Imperative
3
3
Enhance the Undergraduate Academic Experience
The core of
Texas A&M University must be a residential, learner-centered
community that attracts excellent students and provides
quality learning and mentoring experiences. We must
better prepare learners for lives of discovery, innovation,
leadership, and citizenship by better inculcation of
writing, thinking, and self-expression skills. Texas
A&M University is proud of its history of developing
student leaders. Our co-curricular programs are already
an area of true distinctiveness, but we must continue
to strengthen their substance and reputation and extend
their benefits to a larger percentage of the student
body. While our retention rate is the highest in Texas,
it is low relative to the best national institutions;
we must strengthen our commitment to graduate those
we enroll. We must emphasize education more than training
and significantly improve our student-faculty ratio.
We must provide more opportunity for intellectual exchange
between distinguished faculty and undergraduates. Our
recruiting should be more proactive and produce a more
broadly representative student body. We need to expand
our honors, study/live-abroad, interdisciplinary studies,
and course-assistance programs.
P
R E C E P T: P R O V I D E S T U D E N T S
T H E O P T I M A L
U N D E R G R A D U AT E E X P E R I E N C E I
N A R E S E A R C H
U N I V E R S I T Y
Our first cause, that without
which all others lose purpose, is the student. Our culture
should value, above all else, the students and the educational
opportunities afforded them, especially through excellence
in teaching. Our need to be responsive to changing realities
as well as the need for interdisciplinary work to solve
complex problems lead to new thinking about curricula.
Curricula must be in tune with the forces at work in
the world, the needs of students, and the expert understanding
of faculty. The changes required may force us to rethink
the nature of degree programs and to balance disciplinary
traditions with other forces. Every one of the goals
and attributes of excellence proffered through Vision
2020 are directed towards the student.
Provide
a university climate that is learner-centered; emphasizes
academic rigor and high expectations of students,
faculty, and staff; encourages involvement in the
life of the institution beyond the classroom; fosters
an environment of caring and concern; and promotes
success and leadership development for all students.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
-
Set
high-quality admission standards. Focus on academic
preparation (i.e. required curriculum, grade-point
average, test scores) and increase consideration of
leadership and other dimensions of the whole student.
-
Nurture the individual student to insure highest probability
of success. We must assume responsibility for the
success of our students. Attain a 95 percent freshman
retention rate and an 80 percent sixyear graduation
rate—levels consistent with the best institutions.
-
Increase opportunities for all students to develop
the academic and social connections that facilitate
academic success and involvement in the life of the
institution. Bring students and  faculty
into more frequent and productive interaction. Double
the number of small classes for undergraduates.
-
Facilitate interaction between faculty and undergraduates.
Attain a faculty-to-student ratio of 1-to-16.
-
Our undergraduate students should be among the best
in the nation. Have the majority of undergraduates
who apply for graduate study accepted at leading academic
institutions.
-
Teaching of undergraduates should occur by tenured
or tenure-track faculty members. Seventy-five percent
of lower division courses should be taught by tenured
or tenuretrack faculty.
-
All
students should have readily available opportunities
for academic enrichment experiences  appropriate
to their educational goals. Develop a systematic
approach and infrastructure to facilitate opportunities
for all students to have enrichment experiences, such
as expanded honors courses, study-abroad experiences,
interdisciplinary curricula, supplemental instruction,
internships, cooperative education, and research opportunities.
-
Continually evaluate and adjust academic offerings
and curricula to keep them relevant and strong. Have
the majority of companies that recruit at Texas A&M
University rate Aggies as among their best hires.
P R E C E P T:
E S TA B L I S H H O N O R S T R A C
K S
Large numbers of exceptionally
qualified students choose to study here and those students’
needs must be addressed. Honors tracks will provide that
experience. These students help attract and retain top
faculty and contribute to the experience of all students.
Texas A&M University also has a rich history of attracting
first-generation college students who may have received
less preparation for college and require an especially
supportive environment. Texas A&M University is also fully
committed to meeting their needs for educational access.
Establish
an honors house that brings together faculty and students
to stimulate intellectual exchange and informal communications.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
P R E C E P T: M A I
N TA I N A R E S I D E N T I A L C
A M P U S
A high quality of life for
students is a clear demonstration of our commitment
to educational opportunity. It has been suggested that
residential campuses will be obsolete in 20 years. Texas
A&M University embraces the role distance education
will play in some components of the university, particularly
in graduate education. However, the university also
recognizes the importance of a residential experience
to undergraduate student development and is committed
to maintaining a strong residential core. Many factors
impact the quality of student life. An excellent library,
state-of-the-art information technology, appropriate
laboratories and classrooms all affect the academic
dimension of student life. Widespread and varied leadership
and social opportunities for students round out their
educational experience. One of the chief determinants
of the quality of student life is the degree of interaction
between faculty and students. Communion of faculty and
students is the core of learning. Towards that end,
Texas A&M University will increase the quality, frequency,
and regularity of student-faculty interaction.
