Our focus upon academic excellence and building healthy and vibrant communities is nurtured and furthered by a key enabler that is vitally important for the overall success of the institution — our people, places, and resources.
Our University, like all institutions, is only as strong as our people. Our faculty, staff, students, and alumni represent an exceptional group of people with a rich diversity of talents and backgrounds. The physical presence of the campus is renowned as the university’s most beautiful and inviting. Together, our people and resources form a welcome and inclusive environment that makes the University of Mississippi a great place to work and study. Ensuring we continue to have talented, diverse employees and students requires an enhanced physical and technological infrastructure, a robust intellectual community, a positive work environment, and funding sources to accomplish our mission.
Transformative Initiative:
Comprehensive Capital Campaign
We will launch a comprehensive, university-wide campaign in line with academic program needs and strategic priorities and, in doing so, raise our endowment to $1 billion. Through the philanthropic investments of our donors and friends, we will enhance world-class academic programs, build the physical and technological infrastructure necessary for new ways of teaching and engaging students, discover knowledge through faculty research and scholarship, recruit academic stars and retain top faculty and staff members, and improve the health and well-being of Mississippians and people across the world.
Metrics:
- Comprehensive campaign goal and yearly giving totals
- Endowment growth
- Number of endowed professorships
- Support for renovating and building for the future (e.g., STEM building, Children’s Hospital expansion, increased academic space)
- Campaign volunteer leadership positions filled
- Alumni giving participation rate
Goal:
Enhance Faculty and Staff Merit and Satisfaction
Advance opportunities, incentives, and resources to foster a positive work-life environment and professional advancement
Action:
Develop career-life connection programs to support the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff
Action:
Expand professional development opportunities for faculty and staff
Action:
Develop excellence in human resources that promotes effective management and positive morale across a vibrant, diverse community
Metrics:
- Diversity of faculty and staff
- Level of employee affinity and satisfaction
- Level of Compensation
Goal:
Plan for Enrollment Growth, Enhance the Campus, and Foster a Healthy Student Environment
Accommodate increases in student enrollment and nurture a sustainable, healthy, secure campus environment with infrastructure that will support evolving academic and research missions
Action:
Support a culture of physical and mental wellness
Action:
Serve as role models to promote success
Action:
Add campus facilities in accordance with the campus master plan
Action:
Develop a growth planning process that is responsive to institutional objectives and programmatic success
Metrics:
- Student enrollment rates
- Faculty-student and staff-student ratios
- Sustainable campus trends (STARS rating)
- Maintain a favorable Operating Margin, defined as (Total Income – Total Expenses) / Total Income
- Total usable square footage, by type
- Campus security trends
- Student wellness program participation and satisfaction
Goal:
Improve Access to Digital-Immersive Experiences
Develop innovative ways to provide access to the university’s educational offerings for place-bound, nontraditional students
Action:
Develop appropriate and targeted digital-immersive experiences for place-bound students
Metrics:
- Number of online courses and degree programs
- Enrollment in online courses and degree programs
Goal:
Enhance Visibility and Appreciation of the Arts
Celebrate the critical role that creativity plays in educating society and the process of discovery. Creativity is at the heart of a successful research institution
Action:
Develop an Arts and Cultural Gateway to serve as a cultural hub to celebrate the University’s creative, visual, and performing arts and to create intellectual and cultural experiences including performances, experiential learning, and enrichment opportunities for the community and region. The gateway will allow people of all ages and from all over the world to visit the University of Mississippi — physically and virtually — while elevating the importance of creativity and underscoring its relationship to research and academic excellence.
Metrics:
- Number of creative, visual, and performing arts partnerships with Mississippi schools and communities
- Number of arts visitors and events associated with the arts
