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Strategic Plan

2022-2027 Strategic Plan

Shaping Our Future

Oakland City University’s Christian tradition focuses us on community and relationships. We care primarily about people and teaching, leveraging these to catalyze growth in our learning community members. We strive to give our students a strong liberal arts foundation for life-long learning to prepare them to engage with a rapidly changing, challenging world. We accomplish our mission by building a strong learning environment where students’ hearts, hands, and heads are engaged and developed to discover ways in which God has called them to serve and lead.

Our current strategic plan reflects these priorities. Plan goals, objectives, and performance indicators are inclusive of the many voices that make up our community. It represents specific ways we intend to carry our mission. Most importantly, it represents an opportunity to engage in continuous improvement on behalf of our faculty, staff, and students and the many more they are called to impact.

students on sign

Strategic Goals

Become a national model of a Christian university in the 21st Century.

Objective 1: Christian Environment/Help Students Develop a Christian Acumen.

  • Action Item 1: Develop a structure to introduce basic concepts of Christian life to students. (FA 2025)
    • Required religious courses
    • Chapel Services
    • Develop a system of spiritual coaches who would mentor Campus Ministry students
  • Action Item 2: Develop three annual Shared Student and Campus Christian experiences. (FA 2026)
  • Action Item 3: Infuse the Christian life experience into all programming. (FA 2027)
  • Action Item 4: Faculty/coaches model the Christian life. (SP 2024)
  • Action Item 5: Recruitment more Christian student athletes. (SP 2026)

Objective 2: Build relationships with Christian churches.

  • Action Item 1: Utilize Christian students to recruit in local churches (SP 2025)
  • Action Item 2: Develop two ministry partnerships other denominations. (FA 2026)
  • Action Item 3: Offer four on and off campus Christian events (Soulfest, Faith Night at the Thunderbolts).(SP 2024)
  • Action Item 4: Build an on-campus worship center. Develop contemporary worship programming with possible partnership with FGB church-Oakland City (FA 2027)

Objective 3: Promote Community Engagement/Servant Leadership/Christian Missions.

  • Action Item 1: All students will engage in 40 hours of community engagement each academic year. (SP 2025)
  • Action Item 2: Develop a co-curricular badge for students to receive to meet this requirement. (SP 2025)

Objective 4: Tangible expressions of our Christian commitment

  • Action Step 1: Join the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. (SP 2023)
  • Action Step 2: Develop a signature event around Easter or Christmas. (FA 2025)
  • Action Step 3: Provide more visual representations of Christian faith around campus. (SP 2023)
Become the region’s professional, Christian university (where we create philosophical entrepreneurs) by offering rigorous, experiential based education through professionally focused majors and minors undergirded by a foundational core that promotes the tenets of a liberal arts education.

Objective 1: Offer new professional programs that reflect economic needs and student demand. (FA 2027)

  • Action Item 1: Complete data analytics study of region and prioritize a list of potential new professional
    programs.
  • Action Item 2: Explore the following programs and add 4 of these by 2027.
    • Personal training program, physical therapy program
    • Cybersecurity concentration
    • Data-analytics concentration
    • Ag Business concentration
    • Ministry-related concentration, certificates, badging
    • Addiction counseling concentration
    • Master’s in Christian counseling
    • Expand on business masters – masters in accounting
    • DBA
  • Action Item 2: Add three five-year master’s degree programs.

Objective 2: Retool 100% of underperforming majors to have professional concentrations. (SP 2025)

  • Action Item 1: Place each major into three categories: Excelling, Sustaining, and Underperforming with
    clear criteria for each category.
  • Action Item 2: Develop a 5-year enrollment target for each underperforming major.
  • Action Item 3: Develop an enrollment plan for underperforming majors including the addition of
    professional concentrations.
  • Action Item 4: Utilizing the data analytics on potential majors mentioned in Objective 1, determine the best professional concentrations to add.

Objective 3: Infuse experiential learning into our educational curriculum.

  • Action Item 1: Seventy-five percent of all foundational courses and 100% of all major courses will include significant instances of experiential learning and/or solution-based learning. (FA 2027)
  • Action Item 2: Require internships/summer apprenticeships/students research as part of majors. (FA 2025)
  • Action Item 3: All majors will have a capstone course that involves solving real world problems. (FA 2024)
  • Action Item 4: Develop a curricular plan to promote Community Engagement/Servant Leadership that includes designated Dir of CCC courses and co-curricular requirements. (SP 2025)
  • Action Item 5: Produce a plan by 2024 that examines offering Deans certifications within majors and standalone certifications. (FA 2024)
  • Action Item 6: Create and staff a Center for Experiential Learning which provides faculty members with technical and curricular support for incorporating experiential learning into their courses by providing faculty workshops, mentoring, etc. (SP 2024)

Objective 4: Offer a four-year Career Pathways program which incorporates career preparation and vocation (calling by God) understanding.

  • Action Item 1: Produce a Career Pathways program that defines expectations for students, both curricular and co-curricular, across a four-year span. (SP 2023)
    • Refocus students to calling by God all the way through
    • Specific mentoring to get students into the right majors
    • Resources for undecided students and confirm first student’s choices
  • Action Item 2: Require internships/undergraduate research/apprenticeships/workplace learning for all majors. (FA 2025)
  • Action Item 3: Maintain a 90% placement rate after graduation. (FA 2027)

Objective 5: Examine and consider requiring a minor/certification/badge in Entrepreneurship and/or Professional Leadership for all students as part of the Career Pathways. (SP 2023)

Objective 6: Integrate technology into teaching and the curriculum

  • Action Item 1: Create and staff a Center for Experiential Learning which provides faculty members with technical and curricular support for incorporating experiential learning into their courses by providing faculty workshops, mentoring, etc. (SP 2024)
    • Quality matters rubric for good course design
    • Workshops on how to standardize delivery
    • Professional development with hands on Module practice
    • University needs to investigate technology platforms (e.g. Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace) verses
      free version of Moodle.
  • Action Item 2: Install technology in all classrooms to allow for IT, quality, hybrid teaching (SP 2023)
Increase enrollment to a level where expenses are 90% of our revenues.

