Strategic Plan
Cal State Fullerton aims to become a model public comprehensive university, nationally recognized for exceptional programs that prepare our diverse student body for academic and professional success.
Introduction
The College of Education (COE) is committed to advancing our mission, vision, and core values through a strategic planning process conducted every five years. This plan is developed collaboratively, incorporating input from faculty, staff, and aligning with the university's strategic goals. The COE will continue to focus on three overarching goals:
- Just, Equitable and Inclusive Education
- Technology
- Community Engagement
This plan will help to guide the College in its continued success and growth.
Achievements from the COE 2013-2018 Strategic Plan
Achievements from the COE 2018-2023 Strategic Plan
CoE Strategic Plan 2024-2029
Goal 1: Enhance Support for Student Access, Learning, and Academic Success
Expand access to higher education for traditional and non-traditional learners, enrich learning experiences through diverse and innovative academic offerings, and enhance support services and infrastructure to ensure students’ retention and graduation, as well as their mastery of the knowledge and skills needed to reach professional and personal goals.
Objective 1: Access
Expand flexible pathways to reach and attract diverse learners to access our academic offerings.
Strategies:
- Increase enrollment of students in the Urban Learning Major each year for the next five years
- Development a transfer pathway for community college students
- Develop a leading-edge online Ed.D. program designed with future learning trends in mind. The program will focus on accessibility, technological integration, antiracist leadership, and decolonized research methods, allowing students to engage in advanced educational leadership studies in a flexible environment.
- Strengthen partnerships across campus, especially with those colleges/departments that house credential programs.
- Through collaboration and co-innovation, these partnerships will ensure credential programs remain at the forefront of educational trends, aligning with future workforce needs.
- Review all programs, starting with credential programs to increase innovation, accessibility, and flexibility
- Review structures including number of weeks of student teaching, hybrid options, 100% online options, part-time programs, and admission processes (Consider innovative programming that avoids one-size fits all).
- Increase enrollment in the College of Education to over 1600 FTES over the next five years
- Create recruitment plans for credential and graduate programs led by SchoolsFirst FCU Center for Careers in Teaching in partnership with department advising/admission staff and faculty
- Work with Graduate Studies on change of objective forms to move from credential to master’s programs (and undergrad to credential) and other barriers to admissions,
- Consider creating new credential programs, 100% online credential programs, minor degree programs, and transfer pathways for community college students for the undergraduate major.
Objective 2: Learning Experiences
Provide equitable, engaging, and innovative learning experiences to foster students’ ability to apply the knowledge, skills, and cultural awareness gained through their academic programs.
Strategies:
- Each department and program will conduct a self-review of courses, processes, and procedures to identify and address gaps in the integration of JEIE principles. This includes, but is not limited to the considerations of race, ability, gender, language, sexual orientation, and family structure.
- Departments will complete reviews by December 2025
- Continue to offer and expand professional development opportunities for faculty and staff focusing on equity-minded pedagogy and services.
- Create an assessment plan for the strategic plan. This work will be led by the Assessment committee in partnership with departments/programs to be completed by December 2025
- Review and evaluate current student teaching processes and procedures through the lens of JEIE and advocacy.
- Review matching of student teachers with mentor teachers
- Partnerships with Districts to enhance this work
- Hire a faculty member to review and recommend changes
Objective 3: Academic Support
Ensure equitable, innovative, and comprehensive academic support and policies to guide students, faculty, and staff.
Strategies:
- Create a college-wide AI policy and training plan that promotes equity, inclusion, and innovation and provides guidelines on the responsible and ethical use of AI tools, social media and other forms of technology for educational outcomes
- Led by the technology committee
- Create a professional development module focused on JEIE for staff professional
- Create a policy, process, and procedures to demonstrate our commitment to honor students’ linguistic repertoire
- Led by JEIE professional Development Committee
Goal 2: Foster Student Engagement and Well-being
Support student engagement and holistic growth in an inclusive campus environment, cultivate a sense of belonging for all students of diverse backgrounds that include undergraduate, graduate, post-baccalaureate, credential, and non-degree students, and provide comprehensive resources to support their mental health, physical wellness, and financial and basic needs.
Objective 1: Mental Health, Physical Wellness, and Sense of Belonging
Strengthen proactive, responsive, and innovative approaches to improving student, faculty, and staff mental health and physical wellness.
Strategies:
- Create and execute a strategy to incorporate mental health awareness and support resources into all programs, equipping educators with the skills to attend to student, staff, and faculty needs. With specific resources for BIPOC and Queer faculty, staff, and students.
Objective 2: Financial and Basic Needs
Revitalize financial and basic needs support to enhance student, faculty, and staff success.
Strategies:
- Identify donors/grants willing to support educator development with the aim of removing the financial burden of the initial credential program.
- Led by DOD and RDO
- Promote all resources available in various formats, locations, and contexts, with special attention to students' work schedules and need for after 5 pm hours.
- Led by Student Success and Community Engagement Specialist
- Create a list of resources for faculty, staff, and students working with campus partners, including CAPS, HRDI, EAP, student affairs, etc. including a recorded module and Canvas site.
- Led by Student Success and Community Engagement Specialist
Goal 3: Recruit, Develop, and Retain High-Quality and Diverse Faculty, Staff, and Students
Recruit, develop, and retain diverse faculty and staff by supporting professional and personal growth.
Objective 1: Recruitment and Diversity
Increase the number and diversity of faculty and staff through effective and equitable recruitment strategies, with concentrated attention to those from historically underrepresented communities.
Strategies:
- Increase the number of full-time tenure track faculty in the Urban Learning Major over the next 3 years.
- Continue to increase the number of underrepresented students of color with a focus on Black students (in line with the Chancellor’s Office initiative) in each initial credential and advanced program to mirror the demographics of underrepresented students on campus (see Goal 1 strategies).
- Work to partner with DIRC
- CCT with department advising/admission staff will create innovative recruitment plans for credential and graduate programs
- Continue to increase the percentage of underrepresented faculty and staff of color (full and part-time) to be more representative of the demographics of students on campus.
Objective 2: Retention and Professional Growth
Support faculty and staff growth through strengthened professional development.
Strategies:
- Ensure that all faculty and staff participate in at least one annual professional development opportunity that focuses on JEIE.
- Ensure staff participate in at least one professional development opportunity each year of their choosing.
- Create leadership development opportunities
- Work to identify and expand professional development opportunities for staff
- Create innovative approaches to bring faculty, staff, and students together to engage and collaborate on interdisciplinary projects, share research, and discuss topics related to current trends in education.
Goal 4: Expand and Strengthen Physical and Financial Capacity and Community Relations
Augment revenue opportunities and philanthropic investment for the university and create innovative use of our limited physical spaces to best support student learning and the evolving needs of the broader Titan community.
Objective 1: Financial Capacity, including externally funded research and scholarly activities
Enhance financial capacity, budgetary accountability, and philanthropic investment.
Strategies:
- Work to secure a five-year average of $1,000,000 in combined public and private support, focusing on areas that advance the strategic plan.
- Create opportunities for faculty to engage with donors.
- Led by Director of Development and Research Development Officer
- Create an annual newsletter/update for Alumni and Donors.
Objective 2: Alumni and Community Relations
Strengthen the reciprocal relationship amongst the university, alumni, and communities.
Strategies:
- Host a minimum of one college-wide alumni event each year.
- Work with the alumni office to join established events for our alumni, highlighting the college and creating community.
- Develop an opportunity for alumni to share/present examples of their JEIE and/or advocacy impact in their birth-22 settings (Ed week and other events).
- Investigate the creation of a community board to consider partnership and program improvement to meet community needs