Strategy 1. Adapt and innovate curriculum, educational opportunities, and programs based on College strengths and the needs of a dynamic marketplace.

• Regularly review and revise the curriculum based on student outcomes and faculty expertise.
• Engage in industry partnerships to stay informed about market needs.
• Integrate curricular and co-curricular objectives and student learning outcomes.
• Ensure that the College’s societal impact focus of improving quality of life and economic development opportunities in rural and struggling Alabama communities is embedded across the curriculum

Strategy 2. Develop and maintain distinctive academic programs that attract students and for which Culverhouse is nationally known.

• Develop value investing and business cyber security as centers of excellence recognized regionally and nationally.
• Invest as necessary to support and maintain existing, nationally-recognized/ranked academic programs.

Strategy 3. Expand students’ involvement with signature immersive learning opportunities.

• Use the professional development sequence to encourage students to participate in experiential learning, internships, study abroad, undergraduate research, capstone experiences, and community-based learning.
• Strengthen the Culverhouse Business Honors Program to meet the needs of high-achieving students.

Strategy 4.  Develop and implement a comprehensive executive education program that provides opportunities for lifelong learning and a platform for co-creating and sharing learning with all stakeholders.

• Coordinate non-academic executive education programs under one unit.
• Develop and offer new lifelong learning programs based on market input and College expertise.
• Develop marketing mechanisms to promote lifelong learning opportunities to target audiences.

Strategy 5. Expand accessibility of graduate programs.

• Re-examine credit requirements for the MBA and consider how online courses would affect accessibility.
• Add a menu of graduate certificates and stackable credentials.
• Partner the executive education unit with the marketing efforts of the Manderson Graduate School of Business to provide pathways for degree completion.

Strategy 6. Evaluate doctoral education college-wide and identify/implement changes that will strengthen programs.

• Leverage best practices from the College’s doctoral programs to create synergies/efficiencies related to providing professional development and course delivery.
• Increase funding for doctoral students.
• Consider moving from individual departmental PhD programs to a college-wide doctoral program.

Strategy 1. Increase undergraduate and graduate student enrollment while shifting the incoming student demographic breakdown closer to that of the state.

• Leverage our recruitment team to identify in-state prospects, paying particular attention to the Black Belt and other traditionally underserved regions.
• Target our top-feeding community colleges and deepen those relationships with an eye toward undergraduate recruitment.
• Expand graduate level recruiting efforts and elevate the graduate student experience.

Strategy 2. Improve the rates of student retention, persistence, and graduation by focusing on high-impact practices and increasing the personal connection to our students.

• Fully implement the required professional development program for all undergraduate students with curricular and co-curricular components.
• Identify barriers to program completion and implement changes as needed.
• Develop a systematic approach to collecting and applying quantitative and qualitative data to gain a better understanding of student needs and outcomes and use state-of-the-art analytics to advise students7663.
• Increase specific actions to identify at-risk students and reduce the barriers to their success.
• Expand in-person advising and career counseling services available to students and explore technologies that allow counseling at scale.
• Revisit the curriculum for the General Business major (online and in-person) to ensure alignment with our broader retention strategies.
• Ensure that students are engaged in creating positive social impact by improving quality of life and economic development opportunities in rural and struggling Alabama communities.

Strategy 3. Create a student-centered hub that provides comprehensive, individualized support and professional development for all Culverhouse students.

• Dedicate physical space in Bidgood Hall for a Student Success Center.
• Enhance the offerings of the Communications Excellence Commons.

Strategy 1. Build on current capabilities across the College and embrace impactful research and scholarship.

• Reduce teaching workloads for research-active faculty by adding instructors and increasing the teaching loads of non-research-active faculty.
• Provide incentive/reward systems that promote research productivity including externally funded research projects.
• Increase resources that promote scholarly activity.
• Encourage the formation of expertise clusters.

Strategy 2. Provide infrastructure, funding, and developmental support that strengthens and grows the research capabilities and programs to meet the critical needs of the key constituents.

• Expand TIDE Lab capabilities.
• Expand the Institute of Data and Analytics infrastructure to advance externally funded research.
• Support coordinated efforts to identify government and corporate-sponsored research activities and facilitate interaction between college scholars and government and corporate partners.
• Provide opportunities for faculty to develop grant-writing skills.

Strategy 3. Foster research capabilities among undergraduate and graduate students.

