BGSU

 Bowling Green State University

 School of Media and Communication

STRATEGIC PLAN & ACTION PLAN, 2019-2023

Strategic Planning Cycle Submitted by: Laura Stafford

Date: December 18, 2019 Progress updated January 2022

Progress updated May 2023 by Dr. Al Gonzalez Progress updated May 2024 by Dr. Cheryl Bracken

University Vision

With a spirit of innovation, Bowling Green State University is a premier, inclusive learning community that develops, transforms, and impacts individuals and communities through learning, collaboration, and discovery. As a public university, BGSU focuses on contributing to the public good and embraces its role as a national model in addressing the educational, economic, and social vitality of our region, the state of Ohio, the nation, and the world.

Mission

Bowling Green State University provides holistic and comprehensive educational experiences that enhance the lives of our students, stakeholders, and the many publics we serve. Our graduates are prepared for lifelong personal and career growth and for engaged citizenship and leadership in a global society. Through our excellence in teaching, research, and outreach, BGSU builds a collaborative, diverse, and inclusive community where creative ideas, new knowledge, and entrepreneurial achievements can benefit others in our region, the state of Ohio, the nation, and the world.

College of Arts & Sciences Vision

The College of Arts and Sciences achieves national distinction as an intellectual community that fosters personal growth, and promotes the enduring values of a liberal education. To that end, the College is helping undergraduate and graduate students to achieve their potential intellectually, culturally, and personally and to become global and principled citizens.

College of Arts & Sciences Mission (proposed version)

The College of Arts and Sciences prepares its students to lead meaningful and productive lives, equips them for lifelong career growth, and empowers them to lead in a global society. By providing learning experiences in the arts, humanities, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences, we foster multiple habits of mind across these liberal arts disciplines. We focus our college community, through teaching, learning, research, and service, on the great challenges that define our lives, and we embrace the opportunity to face these challenges and work toward a world of greater insight, empathy, sustainability, and justice. A multiplicity of voices and perspectives is essential to our mission, and we strive to strengthen our college as a place of intellectual and personal growth that welcomes and engages all. Arts and Sciences students transform their own lives by engaging complex questions that inspire curiosity, ignite creativity, and challenge learners to refine and apply critical methods of investigation, experimentation, interpretation, expression, and reflection. Through their endeavors as life-long learners and engaged citizens, our graduates improve their communities, our region, and the world.

School Vision

Members of the School of Media and Communication strive to develop individuals who contribute meaningfully to society, support civic engagement, and shape the future as global professionals.

School Mission

The School of Media and Communication brings together three distinct, synergistic intellectual disciplines, through research, teaching, and service, to be a leader in developing the knowledge, skills, and values critical to civic and global engagement. The School connects and enhances undergraduate and graduate educational experiences to prepare students for lifelong growth and leadership. Its mission is to offer quality education -- enriched by co-curricular opportunities and evolving communication technologies -- that prepares students to achieve professional success, communicate effectively, contribute to their communities, and engage globally in relationships with individuals, governments, businesses, and non-profit and civic organizations.

Serving Public Good

The School of Media and Communication is committed to the public good. As indicated in our vision statement above, we strive to aid in the development individuals who contribute meaningfully to society and support civic engagement. This is seen throughout the school’s programs.

Our Communication program strives to develop individuals who are effective, ethical communicators across context and cultures. Our Media program is committed to promoting students’ abilities to engage in critical thought concerning critical societal issues such as unequal access to media technologies, bias and inclusivity in media representations, freedoms of speech and press among international institutions and political economic systems, and media literacy more broadly to build a more deliberative and democratic community. Our Journalism and Public

Relations program contributes to students’ understanding of the origins and importance of free speech and press to informed citizenry in the United States. Students are grounded in ethical professional practices and commitments to issues of diversity. Students are prepared to take part in the journalistic “watchdog” role in a democratic society.

The School’s Falcon Media is also an important contribution to the public good, as it provides students from all majors across campus the opportunities to learn, develop and practice skills beyond the classroom that are fundamental to a healthy society beyond college.

School/Department Strategic Alignment to BGSU Goals

BGSU Objective 1 – Redefining Student Success

INITIATIVE TWO (Expand reach to post-traditional student populations): We will expand BGSU’s reach to new student populations, which will allow our university to expand where we teach. We will leverage the strengths of Firelands College and existing programs that address the needs of adult and part-time students to develop and support an ecosystem focused on enhancing the success of post- traditional, adult students (e.g., support services, academic policies, advising roles, mobile technology, and hours of operation). We will identify and grow or maintain robust enrollments in 25–30 online/hybrid programs (both undergraduate and graduate) that meet the career needs of large numbers of post-traditional students.

