School of Arts & Sciences

STRATEGIC PLAN

The School of Arts and Sciences aims to be a recognized leading destination for students seeking an experience that will transform them into holistic beings, to be men and women of knowledge, aptitude, conscience, and commitment, while being responsive to the needs of our community and the region.

We encourage student practices that inspire life-long learning, personal success and development, social engagement, and ethical commitment. This fosters a community that values cultivation of knowledge, sharing experience, and responsibility.

The School of arts and sciences is among the largest members in LIU community. As such, all aspects of its organization passionately adhere to the core values that drive LIU: Integrity; Diversity and Inclusion; Collaboration; Innovation; Compassion in Stewardship, and Excellence.

The School believes that its role is not just to disseminate information, but rather to help shape the human minds of the future. Minds that can build a better future as more integrity is instilled in them today. We also believe that human experience only evolves whenever different cultures are able to learn from each other’s experiences. Thus, diversity and inclusion will better enrich the experience of our students, staff and faculty. This exact diversity, which can also be attained by the Schools’ active encouragement of collaboration with other Schools at LIU or other entities at the national and international level, would even broaden the scope of experience exposure and lead to innovation that remain limited without such outreach. In the School of arts and sciences, we hold all of these values very truthfully and wholeheartedly. For this reason, we are adamantly ambitious that we want to not only live by these values but also to pass on to all future graduates. This can better be attained if our staff and faculty show compassion in stewardship towards our students. The School of arts and sciences believes that excellence is the ultimate goal to be reached no matter what the task at hand might be, for this reason, we aim to instill such values in all levels of our organization.

Building on the remarkable success of the University the School of Arts and Sciences is enjoying a remarkable momentum to look into the bright future. To achieve the School’s vision we set a framework of priorities to develop this five years strategic plan with six focus areas: Undergraduate education, Postgraduate Education, Student Success and Development, Excellence in Research and Innovation, Governance, and Outreach and Engagement.

Goal 1: Develop Capacities for Faculty and Staff.

Objectives:

1. Motivate and Support Faculty and Staff.
2. Recruit new faculty members to better serve students’ needs.

Actions:

1. Reward faculty and staff through recognition, opportunities, and promotions.
2. Create effective partnership within different departments and schools at LIU, as well as, with national and international academic institutions to exchange knowledge and skills.
3. Provide training opportunities to support and mentor faculty members in tight collaboration with CETL ( Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning)
4. Expand full time faculty members by providing a supportive work environment that attracts high caliber academicians.

KPI:

● Names of faculty who receives the Teaching Excellence Award and those who have been promoted.
● Types of partnerships developed at LIU and national and international academic institution.
● List of workshops and trainings conducted each year and the names of faculty who attended.
● Number of new faculty members appointed each year.
● Appointment of recruiting coordinator for each department.

Goal 2: Advance Teaching Methods that Integrate Practical based and Multidisciplinary Education.

Objectives:

1. Include diversity in the curricula within the School.
2. Extend pedagogical approaches relying on student-to-student interaction.
3. Collaborate with CETL to upgrade teaching methods.

Actions:

1. Update contract sheets to include courses from other disciplines as major/general electives.
2. Encourage students to register courses from disciplines other than theirs.
3. Integrate science/art activities in teaching.
4. Adopt group-based problem solving in class room.
5. Allow Flipped classrooms in some courses.
6. Make use of the facilities provided by the SSDC (Student Success and Development Center).
7. Appoint departmental coordinators to ensure diversity and collaboration.

KPI:

● Updated contract sheets.
● Courses that used activities during lectures.
● Titles and codes of classes that used Flipped classrooms.
● Titles and codes of classes that used group-based problem solving.
● Number of mentoring and mentored students.
● Names of coordinators.

Goal 3. Place more Emphasis on the Know-how and Students’ Communication Skills.

Objectives:

1. Put more emphasis on projects and applied learning for student learning and evaluation.
2. Encourage students to participate in competitions, poster sessions, seminars, and exhibitions.

Actions:

1. Add more projects with adequate facilities to more courses.
2. Increase the grading percentage on the projects in courses.
3. Appoint of departmental coordinator responsible for training courses.
4. Organize internal and external competitions and exhibitions.

KPI:

● Number of courses that have added projects to their syllabi.
● Course codes and titles that included sciences and arts activities in the classroom.
● Types and titles of projects that were presented in Arts and Science Courses.
● Types and number of academic field trips conducted.
● Number and type of competitions and exhibition conducted.
● List of winners and types of prizes and awards.

Goal 4: To meet International Academic Standards.

Objectives:

1. To seek international accreditations.

Actions:

1. Determine the most appropriate accrediting body for selected program(s).
2. Prepare documents and files to match accreditation requirements.