• Increase undergraduate student participation in research opportunities.
• Provide workshops for undergraduate students to learn about what it means to pursue a doctoral degree.
• Produce graduate scholars who will be successful in their disciplines and place at Ph.D. granting institutions after graduation.

Strategy 4. Showcase Culverhouse’s research capabilities and impact.

• Increase marketing resources for recognizing and promoting impactful research.
• Develop a strategic marketing plan that showcases Culverhouse’s research capabilities.
• Promote Culverhouse research that has a positive societal impact, particularly that which focuses on improving quality of life and economic development opportunities in rural and struggling Alabama communities

Strategy 1. Recruit, retain, develop, and reward outstanding faculty, staff, and administrators to work with current and future generations of Culverhouse students.

• Optimize mix of research and clinical faculty to meet the research and teaching needs of Culverhouse.
• Enhance retention of outstanding faculty, staff, and administrators by using formal professional development programs to assist in career management and personal growth.
• Routinely recognize and reward faculty, staff and administrators who demonstrate excellence in their respective roles.

Strategy 2. Elevate diversity and inclusion as cultural values of the Culverhouse College of Business.

• Increase diversity among faculty and staff.
• Increase diversity among the student population across the College of Business.
• Bolster retention and success efforts among diverse individuals in the College of Business.
• Raise awareness and understanding of the importance of DEI internally and externally.
• Enhance focus on inclusivity across the College of Business.

Strategy 3. Develop effective channels to ensure an engaging and open working environment while encouraging continued growth and celebrating the accomplishments of faculty, staff, and students.

• Establish effective, transparent, and consistent channels of communication to support upward feedback as well as dissemination of information and provide opportunities for discussion and engagement.
• Create a college-wide shared culture of community, an engaging and empowering environment built on mutual respect and trust, delivering exceptional experiences, facilitating important conversations and dialogues.
• Optimize timely student communications, particularly among GRA/GTA/student workers.

Strategy 1. Establish new and strengthen existing relationships with external constituents that help Culverhouse meet its mission and support our values.

• Fully implement CRM to inventory information on all current external constituents.
• Develop menus for engagement based on common ways stakeholders want to be involved.

Strategy 2. Strengthen existing relationships with alumni and increase the number of alumni who are actively engaged with the College.

• Establish a process to cultivate relationships through the lifecycle of an alumnus, beginning with engagement as a student.
• Use a variety of mechanisms to engage with alumni.
• Maintain current and add advisory-type boards throughout the College as needed and as a mechanism to involve previously unengaged alumni with the College.

Strategy 3. Enhance presence of Culverhouse as a top business school and solidify our reputation through marketing and communication efforts.

• Convey the Culverhouse brand through marketing and communication efforts.

Strategy 4. Increase involvement in endeavors and partnerships resulting in positive societal impact, especially improving quality of life and economic development in the underserved and Black-Belt regions in Alabama.

• Use students supervised by faculty to serve the needs of underserved businesses and citizens.

Strategy 5. Increase the awareness, utilization, and impact of externally-facing College centers.

• Provide sponsored and institution-required research and service to private and public sector organizations to positively impact economic development at the community, state, regional, and national levels.
• Enhance the capability of units that provide research and service to external stakeholders.
• Launch new centers that support the College’s mission by seeking grants, gifts, and endowments for operations.
• Use research and service Center relationships to provide experiential learning experiences for students to contribute to workforce development.
• Showcase impact and success stories generated by the Centers

Strategy 1. Implement processes and tools to increase efficient use of resources.

• Enhance the effectiveness of financial decisions through an improved planning and budgeting process across the College by conducting annual audits of fund usage, identifying resources needed for strategic initiatives, and implementing new budgeting technologies.
• Enhance the efficient use of the College’s physical resources.
• Update technology throughout the College on a continual basis to provide the tools needed for effective teaching, learning, and research.

Strategy 2. Increase financial resources.

• Increase revenues based on student enrollments.
• Increase philanthropic gifts to support strategic initiatives and College operations.
• Partner with external stakeholders to achieve greater financial self-sufficiency and to provide flexibility to address immediate needs.
• Create an executive education program to generate a self-sustaining revenue stream controlled by the College.

Strategy 3. Prepare contingency plans for any potential disruptions to College operations and resources.

• Conduct an annual comprehensive risk assessment and prepare contingency plans for each identified risk.