The residential, learner-centered
nature of the campus should not be sacrificed simply
to integrate technology into the curriculum or delivery
systems. Distance learning, web-based courses and
similar alternatives should be developed in the context
of how they enrich and provide opportunities unavailable
in the regular classroom environment rather than be
viewed as completely alternative delivery systems.
T
A S K F O R C E I D E A
P R E C E P T: VA L
U E A N D E N H A N C E S T R O N
G E S T A N D B E S T
VA L U E S O F A G G I E S P I R I
T
Texas A&M University has a rich history
that marks it as distinctive and that binds students
and graduates to it. Many values are powerfully important
and define special academic traits of Texas A&M University.
We cannot talk about the undergraduate experience of
students and the quality of the educational opportunity
we offer without reference to the value system that
helps define the experience of learning here. Values
that provide a basis for “Aggie Spirit” include mutual
respect, honesty, integrity, and morality; hard work
and dedication; loyalty, patriotism, and commitment
to family; leadership and personal effectiveness; commitment
to academic excellence and accomplishments; inclusiveness
and equal opportunities; commitment to community and
civic involvement; commitment to Texas A&M University
and other Aggies; optimism and faith in the future;
and a sense of the value of history and tradition. We
must build on the distinctiveness and character that
our long-term commitment to the whole student gives
us.
Perhaps the most uniquely defining
characteristic of Texas A&M University, the quintessential
difference between Texas A&M University and other great
public institutions, is the role of traditions in perpetuating
Aggie Spirit.
T A S K
F O R C E I D E A
G
O A L S :
-
Use
the strength of Texas A&M University’s student enrichment
and traditions to facilitate students’ learning both
in and out of the classroom. Provide high-quality
service and developmental opportunities while fostering
an inclusive campus community in support of the university’s
educational mission.
-
Promote Aggie Spirit through a focus on the underlying,
basic human values which Aggie Spirit reflects. Attain
the highest rate of student participation in volunteer
service activities in a national research university.
-
Encourage the involvement of all students in co-curricular
activity. Have 100 percent student involvement
in “the other education.”
-
Support efforts to grow and enhance the quality of
the character, leadership and citizenship development
offered by the Corps of Cadets, the Memorial Student
Center, Student Government and other broad-based student
organizations. Grow the Corps of Cadets to no less
than 2,600. Achieve national recognition for the leadership
programs of all major student organizations.
-
Enhance Texas A&M University’s culture of leadership
and involvement by developing a comprehensive leadership
facility and an innovative student leadership institute.
This facility would lend itself to more interaction
among students and faculty. Build a Student Leadership
Center.
I N T E R C O L
L E G I AT E AT H L E T I C S A N D T
H E T E X A S A & M
U N I V E R S I T Y M I S S I O N
Intercollegiate
athletics are an important part of Texas A&M University’s
history, and they can and should play an overwhelmingly
positive role in the university’s future destiny. Intercollegiate
athletics have a broad and unique opportunity to add
to the diversity of Texas A&M University while increasing
unity on campus. Athletics can be a focal point for
encouraging former students to be actively involved
in the institution. The university can be assisted by
athletics in achieving a more positive national prominence.
Athletics can play a major role in the spirit of the
university while setting enviable standards for educational
and character development. A number of our best peer
institutions have demonstrated the reality that, properly
managed with an appropriate set of core values and beliefs,
there is no dichotomy between excellence in academics
and athletics. Texas A&M University intends to be in
that group of admired and respected institutions, and
we advocate being held to those high standards.
Athletic Department
Vision for 2020
F O R M A L L
E A D E R S H I P T R A I N I N G A N D C
H A R A C T E R
D E V E L O P M E N T I N T H E C O
R P S O F C A D E T S
We
envision building on the Corps’ strong legacy of producing
leaders by developing a more formal, intensive program
of leadership training and character development. Upon
successful completion, each Cadet would receive a credential
having significant academic worth and practical value
in the market place. Relevant training situations will
include mental and physical challenges, ethical dilemmas,
and issues of humanitarian concern, among others.
The
Corps of Cadets Vision for 2020
|
T
H E U N I V E R S I T Y ’ S F U T U
R E I S A B O U T
C R E AT I V E T H I N K I N G :
Liberal
arts teaches the fundamental and transferable
life skills required for the many adaptations
to career and life changes that will be necessary
in the 21st century. Students who have mastered
these skills will be able to think critically
and creatively, to analyze and synthesize ideas
in order to make decisions and solve problems,
and to communicate effectively through writing
and speaking. These are aspirations we hold for
all students of Texas A&M University, and they
constitute the fundamental argument for strengthening
and expanding the liberal and fine arts programs.
The
College of Liberal Arts Vision for 2020
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student
life - a place where undergraduate and graduate students
immerse themselves in all forms of educational opportunity
and have frequent interaction with faculty. Increase
the faculty-student ratio to enhance quality and quantity
of interaction. 
