composed of tenure track and non-tenure track members who collectively possess a portfolio of skills that assures the highest level of achievement in the following areas:
Research: scholarship of discovery, integration, application and dissemination
Teaching: instructional quality and professional competence
Service: related to discipline and to institutional mission
We will achieve the distinctiveness that we seek by building on our strengths and developing and maintaining areas of excellence. This requires departments and the College to identify niches where top-tier recognition can be achieved. While scholarly excellence may determine the College's prestige, an essential part of its mission is its commitment to practice, teaching effectiveness and student learning. The College recognizes that "knowledge is acquired through research, through synthesis, through practice, and through teaching" [Boyer, 1990]. We will align resource allocation decisions with the best opportunities to create distinctiveness and academic excellence. We anticipate faculty growth in programs that are significantly impacted by student growth, where the College perceives an important opportunity to introduce an innovative program in a subject area of significance to the business community, and where an initiative is viewed as consistent with the mission of the College.
We expect both tenure track and non-tenure track faculty to be productive throughout their career. We also expect that collegiality will be demonstrated at all levels of interaction. In recognition of the expected level of excellence and the shared aspiration of the faculty to move the College securely into the top-tier of business schools, the College seeks levels of faculty compensation and resource support that are commensurate with these goals.
IV. Scholarship -- Georgia State University expects that all of its tenured and tenure-track faculty will be teacher-scholars and maintain graduate faculty status. Being a teacher-scholar means being dedicated to both student learning and original scholarship. "Surely, scholarship means engaging in original research. But the work of the scholar also means stepping back from one's investigation, looking for connections, building bridges between theory and practice, and communicating one's knowledge effectively to students" [Boyer, 1990], and the professional community. Because of the College's commitment to both master's and doctoral education, there is substantial emphasis across the College on the creation of new knowledge and publications in top-ranked academic and professional journals. Recognizing the complementarily of research and doctoral programs, the College is committed to continuing to increase the quality of its doctoral program. In addition, we expect RCB faculty to communicate to businesses and other external constituencies the latest thinking on practice and theory at the frontier of academic research, and at the same time draw ideas from business practice which address significant issues. The College encourages faculty members to seek externally funded research opportunities in their areas of expertise and to undertake projects of high impact and that have the potential to lead to significant publications. The RCB plans to strengthen the level of administrative support devoted to assisting faculty in their efforts to pursue external grants.
V. Educational Programs -- The RCB is the dominant provider of high-quality, high-relevancy graduate business programs in the metropolitan Atlanta market. We intend for our new educational initiatives and current offerings to maintain market leadership as well as fulfill our mission and create value for the employers of our graduates. Our accessibility to global leaders and businesses that are engaged in international commerce, afforded by our geographic location and increasingly recognized prominence, provides us a competitive advantage over other institutions of higher learning, both locally and nationally. The RCB will develop and deliver educational programs with curricula imbued with global perspectives that earn the College recognition as a world-class business school. Consistent with our objective, we have identified the recruitment of international faculty with country or region specific expertise in high growth economic areas as a top priority. The College will also examine and increase, where appropriate, an emphasis on the human component (including diversity), ethics and values, management of technology and information, environmental issues, and the integration of functional perspectives.
The demand for business and management education outside the U.S. is very high and projected to increase dramatically during the next decade. The RCB is actively experimenting with alternative models of collaboration and educational partnership for the delivery of educational programs outside the U.S.
Because of the size and diversity of its programmatic offerings, the College is well positioned among local competitors to make a distinctive contribution to the internationalization of American-style business and management education, while building the brand name of the College, and facilitating faculty and student growth. The College will concentrate its energies and resources on those high-growth economic areas and strategic initiatives that will help it to achieve world-class status. We will also look for the most appropriate opportunities to use emerging technologies and inter-department, inter-college, inter-campus alliances to enhance our global collaborations and learning.
Further development of the Center for Executive Education will be a major strategic focus of the College during the next five years to advance leading-edge management practices and to enhance its reputation for educating and developing business leaders. The Center's mission is to design and deliver non-degree educational programs that meet the lifelong learning needs of alumni, corporate partners, and an increasingly global management community. In meeting this mission, the Center will broaden its focus from the design and delivery of customized programs to a greater emphasis on high-quality, open- enrollment programs to better serve a broader base of customers. As well, there will be an increased focus on marketing. The Center for Executive Education's objective is to double its revenue base during the next three years.
