Involve undergraduate students in open-ended problem solving and team projects across
their four years;
Broadly educate students as well as develop their mastery of their major fields;
Instill in students a commitment to lifelong learning, both in their fields and beyond;
Achieve leadership in improving the educational process through the utilization of computer
and information technology and media;
Enhance the educational quality of the graduate program and increase its self-support with
regard to funding
2. Create a unique educational environment that capitalizes fully on both the University's small size
and its strong research profile;
Develop a high degree of interaction between students and faculty, both inside and outside
the classroom;
Provide students with small classes taught by faculty who are committed and skilled
teachers;
Make research and scholarship an integral part of the educational process, conferring vitality
on instruction and involving students in research from freshman projects to PhD theses;
Forge undergraduate students, graduate students, and the faculty into a community of
scholars marked by mutual learning.
3. Increase the quality of life for the campus community;
Increase the diversity of both students and employees and forge from diversity a sense of
community that is based on mutual respect, sensitivity to the differing needs of individuals, and
awareness of the value of a pluralistic university;
Enhance the total education of students by increasing the quality of student life;
Base University operations on a friendly, efficient, and service-oriented staff;
Support faculty, staff, and administration-especially in undertaking the changes and meeting
the challenges posed by the strategic plan-by establishing programs of professional development;
Base planning, operating, and budgeting activities on a continuing strategic planning
process that is characterized by participative implementation and clearly defined accountability.
Following approval of this strategic focus by the Board of Trustees, Clarkson began
moving to implement the goals, objectives, and strategic initiatives that it proposed. Several
cross-functional teams worked during 1994-95 to plan the implementation of the major
elements of the strategic focus; as during the development of the strategic focus, these teams
were broad-based, and conducted their work in an open and participatory manner.
The focus became fully operationalized when the Board of Trustees adopted an
implementation plan at its May 1995 meeting.
