The institutional priorities were developed as UVI's administrative leaders and Self-Study core team reflected on key programmatic concerns and on the solutions developed to address them. They noted the severe threat to the core mission to educate and empower the community and the region posed by fluctuations in UVI’s enrollment levels; the internal and external challenges contributing to enrollment instability and, the creative solutions employed in response. The resulting ideas were presented at a UVI Community town-hall meeting for further input. With over town-hall 80 attendees, the conversations centered around the same deep beliefs and desires that informed UVI’s core values and resulted in the following four institutional priorities.
UVI's focus is on strengthening our institution's capabilities for effectively recruiting and retaining students, and on emphasizing the importance of holistic student success and personal development. This commitment encompasses the full educational cycle, ensuring that undergraduate and graduate students are supported at every phase of their development.
Delivery of faculty development opportunities that ensure the application of innovative teaching techniques, will ensure that UVI prioritizes attention to the whole student amid changing community and societal diversity. Student academic success is ensured by understanding the total student experience through continuous assessment that informs creative teaching strategies.
Factors affecting fluctuations in student enrollment and persistence also affect UVI’s capacity to pivot in the face of unforeseen and unavoidable challenges. Efforts to increase and diversify resources address capacity for swift responsiveness, safeguarding institutional sustainability and growth.
Integrating research into classroom activities and pedagogy improves the academic environment for learning. Consequently, promoting and providing a supportive environment for faculty research will increase faculty-mentored student research and boost UVI's reputation and relevance to the Territory and beyond.
