i.Note ii.Prefaceiii.Vision iv.Role 1.Workplace 2.Governance 3.Personnel Policies 4.Instruction 5.Research 6.Extension & Outreach 7.Extramural Activity 8.Faculty Welfare 9.Business Policies 10.Faculty Interests
Auburn offers the baccalaureate in more than 130 areas that span the spectrum of disciplines and provides the state’s only publicly supported programs in many fields, including several in agriculture, forestry, architecture, building science, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. Particularly strong academic programs can be found in the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Mathematics, Business, Education and Engineering. Through the years, ROTC programs at Auburn have been nationally prominent in providing leadership for the military. Auburn supports a comprehensive graduate school, providing master’s level programs in more than 64 areas and the doctorate in more than 40 fields, many unique in Alabama. Strong graduate programs are found in agriculture, the biological and physical sciences, forestry, mathematics, engineering, education, the human sciences, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. More recently, excellent graduate offerings have emerged in the liberal arts, social sciences and business. As a comprehensive center for graduate education and research, Auburn develops its academic programs to adapt to the changing of modern society.
While Auburn has long been widely recognized for its quality and diversity in undergraduate and first-professional offerings, more recently and in relation to expanding research efforts the scope of graduate degree programs has risen to prominence. Notable growth is anticipated in programs with expanded research activity, especially in agriculture and the biological sciences, the physical sciences, engineering, education, business and the veterinary and pharmacal sciences. At the master’s level, larger enrollments will be seen in the social sciences, liberal arts, education, business, human sciences and the professional programs.
The liberal arts and sciences, at the heart of Auburn’s undergraduate instruction, not only form the foundation for professional and career programs but also provide the structure for Auburn’s traditional commitment to the enhancement of students’ personal and intellectual growth and the development of a more responsible citizenry. The core curriculum, by providing students with a common set of experiences, developing analytical and communication skills, and encouraging the understanding of culture and the natural world, has brought national attention to Auburn as an institution recognized for high academic quality.
The traditional commitment to excellence in teaching at both the undergraduate and the graduate level is reflected in the diversity of course offerings and in the variety of instructional approaches. Increasingly, electronic technology provides instructors the means for innovative and creative strategies, and the high academic aptitude of AU’s incoming students make accelerated learning opportunities an important consideration in the continuing review and development of instruction.
Research
Research is the means through which new knowledge is created and new information is developed. As such, research at Auburn University is an essential link in its three-prong mission of instruction, research and outreach. Successes among the varied research activities within each of its 12 schools and colleges continue to bolster Auburn among the nation's top universities.
Auburn's role as a land-grant university emphasizes strong research programs in agricultural sciences, natural resources, the biological sciences, engineering and the physical sciences. Strong and expanding research programs exist in education; veterinary medicine; pharmacy; the liberal arts; human sciences; business; architecture, design and construction; and nursing.
Results from Auburn research flow directly into the classroom through instruction and to the public through outreach. Auburn's research thrusts, the essential element in fulfilling its land-grant mission, are many, and all cannot be listed separately in this limited space. Yet, programs underway through the various research institutes at Auburn, such as the Space Power Institute and Center for the Commercial Development of Space; the National Center for Asphalt Technology; the Institute for Biological Detection Systems; the Scott-Ritchey Research Center; the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station; and Engineering Experiment Station continue to bring Auburn University to the forefront in research developments and in forming links with the state's business and industry.
Whether in the laboratory, the field or in the classroom, Auburn's research endeavors are diverse and comprehensive, at once focusing upon developing solutions to major problems that confront humankind and expanding the base of knowledge and technologies available to improve our quality of life. Additionally, major efforts to increase the protection and commercialization of intellectual properties is central to Auburn's continual drive for improvements in its research mission.
These efforts mesh to create a research environment that enhances the state's economic, cultural, social and intellectual development and, at the same time, undergirds the university's undergraduate, graduate and outreach programs.
Outreach
University Outreach is Auburn’s land-grant responsibility to provide access across the state to its knowledge-based programs and service. Through outreach, individuals routinely make effective use of the University’s resources to serve their educational needs, solve problems and improve the quality of their lives. Drawing on its university-wide faculty expertise, Auburn’s Outreach programming addresses Alabama’s economic development, youth at risk, excellence in government, continuing education for professionals, cultural preservation, and agricultural and natural resources.
On campus, University Outreach staff and faculty from each of Auburn’s schools and colleges provide expertise and resources through a diverse program base. An average of 43,000 persons participate in more than 800 outreach conferences, courses and activities provided each year by Auburn academic departments and outreach centers. Enrollments in courses and graduate programs delivered through distance learning technologies have increased more than 60 percent in the past five years, extending Auburn’s reach beyond campus. Interdisciplinary initiatives for education and industry are benefitting citizens across the state, but particularly in west Alabama where Auburn operates several programs targeting the economically depressed region.
Outreach centers include Distance Learning & Outreach Technology, Economic Development Institute, Center for Governmental Services, Outreach Information and the Outreach Program Office. Other outreach program resources, such as the Auburn Industrial Extension Service, Truman Pierce Institute, Small Business Development Center and the Center for Arts and Humanities, are located in the AU schools, colleges and libraries. AU’s traditional land-grant outreach programs are affiliated with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, a unified program linking Auburn University and Alabama A&M University with a network of extension offices in each of Alabama’s 67 counties. A telecommunications system connects Auburn, Extension System offices and Auburn University at Montgomery. A comprehensive directory of Auburn outreach resources and contacts is available at www.auburn.edu/outreach.
Auburn University Outreach works in concert with the land-grant missions of instruction and research to form a comprehensive educational engine. Through its combined faculty resources, research applications and outreach initiatives, Auburn University has an almost $4 billion impact on the state’s economy.
Office of the Provost
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