Objective 1: Main campus undergraduate enrollment will be 600 students (headcount).

  •  Add Athletic Teams:
    M/W Track and Field – 50 new students (FA 2022)
    M/W Swimming – 30 new students (FA 2024)
    Football, Marching Band, Cheerleading – 200 new students (FA 2026)
  • Increase Commuter Student population to 20% of the student undergraduate population.
  • Aggressive promote the Good Neighbor Scholarship. (FA 2022)
  • Provide improved experience for commuters on campus. (SP 2024)
  • Remove obstacles for commuters. (SP 2026)
  • Move toward an Athlete to Non-Athlete ratio of 60/40.
  • Develop an E-Club/E-Sports program. (FA 2024)

Objective 2: Graduate enrollment will be 400 students (headcount).

  • Add new graduate programs.
    • School of Education(FA 2027)
    • School of Business (FA 2025)
    • School of Arts and Sciences(FA 2026)
    • Chapman School of Religion (FA 2023)
    • Develop a hybrid program (FA 2024)
    • Increase CJ courses within MSSM program to 6 to meet the 18 graduate hour minimum needed for students to teach in an area (FA 2023)
    • Develop a 5-year Masters structure (FA 2027)

Objective 3: Online enrollment will be 500 students (headcount).

  • Become more competitive with national and local competition. (SP 2023)
  • Add new programs. (FA 2027)
  • Provide more faculty training in Moodle for a more enriched online instruction experience for students (SP 2026)

◦ Objective 4: APS enrollment will be 300 students (headcount).

  • Develop quality hybrid experience. (FA 2024)
  • Add new programs: Public Policy and Administration (FA 2026)
  • Develop stronger Business & Industry partnerships (SP 2025)
  • Correspondence enrollment will be 350 offenders (headcount).
  • Maintain our current competitive edge in Indiana (SP 2022)
  • Utilize Second Chance Pell (FA 2023)
  • Digitize all documents including textbooks for download to offenders’ tablets (FA 2023)
  • Expand to other facilities in Tri-State Area. (FA 2027)
Develop intercollegiate teams with student athletes who demonstrate OCU’s competitive spirit by being in the top 15% of the NAIA’s River States Conference rankings both athletically and academically.

Objective 1: Enhance athletic programs and utilize to market OCU.

  • Action Step 1: Grow minimum roster expectations by 10%. (FA 2026)
  • Action Step 2: In coordination with Enrollment Initiative, add three new sports programs to increase enrollment and marketability. (FA 2027)
  • Action Step 3: Incorporate a minimum of three new technology channels to market OCU and Mighty Oaks Athletics. (SP 2025)
    • Added outdoor HUDL camera for outdoor soccer games.
    • Enhanced WiFi to stream multiple sports to reach a larger audience.
    • Added equipment to audio broadcast games via gomightyoaks.com.
    • Employ podcasting initiatives via OakTalk to feature sports teams and OCU events via
      gomightyoaks.com
    • Expand media suite in the Barger-Richardson Learning Resource Center to provide video segments
      as necessary to promote OCU/OCU Athletics.
  • Action Step 4: Create 10 new partnerships with local and regional schools to increase enrollment and strengthen the OCU brand. (SP 2024)
  • Action Step 5: Utilize the sports management programs to help expand marketing options to add 4 new super sponsors (SP 2026)
  • Action Step 6: Utilize the sports management programs to help add 5 sports management internships, work studies, etc. (SP 2024)

Objective 2: Develop infrastructure to handle intake and needs of international student athletes.

  • Action Step 1: Add a staff member to serve as an International Student coordinator in the Office of Student Life. (FA 2023)
  • Action Step 2: Enhance the recruitment of international students by utilizing a coach’s 25% admin duties to assist with recruiting services, onboarding, etc. (SP 2026)

Objective 3: Capture the NAIA Champions of Character gold designation every year.

  • Action Step 1: Continue to support our Champions of Character Liaison (FA 2027)
  • Action Step 2: Continue to educate student athletes on Champions of Character initiatives. (FA 2027)

Objective 4: Enhance our athletic facilities to aid in recruitment.

  • Action Step 1: Raise $2.5 million for the Athletic Facilities Era of Excellence Campaign. (SP 2026)
  • Action Step 2: Construct the four facilities outlined in the Athletics Facilities campaign by 2024. (FA 2024)
  • Action Step 3: Create a prioritized list of additional facilities enhancements to pursue once the Era of Excellence campaign has been concluded. (FA 2024)
  • Action Step 4: Host five or more annual offseason events (camps, tournaments, etc.) by third party constituents to better enhance the brand. (SU 2026)

Objective 5: Offer 4 new majors that are appealing to student athletes.

  • Action Step 1: Conduct an analysis of academic programs which are appealing to student athletes, utilizing student surveys and Gray & Associates data analytics. (FA 2025)
  • Action Step 2: Capitalize on current catalog offerings in Communication and Sports Administration along with potential program expansion in Sports Broadcasting, Sports Journalism, Sports Production and Engineering. (FA 2027)
  • Action Step 3: Investigate program offerings in Health Care.(FA 2024)
  • Action Step 4: Add two five year master degree programs based on the data analytics to enhance a student athlete’s five years of eligibility. (FA 2027)