We will be the standard for engaging external stakeholders, providing leadership to develop solutions that serve the public good, and cultivating the next generation of scholars and leaders. We will draw on the talents of our former students to help us design high-impact experiences for our current students and share their insights regarding current and emerging workforce needs. We will leverage the size and varied experience within the College to forge new partnerships and collaborations that deepen our engagement with Texas and the nation.
We Will Advance Texas and the Nation through Strong External Partnerships
Actions:
- Strengthen ties with university government relations teams
- Increase engagement and contracts with foundations, industry, and national labs
- Facilitate faculty and student engagement with existing external partnerships
- Develop seed grant programs to support new relationships with external partners
- Support multi-disciplinary collaboration with other units in the Texas A&M System
- Expand student engagement and internship programs with external partners
We Will Enhance Undergraduate Student Access and Experience with Career Success and Readiness Programming
Actions:
- Embed career-related projects, activities, and discussion into curriculums
- Develop an Internship Coordinator Network to share best practices
- Engage advisory councils to enhance career preparation and readiness programming
- Increase participation of former students in career-related panels, forums and workshops
- Build social media mechanisms to better connect with current and former students
- Initiate career panels that cut across degree programs and curriculums
We Will Develop Graduate Programs to Address Current and Emerging Workforce Needs
Actions:
- Use advisory councils to provide guidance on career trends and skill sets
- Incentivize creation of new programs to support workforce development
- Create a pilot program to streamline credentialing in response to market demands
- Engage external partners in market analysis as a component of degrees and programs
We Will Build Relationships with Former Students to Advance College Missions
Actions:
- Engage former students over a lifetime of giving back, including time, networks, and resources
- Pilot programming for current students’ engagement with former students
- Expand programs that focus on mentoring, professional development, and networking
- Enhance opportunities for former student engagement in departmental tours and lectures
- Encourage former students to advocate for college missions, priorities, and aspirations
We Will Extend Community Engagement and Outreach Initiatives
Actions:
- Create an annual analysis of issues, problems, and opportunities facing the state
- Promote existing and develop a set of additional community engagement programs and initiatives
- Take knowledge generated through scholarship to develop strategies that engage the needs and concerns of Texas communities
Success Metrics and Milestones:
- All departments and interdepartmental programs will have active former-student councils by FY27
- Achieve 20% increase in active industry research funding contracts by FY30
- Attain 25% increase in the number of faculty who have collaborative external funding with units from outside the college by FY27
- All departments and interdepartmental programs will include degree-appropriate undergraduate career programming that shows improvement over baseline career programming activities
- Create a system for benchmarking former student engagement by FY26, used subsequently to assess progress and inform strategy
- Survey recent graduates to assess professional readiness and career success
