10-year Aspirational Targets 2016-2026

ClemsonForward 10-aspirational targets are listed below. To see the current status, click ClemsonForward Dashboard, on the right.

Research

  • Increase annual production of nationally recognized forms of scholarship by 50 percent.
  • Increase annual submission in research proposals by 80 percent to $1 billion per year.
  • Increase annual externally-funded research expenditures by 50 percent to $100 million per year.

Engagement and the Academic Core

  • Rank among the nation’s top-10 public universities in undergraduate student success, as measured by freshman-to-sophomore retention and six-year graduation rates.
  • Increase doctoral degrees awarded annually by 50 percent — to roughly 327 per year.

Living Environment

  • Enroll an undergraduate and graduate student body that is at least 25 percent non-white and 15 percent underrepresented populations (African-American, Native-American, Hispanic).
  • Double the number of all underrepresented instructional faculty members; increase from 90 to 180 overall and from 70 to at least 140 tenured and tenure-track faculty.

Other important indicators of progress

  • Volume and impact of scholarly work, creative products and national research awards.
  • Student participation in academic and global engagement and the impact of those activities on student learning.
  • Student well-being and engagement in campus life.
  • Graduate program rankings, national teaching awards, graduate and undergraduate program performance, student outcomes and student learning.
  • Alumni participation in annual giving.
  • The percent of undergraduate students who are African-American or Hispanic, COACHE survey results, Campus Climate survey results and compensation relative to market.