Identify and Launch New Academic Programs
Working in tandem with the program review and assessment incremental initiative, as well as the faculty curricular innovation bridge initiative, the initiative to identify and launch new programs will identify new programs that meet student interest and employment market demand to be created and launched at the University of La Verne. The recommendations for new programs will be generated by individual colleges, ROC directors and leadership, enrollment management data, trend forecasting, and donor interest. Potential areas for new programs include media, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligences. Part of this initiative will also identify appropriate national accreditations to pursue.
Improve Student Retention and Career Success
When students choose the University of La Verne, it is with the expectation that they will complete their degree within a program-appropriate timeframe and be prepared for career success, benefiting themselves, their families, and communities. The Student Retention and Career Success initiative aims to pave this pathway to social mobility, fulfilling both our mission and the commitment to our students and their aspirations. The first step on this pathway, retention, involves identifying and addressing systemic impediments to degree progress. This includes, but is not limited to, academic support, well-being support, affordability, proactive advising, and addressing administrative hurdles. Post-graduation career success is aided by integrating career preparation into the educational experience through career-relevant learning outcomes and experiential learning. This initiative requires support across the entire university community, with academic chairs, academic advisors, Provost Office personnel, the Retention Success Group, and a soon-coming Title V advisory board serving in key facilitation roles.
Foster a Culture of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The university’s initiative to foster a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within our University of La Verne community requires commitment and effort from all parties. Every area, unit, department, and college will assess how it currently provides its services, and whether or not those services are equitable and inclusive for the population it serves (e.g. students, faculty, staff, alumni, etc.). This initiative will require continued partnership across all areas and functions of the university as every member of the university community will have a role in shifting the culture to become more inclusive, safe, and culturally engaging for all.
Enhance and Ensure the Sustainability of Regional and Online Campuses (ROC)
This initiative focuses on creating a value proposition to differentiate University of La Verne from our competitors. We will create value in the following ways: tailoring our programs and services to serve the needs of adults; being flexible by making hybrid our signature delivery model supported with online options; and supporting the career development and advancement of our students both inside and outside their classroom.
Emphasize Faculty Curricular Innovation
Consistent with 2025 Strategy of High Value Education, and Performance Excellence and Innovation, the Curriculum Innovation Task Force (CITF) is a faculty-administration group that was formed with the purpose of offering adaptive, creative, and informed recommendations based on evidence and student feedback, about innovations in educational delivery and efficiencies that will enhance student learning. Rising expenses have caused university faculty, staff, and leadership to examine questions about access to the university for all students, and to consider if curricular and co-curricular programs are in fact meeting the needs students bring with them. As universities grapple with their own sustainability, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, it is important for stakeholders, especially faculty and staff, to explore curricular, pedagogical, and programmatic innovations that could lead to higher quality, efficient educational delivery that contains cost to students.