KPI:

● Name of programs that have been accredited.
● Submitted files to the accrediting bodies.

Goal 1: Enhancement of Graduate Studies Infrastructure.

Objectives:

1. Separation of undergraduate and graduate admission/graduation processes.
2. Centralization of all graduate programs within one administrative unit.
3. Provide better access to research journals and books.

Actions:

1. Establishment of graduate School office.
2. Development of policies for graduate studies that are common to all disciplines.
3. Establishment of rigorous, clear admission and graduation processes.
4. Follow up the development and performance of the graduate school.
5. Provide accounts where students can access to journals.

KPI:

● Number and names of faculty and staff of graduate school office.
● Common guidelines for all graduate programs.
● Number of published papers by graduate students.
● Number of graduate students joining Ph.D. Programs
● Number of books and paid journals accessible to students

Goal 2: Allocation of Internal Funding and Soliciting External Funding.

Objectives:

1. Encourage students to attend graduate school without feeling the burden of monetary of research.
2. Increase the budget for tools necessary for research.

Actions:

1. Assign an increasing portion of university research budget to support experimental research work.
2. Solicit funding from governmental and non-governmental agencies in Lebanon and International bodies.

KPI:

● The percentage of LIU research budget assigned to research within the SAS.
● The percentage of the research budget funded by external agencies.

Goal 3: Enhancing Collaboration with National and International Graduate Schools.

Objectives:

1. Assist qualified students to pursue doctoral studies.
2. Encourage students to pursue multi-disciplinary research.
3. Establish agreements to develop research collaboration with other institutions.

Actions:

1. Assign a School coordinator to follow up with national and international collaboration.
2. Determine a clear process to select student’s candidate for doctoral studies.
3. Tailor graduate program for some students to serve the above actions.
4. Establish liaisons with ALUMNI pursuing post/graduate education abroad.

KPI:

● Name of the coordinator.
● Guidelines for selecting criteria.
● Number of students that took advantage of the tailored graduate program.
● List of Alumni with whom a liaison(s) have been established.

Goal 4: Prepare Pathways for Students’ Success in Graduate Studies and Career.

Objectives:

1. Enhance critical thinking and students’ academic and professional abilities.
2. Train faculty to effectively advise graduate students.
3. Provide the necessary orientation for graduate students.
4. Foster the professional development of graduates and prepare them to meet the challenges of the market place.

Actions:

1. Reshape lectures to reinforce critical thinking.
2. Coach graduate students through workshops and seminars to meet their academic and post-academic needs.
3. Prepare guidelines for advising and orientation purposes.
4. Establish effective mentorship for professional development of students.

KPI:

● Codes and titles of courses that include revisited lectures.
● Names of trained advisors.
● Data related to guidelines.
● Workshops and seminars conducted from which graduate students have benefited from.

Goal 1: Increase Retention and Graduation Rates that Support Timely Progress Towards Graduation.

Objectives:

1. Ensure consistent use of the UMS Advising tool among all advisors as communication channel with all students.
2. Enhance the advising process for new students by providing effective orientation, mentoring and advising to enable them to meet with their advisors during first semester and at least once a year thereafter throughout duration of their studies.
3. Identify and help underperforming students at the end of each semester in order to provide them with customized special support.
4. Identify and help students with serious delay in their plan of study.

Actions:

1. Build data-based alert system on the UMS to respond and assist underperforming students.
2. Prepare orientation guidelines for each department.
3. Assign departmental level coordinators to follow up students with weak academic performance and with those who have serious delays in their plan of study.

KPI:

● Response of alert system on the UMS versus the need.
● Available data related to each guideline.
● Names of coordinators
● Names and IDs of students with weak performance.
● Monitor the GPA of the identified weak students in upcoming semester

Goal 2: Develop Pathways to Enhance Student Success.

Objectives:

1. Enhance the activities of the Student Success and Development Center (SSDC).
2. Implement pedagogical practices to facilitate the integration of students into University life.
3. Enhance the communication between current students and alumni.

Actions:

1. Reactivate tutoring and problem solving sessions.
2. Offer social counseling, advice and support to students by professionals.
3. Provide help and support to students with physical and learning disabilities.
4. Schedule series of workshops and seminars to improve students’ skills related to their academic and career path.
5. Build a network that facilitates meaningful collaboration between current students and alumni.
6. Sharing success stories translating the overcome of challenges and how the excellence in learning catalyzed career development.

KPI:

● Number of performed tutoring sessions and number of students who benefited from the sessions.
● Number of performed problem solving sessions and number of students who benefited from the sessions.
● Names of Councilors along with number of students that took advantage of this service.
● Titles of workshops and seminars.
● Students’ satisfaction with all offered services.
● List of alumni with their respective career profile.
● Number of students attended “success stories” presentations.