Development of new programs, significant enhancements in existing programs, offering programs in new locations where there is a demand, and international collaborations are ways in which the College will pursue its strategy and continuous improvement goals in the area of educational programs. Program outcomes will be assessed on an on-going basis and we will use these assessment results to continuously improve the College's programs. We will evaluate major new college-wide programmatic initiatives and existing program offerings for their ability to: 1) contribute to the business community, 2) align with the mission of the University and the College, 3) enhance the international visibility and distinctiveness of the College, 4) leverage the expertise of the faculty and create opportunities for faculty development, 5) meet adequate enrollment and financial targets, 6) foster cross-disciplinary degree and non-degree programs, and 7) enhance the learning and employment opportunities for students. We recognize as a functioning reality of a leading business school's mission the need to introduce new courses and programs in the curriculum to keep pace with changes in the environment in response to new opportunities. The RCB will strive to maintain sufficient flexibility in the curriculum to permit the "fast-tracking" of existing as well as new offerings.
The College plans to build a centralized internship support capability to improve the quality of student support and the effectiveness of its placements efforts. We need this new initiative to maintain and enhance the reputation of the College and our nationally-ranked programs. With the exception of the internship program in the School of Accountancy, the current level of administrative support in this area is non-existent. Internships are normally a part of the placement function and placement effectiveness is an extremely important quality factor for business schools. Students evaluate the placement program before they enroll, and national rankings place a high value on placement success. Employers seeking to hire business graduates also place an emphasis on the reputation of the placement office.
VI. Student Diversity and Size of Student Body -- The College seeks to attract, develop and maintain an internationally diverse, highly talented, languages-proficient, culturally sensitive student body. The RCB expects only moderate growth in the number of students and credit hours over the next five years. The masters programs will grow selectively and the undergraduate program will be constrained by the planned increase in admissions standards. We anticipate that most of the student growth will occur at the north metro campus and the student base on the main campus will remain stable over the next five years. RCB recognizes that human diversity enriches the quality and texture of the educational experience that it provides.
VII. Outreach -- The College will build partnerships and collaborations with educational institutions, government agencies, and businesses worldwide that will enable it to fulfill its mission and enhance its reputation. There currently exists a number of outreach initiatives that foster closer ties with external constituents. These include the activities of the Center for Entrepreneurship, Center for Digital Commerce, Center for Mature Consumer Studies, Center for Risk Management and Insurance Research, Center for Business and Industrial Marketing, Center for the Study for Regulated Industry, and the Economic Forecasting Center, as well as the Small Business Development Center, Center for Executive Education, Disciplinary RoundTables, Business Career Expo, Max Award for Excellence, and the Business Hall of Fame. These initiatives and others enrich the knowledge base of the faculty, expand opportunities for student growth and placement, and enable us to take advantage of the rich array of opportunities for partnerships that exist with companies in the Atlanta area. The College will make selective and limited investments in new and existing outreach initiatives where there is: 1) consistency between the mission of the College and the goals of the research/education center, 2) a fit with the intellectual/research interest of existing faculty members, 3) strong promise of adequate financial support for both current operations and endowment, and 4) demonstrated success in meeting stated goals. After a reasonable period of time, a research center without an adequate financial base will be dropped or converted to a special project.
VIII. Corporate and Public Recognition -- The College needs an effective promotional campaign to: 1) maintain and enhance the reputation of our nationally-ranked programs in an increasingly competitive environment, 2) increase the awareness of the quality and excellence of RCB programs among prospective students and employers, and 3) increase the number of graduate credit hours delivered. We need more continuous funding than the current level for an effective promotional program. The College will pursue additional funding for this area through the normal university budgetary processes.
IX. Administrative Support -- The College's administrative support will be organized to achieve the highest level of effectiveness and efficiency. To improve staff productivity, additional resources will be committed to training and staff development.
X. Facilities -- New classroom facilities are needed and planned for downtown and north metro Atlanta. These facilities will provide the College access to state-of-the-art lecture and case rooms, as well as break-out facilities. The RCB recognizes the importance of addressing these unique needs, especially as they relate to executive education, as an integral part of its strategy.
