Mission Statement

Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University reflects the uniqueness of the traditional land-grant institution which combines professional, vocational and liberal arts pursuits. The University provides baccalaureate and graduate studies that are compatible with the times to all qualified, capable individuals who are interested in further developing their technical, professional, and scholastic skills and competencies. It operates in the three-fold function of teaching, research, and public service, including extension. A center of substance and excellence, Alabama A&M University provides a setting for the emergence of scholars, leaders, thinkers, and other contributors to society. Specifically, the University is committed to:


Excellence in education and a scholarly environment in which inquiring and discriminating minds may be nourished.

The education of students for effective participation in local, state, regional, national, and international societies.

The search for new knowledge through research and its applications.

The provision of a comprehensive outreach program designed to meet the changing needs of the larger community.

Programs necessary to adequately address the major needs and problems of capable students who have experienced limited access to education.

Integration of state-of-the-art technology into all aspects of University functions.


Blueprint for Excellence Frameworks

Following the extension of Alabama A&M University’s (AAMU) 1996-2000 strategic plan through 2002, the University has developed a new strategic plan highlighting identified focus areas and themes of excellence. This new plan, “Focus 2015: Blueprints to Excellence” reiterates the pervasive theme of Excellence by combining both the immediate goals of 2002-2007 and more long-range views to carry through to 2015.

Alabama A&M is typical of the majority of land-grants in that it strives to combine teaching, research, liberal arts and vocational study. The University offers degrees at the baccalaureate, masters and doctoral levels. Alabama A&M’s philosophy incorporates a set of core values which serve to define and combine activities of faculty, staff and students as they strive for success in instruction, research and extension/outreach. Core values have been defined, but are not limited to leadership, engagement, access, diversity, scholarship and integrity. The University continues to work toward global recognition as a world-class, comprehensive, Doctoral II, land-grant University.

In these fiscally difficult times, Alabama has trailed other states in the Southeast in its support of its colleges and universities. Yearly average support has increased in Alabama at the rate of 1.3% in comparison with 10.4% for Georgia and 2% for Tennessee. As a result, students have been forced to pay higher tuition and fees to compensate for the lack of state support. Coincidentally, tuition and fees in Alabama have risen from 23.4% to 31.1% of overall university budgets. Regionally, the average is 26.3%. Financial aid to students remained at a relatively constant level from 1991-1997, but saw significant increases from 1997-2001. A recent study by the Center for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education reveals that only 14% of Alabama’s low-income students were able to attend college as compared to 24% nationally.

While enrollment at Alabama universities generally has not risen in the last decade, largely due to a decrease in high school graduates, Alabama A&M has enjoyed a 13% enrollment increase during that same period. Although the state’s enrollment projections for the coming decade are expected to maintain or decrease, it is felt AAMU may continue to be the exception to the rule through competitive marketing that sets the University above other institutions and the job market.

It should be noted that freshmen enrollment is the area that traditionally shows the greatest fluctuation in economic boom times as the demand for potential employees strengthens and causes higher education plans to be either deferred or abandoned. Conversely, degree completions at Alabama’s four-year public institutions increased an average of a half-percent per year from 1996-2000 despite the volatile economy.

In order to achieve the Blueprints to Excellence, Alabama A&M has identified nine focus areas to be addressed during the period spanning 2002-2015.



v Focus Area 1: Program Viability and Advancement

AAMU must continue to work to ensure that program accreditation/certification is kept current. University programs must maintain viability and relevance through a combination of effectiveness/outcomes assessment and the inclusion of technology and a global perspective. AAMU also pledges to increase the number of graduate offerings at both the master’s and doctoral levels, as well as promote professional development of its faculty and staff.

v Focus Area 2: Quality of Student Life Social Development

AAMU will continue to offer programs that encourage student involvement and ultimately produce a more well-rounded student and member of society.

v Focus Area 3: Increased Extramural Funding through Grants, Contracts and Fund Development

AAMU will add to its extramural funding through a combination of government, industry and private sources as well as increased fundraising initiatives, which utilize contributions from its alumni, corporations and private donations. The University will continue to work toward development of innovative marketing and communication techniques that serve to enhance its public image.

