In order to enhance our research and graduate programs while retaining our distinctive undergraduate experience, we plan a strategic expansion of the Lehigh University faculty over the next decade. In addition, our plan also calls for a bold investment in the university's infrastructure and related staff over the next decade, which will result in tangible benefits in increasing the quality of our research and education enterprise.
These additions will allow all faculty to be more productive in their engagement with students and in their pursuit of forefront research. External research support, entrepreneurial activity, reputation, and the intellectual climate will all improve with judicious augmentation of faculty.
In many ways Lehigh competes above its weight class. We provide exceptional student experiences and educational opportunities in a broad set of areas with a relatively small faculty. We require excellence in teaching, research, and service from our faculty. These demands are exceptionally heavy on those who have both large teaching loads and highly competitive research programs.
Lehigh needs a large enough faculty to preserve the commitment to teaching and personal attention to students, while increasing research productivity and graduate programs. We have a professional staff that is fully engaged with faculty and students and plays a central role in our mission of research, teaching, and service. Lehigh staff members are committed to making the living environment a learning environment for undergraduate and graduate students. They enrich the learning experience and make our research and teaching productive. They are educators in the broad sense, and they add a dimension to Lehigh that creates the feeling of family, not an institution.
To attract and retain diverse and talented faculty and staff to Lehigh requires that we be responsive to the needs of today's workforce. Work/life balance, child care, elder care, and the vibrancy of the community are issues that impact productivity and career decisions for both men and women. In order to attract more under-represented minorities to faculty and staff positions, we must also proactively identify and address the needs of these individuals within the context of Lehigh's culture and the surrounding community.
By investing in our faculty and staff, we will foster a campus culture that actively attracts and supports a diverse, inclusive, and intellectually vibrant community that promotes individual success while advancing the university's mission.
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