COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Response to the University Strategic Plan

The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences recognize in the University Strategic Plan significant implications to the faculty and programs of the College. We acknowledge the various task forces and the drafting committee for their hard work in envisioning Fairfield University’s future as one of integrity, based substantially on the integration of the core curriculum, the integration of life and learning, and the integration of the University mission in the graduate and professional programs.

The faculty of the College endorse the Strategic Plan's emphasis on the Jesuit mission of Fairfield, with all that that implies about the centrality of the liberal arts, Ignatian pedagogy, social justice, and service learning. We also applaud the emphasis on diversity throughout the Strategic Plan, noting that this has been a primary objective of the College of Arts & Sciences’ long-range plan for several years and already has resulted in the College faculty being the most diverse at the University. Faculty diversity of all kinds creates the foundation for recruiting and welcoming a more diverse student body, as well as for introducing a diversity of ideas and perspectives to all Fairfield University students, thereby enhancing their learning and cognitive development.

We welcome further support for the many initiatives that the College already has underway in these areas, as well as new ideas that will enhance diversity at Fairfield.

With regards to the three major goals of the University Strategic Plan, we note that:

GOAL #1: Integration of the University Core Curriculum.

We are pleased that the University Strategic Plan recognizes the centrality of the core curriculum in a Fairfield University education. The College of Arts and Sciences faculty, through the various departments and programs where the core courses are developed, managed, and taught, are prepared to enhance further the value of the core curriculum. Working with the Center for Academic Excellence, the participation of the Faculty Development and Evaluation Committee, the collaboration of our colleagues in the professional schools, and the expertise of the College faculty, we look forward to the assignment of appropriate resources to support the significant work of integrating the core. Particularly in realizing the important objective of having full-time faculty teaching the majority of the core curriculum, we are prepared to engage in intensive faculty recruitment, retention, and mentoring activities commensurate with this goal.

GOAL #2: Integration of Life and Learning

We recognize the importance of this goal and note the substantial work already accomplished by the College of Arts and Sciences toward the Integration of Life and Learning. Through faculty advisement of student clubs and organizations, the efforts of the interdisciplinary programs to provide major public events and co-curricular opportunities for students, the wide range of visual and performing arts programming and aesthetic education and experience, the annual Sophomore Symposium, the Fulbright application process, and the administration of and participation in programs such as the Ignatian Residential College, the Center for Academic Excellence, the Open Visions Forum, the Women and Science (student residence) Floor, and Study Abroad, the College of Arts and Sciences faculty and administration are in the vanguard of integration of life and learning at Fairfield University and support ongoing and expanded efforts toward accomplishing this goal. We are prepared to enhance our already-productive relationship with the Student Affairs Division in order to manifest greater integration. We hope that the College’s efforts on behalf of this goal will be acknowledged and emphasized in the University Strategic Plan, and that those activities will be the focus of new resources and development as the Plan is implemented. We also encourage all efforts to help University faculty afford to live closer to campus, and the recognition of faculty contributions to this strategic goal in the University reward structures and procedures, as this would significantly facilitate the implementation of goal #2.

GOAL #3: Integration of Jesuit Values in Graduate and Professional Education

The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences recognize the value of integrating the University Mission more deeply into the graduate and professional programs while ensuring the highest academic standards and acknowledging the needs and motivations of our graduate student population and market. Moreover, while the integration of graduate and professional programs into the mainstream of University life is important, we reiterate that the College of Arts and Sciences remains the central academic entity of Fairfield University, deserving of enhanced and restored stature and recognition for supporting the students and programs of the graduate and professional schools. We also recognize that, though under-resourced in personnel, the current graduate programs within the College of Arts and Sciences reflect, value, and help manifest the University mission, while affording healthy levels of revenues and significant fiscal gain to the University. The College recognizes new opportunities for the development of graduate programs within the College of Arts and Sciences that further manifest this goal, in addition to addressing the strategic objectives of identifying new student populations, new revenue streams, and new opportunities to meet the educational demands of today’s market and social environment.

The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences are prepared to meet the future of Fairfield University and look forward to being supported in our efforts on behalf of the University and its other schools.

November 30, 2005