v Focus Area 4: Enhanced Physical Resources, and Space Utilization

The University will work to enhance existing campus facilities and strive to utilize current space more efficiently. Concurrently, AAMU will update/implement a deferred maintenance plan for existing and new facilities along with a security plan for physical resources and equipment.

v Focus Area 5: Maintain Fiscal Stability and Efficiency of Resource Management

The University will maintain a fiscally solvent operation through initiation of competitive faculty/staff salaries and the integration of planning in the budget process. AAMU will conduct annual internal and external fiscal operation audits as a means toward this goal.

v Focus Area 6: Enhanced University Engagement through Expanded Outreach

By offering community service projects and continuing education activities, AAMU will strive to match its strengths with the needs of the surrounding community. The University will also continue to integrate the dual concepts of community service and service learning in the development of the total student.

v Focus Area 7: Student Enrollment, Retention and Graduation

AAMU will work to ensure that by 2015, student enrollment will increase by fifty percent while maintaining a similar increase in its student retention and graduation rate.

v Focus Area 8: Institutional Effectiveness

AAMU will work to improve its data gathering procedures and infrastructure in order to enhance data integrity. The University will further develop quality improvement indicators through outcomes assessment. Institutional research will be implemented to enable data-driven decisions and ensure continual quality improvement plans for both academic and academic support units.

v Focus Area 9: Technology Integration

The University will develop a comprehensive plan that calls for the infusion of technology in all University functions while upgrading and expanding existing technology and equipment. AAMU will establish an organizational structure to support this effort.

The above mentioned focus areas have been integrated to a large extent in the following “Themes of Excellence” which form the basis of Alabama A&M’s short-term strategic plan for 2002-2007.

Insistence on quality in academic programming is the main priority of the University as it develops its action plan through 2015 and into the future. Vigilance in reevaluation, revision and even re-invention of existing academic programs, instructional strategies, scholarship, academic policies, procedures, structure, and criteria are essential. Continual assessment is necessary to ensure an educational process that remains dynamic and responsive to change in order to meet students’ needs.
Redoubled efforts in basic and applied research will result in AAMU’s academic excellence. The Southern Regional Educational Board and other higher education agencies report that quality research affords the opportunity to strengthen the education students receive and contributes to the support of the economy and society. It must remain AAMU’s mission to ensure that basic and applied research remain an integral part of its educational endeavors.
A comprehensive development plan supported by aggressive public relations and a sound marketing strategy is essential to the University’s growth, image building, and financial support. Creating a public stance serves to identify AAMU as a model of research excellence and affirms its academic role in society.
Demographic trends today, and in the foreseeable future, indicate a drastic change in the composition of the South’s population. Increased numbers of senior citizens and ethnic minorities are choosing to reside in this region, and more minorities and Generation X employees comprise its workforce. Trends such as these serve to highlight deficiencies such as illiteracy, job instability, and declining longevity while exacerbating existing problems such as domestic violence, teen pregnancy, healthcare, and poverty. The University has a responsibility to the community to promote life-long learning programs that make good use of campus resources and improve the lives of the community it serves.
The diverse student population and the University’s attrition rate points up the necessity for an increase in services that not only meet students’ needs but also the demands of the community as a whole.
Two-thirds of the University’s operating budget is spent on personnel; therefore a comprehensive system of human resource management must be in place. AAMU must strive to improve financial planning, budgeting and management policies in order to assure accountability and quality while promoting academic excellence. Perceptions of AAMU, as with any university, are reinforced by its outward appearance and professional atmosphere.
Information technology is the integral component to the overall success of the University as it affects instruction delivery, research and effective institutional administration. AAMU’s Information Technology Plan was revised in 2003 and relates directly to its Strategic Plan. The Plan provides a detailed assessment of current technological capabilities, automation priorities, budget allocation, and projected emerging technologies.
Alabama A&M University serves as a reflection of the unique tradition of land-grant institutions. It is a center of excellence providing an educational environment for the nurturing of scholars, scientists, leaders, critical thinkers and other contributors to our global society. In conclusion, Alabama A&M University provides a laboratory where theory is put into practice in a productive environment.   More detail...