The College will require additional space to accommodate the expanding growth of its research and outreach activities and to accommodate new initiatives. The move of the School of Policy Studies from the RCB Building in 1999 will alleviate some of the immediate space constraints that are inhibiting this growth. Adequate resources to maintain and improve the quality of the RCB Building (e.g., replacement of the elevator control system) will be vigorously pursued through University channels such as the Capital Budgets and Space Allocation Committee.
In cooperation with colleagues in other colleges/schools of the University, the RCB will continue its efforts to ensure that the new and existing facilities meet the needs of the College and the entire University community, particularly the unique needs that might exist in terms of technology, graduate research laboratories, and other characteristics for a leading university and college of business.
XI. Technology -- Technology, used in productive and innovative ways by committed and knowledgeable faculty, students and staff, will be a fundamental educational tool of the 21st century. In the library, in the classroom and on the desk, advances in communication and information technologies are revolutionizing the creation, dissemination and acquisition of knowledge. Continuing investment in the College's information systems resources and capabilities will be required to support and improve course content development and delivery, faculty research productivity, and administrative processes.
In teaching, technology will continue to play an increasing role in supporting course preparation, delivery of instructional materials, furthering of self-directed distance learning and in advancing classroom discussion. In recognition of these factors and of the diversity of pedagogical styles employed within the College, the College will work closely with the University to provide the necessary infrastructure and technical expertise to more broadly support the effective use of technology in instructional delivery.
In research, information technologies will continue to provide powerful assistance in individual inquiry as well as collaborative and distributed research. The College will strive to provide the necessary information architecture, infrastructure and bandwidth to assure that its faculty may make effective use of these capabilities.
In administrative processes, improved deployment of information technologies will enable more effective and efficient allocation of material and human resources.
XII. Alumni and Volunteer Leadership -- The College will build upon a strong base of existing discipline-specific alumni clubs (Real Estate, Hospitality, Risk Management & Insurance, Health Administration), by establishing other alumni organizations where appropriate. It will continue to channel significant support to the initiatives of its Master's and Executive MBA alumni organizations. Significant resources are being channeled into efforts to communicate more effectively with alumni--through face-to-face interactions with faculty and staff, enhanced publications, timely correspondence on important issues and around-the-clock access to the College through its websites. A focal point for the cultivation of volunteer leadership will be the College's Board of Advisors and various Disciplinary RoundTables already convened in several of the College's academic units. Immediate action is planned in streamlining and more actively involving the College Advisory Board. We have formed a steering committee of the organization's key leaders. The committee will focus attention on the most crucial issues facing the College today, and will involve the board members in addressing those issues. These groups bring the College's strengths to the attention of the region's top business leaders, assuring valuable counsel from experienced practitioners, increased access to monetary support for the College, and overall enhancement of communications between the college and the business community.
XIII. Finances and Development -- Tuition and fees will be adjusted consistent with the national trend to charge a tuition premium for graduate professional programs. The College will continue to use program reviews and appropriate benchmarks to allocate resources among programs, including the allocation of faculty positions based on programmatic strengths. We also will review for financial soundness our participation in strategic alliances in the international arena.
In addition to state funded initiatives, we estimate that approximately $10 million is required for equipment, endowment for faculty chairs and financial aid, and current expenditures. This will necessitate raising $2 million per year on average during the period 1998-2003. The College will raise more money annually for all purposes, but especially in support of its academic programs, centers, and institutes. As giving shifts from unrestricted to restricted, we will use most of the funds raised to strengthen the overall financial foundation of the College's departments and programs.
XIV. Implementation -- Implementation of the plan is as important as the formulation of the plan itself. We intend to do this by annually convening a joint meeting of the Executive Committee and the RCB Planning Committee to develop action plans and review plan accomplishments. We will work closely with the Provost and President and the various committees of the University Senate to achieve the needed level of coordination between plan and resource allocation. We also recognize that there will be a need to continuously refine the plan in response to emerging needs and opportunities through our interactions with our peers in the University and our external stakeholders.
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Ernest Boyer, Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professorate, The Carnegie Foundation, 1990.