This academic master plan focuses on the 1997-99 biennium. In 
setting goals for this biennium, we recognize that we are 
building on the goals, many of them accomplished and others on 
the way to achievement, that were set out in previous master-
plan documents. For example, while this plan places emphasis on 
strengthening the undergraduate major, it does so not by 
abandoning our commitment to a strong core curriculum but by 
building on the strong core curriculum that has been established 
and that will continue.

The primary theme of our plan for this biennium is the building of 
partnerships both within the university and with other entities 
to integrate activities that have heretofore been separated 
from one another.

We seek to integrate undergraduate and graduate education, 
through mentoring, through the increased involvement of 
undergraduate students in research, through the development of 
such scholarly activities as senior theses, and by opening 
graduate courses to more qualified undergraduate students. As 
part of this initiative, and recognizing the maturation of the 
institution, we propose elimination of the "graduate faculty" 
status that now divides our faculty.

We seek to integrate on-campus learning and scholarship with 
off-campus activities by building partnerships with business, 
community and government entities throughout the state. These 
partnerships will take form in joint research projects, on-site 
offering of courses, internships, and the use of technology to 
provide access to information.

We seek to integrate our institution with others in Nevada's 
system of education by building strong, cooperative 
partnerships with the state's public schools and with our sister 
institutions in the UCCSN. We want to make it possible for 
students to move through Nevada's educational system without 
encountering artificial barriers. As partners in education, we 
believe we can contribute to the raising of standards and the re-
orientation of education to serve the needs of citizens in the 
21st century.

We seek further to integrate diversity -- ethnic, gender, and 
intellectual -- into our university culture and to educate 
ourselves not only as citizens of Nevada and the United States, 
but also as members of the international community. 

As we progress toward the accomplishment of previously set 
goals in building a technological infrastructure, we seek to 
integrate the technologies of our age -- computer-based 
multimedia as well as video and audio -- into our system of 
learning. These technologies enable us to move from a model of 
"delivering information" to students  to one of mentoring and 
"coaching" students as they actively discover information. They 
also affect our use of buildings and space.

These are some of the emphases of this plan. They will be found 
in the primary section of the plan, entitled "A Center for 
Learning and Scholarship." It is organized in four parts: the 
Student Experience, Building Partnerships, Faculty and Staff 
Effectiveness, and Infrastructure.

Following that section, the plan contains a detailed list of budget 
and program priorities for the biennium, and appropriate 
appendices.