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MSU President David Wilson Outlines New Annual Priorities and Enhanced Goals Centered on Student Success, Research and Growth
Morgan State University President David Wilson has unveiled a new set of goals that expands upon Morgan’s mission as a premier research university, enhances student success and experience, and positions Morgan for continued growth during the next five years. The ambitious effort builds upon the University’s existing Strategic Plan and focuses on guiding Morgan to the year 2023, setting it up for success in the years to follow. The new five-year goals strategically target housing, enrollment, graduation and retention rates, study abroad, research, resources, strategic partnerships and new companies.
At the start of the current academic year, Wilson communicated a host of priority deliverables for the current fiscal year that included, among other initiatives, a complete renovation of the Dixon Research Center, the successful conclusion of the Sesquicentennial Anniversary Campaign, the start of the Northwood shopping center redevelopment project and a long-range plan of action to address student housing needs.
“Although we have made many great strides here at Morgan, we have yet to attain all of the ambitious goals we set for ourselves seven years ago. This reassessment of our goals is not a redirection but a continuation down our current path of progress and a recognition of the things we need to anticipate during the next five years,” said President Wilson.
President Wilson directed the development of the previous comprehensive Strategic Plan soon after his arrival at Morgan in 2010. Set around the theme of “Growing the Future, Leading the World,”the plan put in place a vision and goals designed to guide Morgan from 2011 into 2021.
After receiving a new, five-year contract from the University’s Board of Regents earlier this year, President Wilson began assessing, augmenting and refocusing Morgan’s existing goals, based on his and his administration’s knowledge of the current higher education landscape and the shifting needs of a continuously growing Morgan State University.
With a number of the major target objectives of the initial strategic plan having been met or on the pathway to completion, and after a string of unanticipated successes during his tenure, President Wilson has recalibrated the University’s focus and shifted more resources and attention to:
Enhancing Student Success and Experiences
Targets: improved student housing, increased retention rate, increased graduation rate (to 50 percent by 2025), additional student activities and amenities, and more study abroad opportunities
Improving Morgan’s Infrastructure
Targets: capital improvements and additions, opening of a branch campus and addressing deferred maintenance
Enhancing Doctoral Research University Standing
Targets: Carnegie R2 rating, increased contracts and grant amounts, strengthened Computer Science Department, School of Engineering expansion, addition of new research centers and labs, creation of two to five start-up companies and strengthening Tech Transfer operation
Increasing Resources
Targets: increased State of Maryland support, increased alumni giving percentage (from 17 percent to 21 percent) and completion of $250-million Sesquicentennial Anniversary Campaign
Managing Student Enrollment
Targets: the growth of online degrees and online programs, increased number of international students, enhanced campus diversity, 9,000–10,000 student enrollment count and more in-state and out-of-state students
Expanding Community Engagement and Support
Target: further collaboration along and surrounding Hillen Road corridor
Advancing Athletics
Targets: Academic Progress Rate improvement in all 13 sports and attainment of MEAC championships
Chief among the University’s capital improvements and additions will be the demolition of the aging Armory building, the completion of the new Calvin and Tina Tyler Hall student services building and securing the necessary support to bring a new health and human services building and a science complex online.
“There are a number of initiatives now in the pipeline and in development to get us to where we need to be,” added President Wilson. “These include new, innovative programs that meet the needs of tomorrow, as well as new strategic alignments and partnerships that position Morgan better within the marketplace.”
In light of the augmented goals, President Wilson will call for the creation of a steering committee to develop a new 2019–2029 Strategic Plan for the University.
About Morgan
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
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Larry Jones, University PR
(443) 885-3022
