College of Science Strategic Plan

Key Components

• Enhance educational program: COS will offer a broad portfolio of high-quality academic programs responsive to workforce, social, local, and national needs and implement high-impact learning opportunities, teaching strategies, and mentorship programs.  
• Student excellence: COS will improve retention rates, educational attainment, and postgraduation success through tailored support services focusing on students’ economic, physical, and mental well-being. 
• Student Achievement and support: COS will advance and enrich students' academic, technical, and social skills by providing relevant training and professional development.  

COS aims to enrich institutional and regional communities through impactful scholarship, creative endeavors, and public service. We are committed to excellence in faculty and staff development, offering professional growth opportunities that enhance research and teaching and support student success.  

Key Components  

• Develop and implement equitable employment practices: COS will establish and execute fair employment strategies to recruit, retain, and professionally develop mission-aligned faculty and staff while ensuring equitable evaluation processes.  
• Foster a culture of shared responsibility: COS will promote the success of the students, faculty, and staff with inclusion and justice-centered practices.  
• Promote effective communication: COS will ensure that interactions between faculty, staff, and students foster open and transparent communication to ensure information, updates, and policies are readily accessible and understood.   
• Support in teaching: COS will identify potential challenges in teaching and offer proactive solutions, ensuring a seamless learning experience for faculty and students.
• Support research enhancements: COS will offer extensive and tailored support, encompassing resource availability and collaboration, to empower researchers and amplify the quality and influence of their research projects globally.   

COS aims to drive social impact, economic mobility, and sustainability. To this end, we promote impactful research, scholarship, and creative activities that provide transformative learning opportunities and solve relevant community/societal challenges close to home and on the global stage. 

Key Components 

• Strengthen Diverse Partners Ties: COS will collaborate with diverse partners to shape research agendas that align with societal needs, thus unlocking unconventional funding sources and emphasizing holistic community development while continuing to leverage traditional funding sources. 
• Enhance Research Infrastructure and Support: COS will strive to provide state-of-the-art facilities and equitable support for all initiatives and implement consistent protocols to ensure smooth operations.  
• Broaden Student Involvement: COS will leverage the teacher-scholar model to increase the number and diversity of students involved in mentored research, scholarship, and creative activities, ensuring transformative learning opportunities for all.  
• Attract and Retain Research Talent: COS will foster a supportive environment that emphasizes continuous professional development, competitive packages, and comprehensive research support to faculty and students, aiming to attract and retain top talent while ensuring opportunities for sustained growth.  
• Collaborative Excellence: COS will ensure balanced and sustainable scales between research, innovation, teaching, and service while championing cross-disciplinary collaboration bolstered by a system of tiered mentorship and fair credit recognition, thus focusing on advancing both disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge.  

To impact the Texas Coastal Bend and the next generation by embracing the diversity of our community, COS is committed to engaging locally, regionally, and globally to foster mutually beneficial relationships.  

Key Components  

• Foster civic engagement: COS will strengthen college-wide culturally responsive educational opportunities and programming and strive towards a scholarship of engagement and social responsibility.  
• Serve as a community hub for the exchange of knowledge and resources: COS will advance mutually beneficial, community-driven partnerships to serve a common cause or address a common issue with philanthropists, private industries, agencies, and governmental and non-governmental entities to further engage and service for local and regional communities.  
• Develop a community of global alumni connections: COS will increase and enhance alumni engagement and service, offering opportunities for alumni leadership and mentorship and fostering connections between alumni, students and faculty.  
• Establish leadership for inter-collegial/interdisciplinary engagement: COS will lead by example to implement the Carnegie Community Engagement Classifications, integrating disciplines and colleges and developing collective goals.  

COS is committed to sustainability, seeking equitable, ethical solutions that are both economically and environmentally responsible, ensuring a just and thriving society for present and future generations. COS is also committed to maintaining exceptional learning and work environments across a highly interdisciplinary college. We aim to lead by example to involve both our campus and community in the collective goal of building a more sustainable future.  

Key Components  

• Foster Sustainable Learning: COS will integrate sustainability principles into the curriculum and educational experience, empowering students to become informed and proactive stewards of the environment and social equity.  
• Advance Sustainable Research Initiatives:  COS will pursue and practice innovative, multidisciplinary, sustainable solutions through rigorous research bolstered by comprehensive funding and development efforts, all aimed at shaping a more environmentally responsible future.   
• Engage Community in Sustainable Practices: COS will cultivate a culture of sustainability within the broader community, fostering collaboration and shared responsibility in implementing environmentally conscious and socially responsible practices.   
• Promote Climate Resilience: COS will strengthen our institution and community against the impacts of climate change by identifying and promoting proactive measures to adapt and thrive in a changing environment.