Action One: Propose ecampus program in Communication BAC for part-time working adults. Given the flexibility in this degree, it can serve as a degree completion program for those you might have started a degree in a variety of majors.

Update: This is contingent on web approval for THFM 2020, which is a core requirement.

Action Two: Grow ecampus MA program.

Update: The ECAM Strategic Communication MA enrolled 26 students in 2018-19 to 50 in 2020-21 and 47 in 2021-22. Additional growth is limited by lack of faculty.

INITIATIVE THREE (Add programs in high demand): We will add or enhance academic programs in areas of workforce demand, such as in health care (e.g., nursing), applied STEM (e.g., data science, software engineering), and hospitality.

Action One: Explore development of emphasis or specialization in health communication. (Considered and set aside due to lack of faculty resources in this area of interest).

Action Two: Develop a sport journalism/sport media major. We will rebuild the journalism major to respond to industry needs and trends with faculty and curricular expertise in sports and new media technologies. Sport media/journalism is a high demand interest of students. The number of incoming FTFT journalism students remain strong. Given the Kuhlin Center facilities and media production major, a vibrant faculty could move our Journalism program to one recognized at the national level. We are only one of three accredited programs in the state giving as an enrollment edge over many other programs.

Update: A PR minor is being finalized for submission in August 2023.

The Journalism/PR faculty held retreats in May 2022 to discuss new directions. Discussions on curriculum were interrupted by accreditation review. Retreats have resumed May 2023.

Action Three: Continue to build the media production major. The facilities are nationally competitive and the major is growing. With the facilities, we can compete on a national level. One significant aspect of our media production major that differentiates it from a “tech” or “trade school” is the strong emphasis on media literacy, and critical social and global issues such as privacy, equity and power. With one new hire in place, providing summer media production camp, building high school outreach programs.

Update: In advance of the MDIA revision of the major, the minor was revised and approved in fall 2022. A newly hired QRF will begin teaching production classes in Fall 2023. Media Summer Camp was held in 2022 and will be held again in summer 2023..

Action Four: Grow the new (August 2019) Advertising major. There are few advertising major programs in the area and it is a growth industry. Update: Majors have increased from 19 in 2019-20 to 48 in 2021-22.

BGSU Objective 3 – Empower and Support People

INITIATIVE Seven (Enhance our culture to support diversity and belonging): We will engage in ongoing efforts and activities to increase awareness and enhance culture.

Action One: Time will be devoted at each faculty meeting do cover material or engage in activities. Update: Changes to faculty meetings format deferred to new Director.

Action Two: We will participate with the ALLIES program as they develop a workshop for SMC.

Update: Our DEI Committee was disrupted in AY 2022-23 due to SMC Director search crash and FILs. Deferred to new Director. Three SMC faculty members facilitated 4 university-wide workshops in 2022.

A climate survey was administered in fall 2022. The DEI Committee will resume and follow up in fall 2023.

INITIATIVE Eight: We will significantly improve the quality of teaching and learning by implementing student-centered initiatives that ensure our learning environment sets clear expectations, supports one another, intellectually engages and involves students, and provides feedback and assessment.

Action One: Update our face-to-face communication major curriculum to redefine learning outcomes and assessment practices, to include a professional development course, integrative learning and a capstone course with signature work. Indicate progress on agreement, blue- sheeting etc.

Update: Revision began in 2021 and revised BAC was implemented in fall 2022.

Action Two: Review and update current learning outcomes, assessment means and implementation processes in all areas. Revised learning outcomes for the Communication MA and the Strategic Communication MA were completed in 2022.

BGSU Objective 6 – Telling our Story

INITIATIVE Fifteen: We will develop and implement comprehensive and strategic marketing and communication plans at the university and unit levels to ensure consistent branding and more effectively articulate the quality and value of BGSU to alumni, friends, and prospective students. We will create strategies that support messaging around research, creative activity, service, diversity, inclusion, and engagement to demonstrate to the public BGSU’s importance and relevance.

Action One: We will overhaul our school web pages and further utilize our newly formed recruitment, retention and outreach committee and

faculty coordinator to develop more intentional efforts to demonstrate the school’s importance and relevance.

Update: Our web pages are being constantly updated with new images and stories. We have active social media accounts. We are trying to outreach to alumni, but there are institutional barriers to this part.

The Recruitment and Retention committee is active and involved in Homecoming, Preview Days and Presidents Day. Faculty respond to Admissions—even on short notice—when contacted to give tours and meet visitors.

Pull-up banners have been redesigned and are in use at graduate student recruitment fairs and Admissions visit days.