USM Regents Approve Strategic Plan 2010-2020
Document will Guide USM's Role in
Positioning State as Economic, Education Leader
Adelphi, Md. (Dec. 3, 2010)
-- The University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents today approved the USM
Strategic Plan 2010-2020, a document that will guide USM's mission to power
Maryland as an economic and educational leader.
The plan calls for attaining specific goals by 2020, such as
producing an additional 10,000 bachelor's degrees per year, increasing by 40
percent the number of science, engineering and math graduates from USM
institutions, doubling USM's externally sponsored research-and-development
funding from approximately $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2010, and enhancing
cost-savings practices that already have earned the system national recognition
for its efficient stewardship of public resources.
The plan is titled, "Powering Maryland Forward: USM's 2020 Plan for More Degrees, a Stronger Innovation Economy, a Higher Quality of Life."
In 2010, the USM faces a challenging operating environment and a new
decade in which change will be a constant. The 2020 Strategic Plan was developed
during the past year in the midst of several economic, demographic, and
technological challenges.
The worst recession since the Great Depression has impaired the
resources of Maryland and the nation. The "baby boom echo" -- children born
during a post-baby boom increase in birth rates between 1982 and 1995 -- drives
demand for greater access to education. Finally, technology is constantly
reshaping how students learn.
As USM Chancellor William "Brit" Kirwan has noted in numerous
presentations, the United States has lost its status as a world leader in
educating its citizens. In comparison to the rest of the industrialized world, the
U.S. ranks 23rd in high school completion rates, 10th in
post-secondary degree completion rates, and has the highest college dropout
rate of any industrialized nation. A few decades ago, the U.S. had the highest
high school and college completion rates.
"We must greatly increase educational attainment and make the needed
investments in research and scholarship if the United States is to remain a
world leader in creativity, innovation, and the knowledge economy," Kirwan
said. "The USM 2020 Strategic Plan positions the state to be a leader in
educational attainment and to have a globally competitive innovation-driven
economy."
The plan has been developed with substantial involvement of Board of
Regents members, USM presidents, system-wide councils of faculty, students and
staff, USM Foundation board members and business and community leaders. Five
primary themes anchor the 2020 Strategic Plan:
1) Helping
Maryland achieve its goal of 55-percent college degree completion (either a
two-year associate's or four-year bachelor's, attained by 55 percent of the
state population 25 years and older);
2) Advancing
Maryland's competitiveness in the innovation economy by building on existing
levels of extramural research funding and more successfully translating that
research in economic activity. The plan calls for the creation of 325 new
companies, five internationally recognized research centers of excellence by
2020, and a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the USM;
3) Transforming
the academic model with course redesign strategies that help more students
understand material, complete their degrees, and become better-qualified to
join the workforce;
4) Identifying
new ways to build on more than $200 million in direct cost savings already
achieved through USM's existing efficiency efforts, and approximately $1.5
billion in cash and pledges raised through the system's federated capital
campaign, further leveraging the resources available to the USM that benefit
Maryland citizens;
5) Achieving
and sustaining national eminence through the quality of USM's programs, people,
and facilities.
The 31-page plan can be read in its entirety by accessing "The USM Strategic Plan 2010-2020" at http://www.usmd.edu/10yrplan/USM2020.pdf.
"The board and I are thoroughly impressed with the vision
demonstrated in the USM 2020 Strategic Plan and the work on this ambitious
project by the system's administrative staff," said Board of Regents Chair
Clifford M. Kendall.
"In this difficult economy, our system and the people we serve have
benefited from our positive working relationships with the governor and the Maryland
legislature," Kendall said. "We look forward to working with the state's
leadership for continued support as the USM positions itself during the next
decade to keep advancing our state's leadership in education and the innovation
economy."
Leaders from the USM and its member institutions will share the
guiding themes of the 2020 Strategic Plan with critical constituencies in
Maryland, including legislators, civic groups, and the business community. Each
USM institution is developing a "business plan" to align with the strategic
plan's major themes. These individualized roadmaps throughout USM will spell
out not just the action steps necessary to achieve the plan's goals but the
required resources, as well.
Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu
