VALDOSTA STATE MAGAZINE 65 VSU wants to significantly increase the number and dollar amount of scholarship offerings in the hope of enhancing its ability to recruit, retain, and graduate high-achieving students. “Our ability to recruit and retain students is paramount to our mission,” Crawford explained. “We do not want to simply be a university. We want to be a great university, and we are.” VSU wants to support enhanced faculty development and make it easier for high- quality educators to pursue their passions in specific fields and conduct research that has the potential to improve the health and economic wellbeing of people and businesses locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. VSU wants to invest in new opportunities and technologies in the classroom to ensure its students are prepared to excel today, tomorrow, and for years to come. It wants to create a new Marketing Resource Laboratory, which will allow the Department of Marketing to provide experiential learning opportunities through consultation projects in the local community. It also wants to create a Southeastern Center for Education Innovation, which will focus on developing innovative approaches to creating more productive learning outcomes in K-12 education and teacher preparation; a Center for Experiential Learning, which will enable students from a variety of academic disciplines and colleges to engage with members of the community to achieve learning outcomes in a real-world setting; a Center for Business Engagement, which will allow the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration to expand its reach throughout South Georgia and North Florida by providing a wide array of business consulting services to the greater business community; a Center for Health Care Information Technology, which will seek to