Goal 3: Cultivate a Culture of Involvement in Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities.

Objectives:

1. Encourage the creation of clubs within the School.
2. Allow students the opportunity to be active members of the school and departmental councils.

Actions:

1. Organize different kinds of events and activities.
2. Establish outreach programs that serves the communities.
3. Selecting students to be members of the councils.

KPI:

● Names and types of clubs with the number of member students.
● Keeping a record of all activities organized by different clubs/departments of the school.
● Number of participants in different activities.
● Names of selected students.
● Number of council meetings to which selected students have participated in.

Goal 1: Enrich the Quality and Quantity of SAS Research

Objectives:

1. Enhance research facilities and skills.
2. Increase the high impact research Quantity and Quality.

Actions:

1. Create SAS Research committee (SASR) as a liaison with the Center of Excellence for Research and Development (CERD).
2. Workshops for writing research proposals for students and faculty.
3. Establish international research collaboration.
4. Equip university research labs for growth.
5. Orient the research to match with the level of SCOPUS index journals.

KPI:

● Quantity of publications and conferences indexed in SCOPUS.
● Name of members of the research committee.
● Number of accepted research proposals.
● Workshops conducted and number of attendees.
● List of MOUs with local and international universities.
● Type of new lab facilities for research support

GOAL 2: Increase the SAS Research Visibility.

Objectives:

1. Organize conferences/seminars and encouragement of LIUers participation.
2. Extend the master programs for the SAS majors.
3. Launch and maintain awareness Campaign related to SAS research activities.

Actions:

1. Encourage faculty to organize and participate in conferences in collaboration with CERD.
2. Apply to receive license for new master’s program in ARTS from the Ministry of Higher Education.
3. Organize campaigns based on SAS research outcomes related to public health.
4. Announce the important findings on the LIU website, social media, and news.

KPI:

● Conferences organized by SAS and the number of participants.
● The new master’s program licensed by the ministry.
● Published articles that served as a reference for awareness campaign.
● URLs presenting the finding.

Goal 1: Strengthen Transparency through Procedures and Protocols.

Objectives:

1. Cultivate a School culture whereby the values and ethos of mission, vision, and strategic plan are endorsed by faculty members and staff.
2. Revise regularly the School’s governance, policies, and procedures.
3. Promote gender equality among faculty members having administrative positions.
4. Provide public accessibility to information in the SAS.

Actions:

1. Communicate the Strategic Plan of the School to faculty and staff.
2. Assign a committee to review and update the School’s governance, policies, and procedures.
3. Maintain the recruitment procedure based on qualifications and needs.
4. Build a website for the SAS to communicate all related information.

KPI:

● The Communication of the strategic plan of the school.
● Names of committee and deadlines for the update.
● Announcement of the job opportunities in the SAS.
● URL of the website.

Goal 2: Involve Students in School Governance

Objectives:

1. Empower students through creating a “SAS Student Council” (SASSC).
2. Engage students as a stakeholder in school governance.

Actions:

1. Establish a clear and transparent procedure for the creation of the Students’ council.
2. Determine the mission and vision of the Students’ council.
3. Involve members of the SASSC in the departmental and school councils, in addition to committee such as faculty hiring committee.

KPI:

● Guidelines detailing the mission and vision along with the procedures of the SASSC establishment.
● Names of the students participating in councils and committees.

Goal 3: Establish Socio-Economic Partners.

Objectives:

1. Engage stakeholders in the development of various majors within the School, in addition to socio-cultural events.
2. Engage ALUMNI and members of the community in fundraising and social activities.

Actions:

1. To assign coordinators responsible of the liaison between the SAS and all stakeholders who will help receive the feedback related to academic and social-cultural activities.
2. Communicate with the Alumni office at LIU for proper and active involvement in fundraising and social activities.
3. To stage events, online and on campuses to serve the purpose of fundraising and social activities.

KPI:

● Names of coordinators and list of the socio-economic partners.
● Feedback from the stakeholders related to various academic and social issues.
● Number and type of fundraising and social activities involving Alumni and community members.

Goal 1: Build a Sense of Citizenship and Community Service.

Objectives:

Actions:

KPI:

Goal 2: Contribute to the Dissemination of Artistic culture.

Objectives:

1. Promote Arts and Culture in the community.

Actions:

1. Offer free concerts, exhibitions, and plays for the community.
2. Host Art Competitions.
3. Disseminate and disperse LIU art works and skills in the service of community wellbeing.

KPI:

● Type and title of conducted events and competitions along with number of participants.
● Description of Art works and skills contributed at the service of the community.

Vision

Mission

Core Values

Strategic Themes and Focus Areas

Undergraduate Education

Graduate Education

Student Success and Development

Excellence in Research and Innovation

Governance

Outreach and Engagement