Inside Clemson

ClemsonForward plan available online, funding for academics, safety, infrastructure

By Jackie Todd, Office of Media Relations

Faculty, staff and students have heard much about the ClemsonForward strategic plan in the past year. Now they will be able to see it.

The final plan was shared with the university’s board of trustees last week and is available for faculty, staff and students to access online at Clemson.edu/forward.

Constructed on four strategic priorities: Research, Engagement, Academic Core and the Living environment — and branded by the acronym, REAL — the 10-year plan began with a reorganization of the university’s colleges. The new college structure is intended to enhance the academic learning environment and better align and position the university to attain its over-arching goals of ranking among the nation’s top 20 public universities and retaining its status as a Carnegie Tier 1 research institution.

Along with college reorganization, the plan employs other key enablers, such as

  • strategic revenue growth and allocation,
  • building exceptional learning and living spaces, and
  • providing accountability and leadership by effectively managing resources, measuring impact and providing transparency about the plan to the Clemson community.

Officials said that the funding priorities of the ClemsonForward plan in the first year support academics, campus infrastructure, student recruitment outreach and economic development.

More than $8 million will be invested to support academic efforts to ensure quality teaching and leadership across the university. Clemson will add faculty positions to support departments that have experienced significant enrollment growth, allot funds to support faculty research across the university and expand academic efforts in Charleston.

But it’s not just about academics. In a time when campus safety is being tested across the country, the administration earmarked more than $3 million in campus safety costs. That money will fund a new access control system, enhanced police, fire and emergency management services, new police body cameras and additional safety personnel.

To protect the university’s physical assets, Clemson assigned $2.6 million to support its capital project priorities, preventative and scheduled maintenance and enhancement of university facilities, and cabling and network infrastructure.

Strengthening the university’s sense of community, connectedness and diversity is important and that’s why Clemson designated $1.2 million to campus life and diversity initiatives, including funding to hire recruiters dedicated to minority student recruitment.

Finally, year-one funding priorities included mandatory and inflationary costs. Toward that end, officials said that the state-mandated 3.25 percent cost-of-living salary adjustment, state-mandated health and retirement cost increases, costs related to the change in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for overtime pay, and increasing regulatory, compliance, legal, insurance, and utility expenses will cost the university a total of $19.5 million.

Along with the full plan, the ClemsonForward website includes detailed information about aspirational targets for each element of the plan, an implementation timetable and other resources.