Burlington College

Strategic Goals 2009-2114

Create. Engage. Transform.

The Mission of Burlington College is to guide students to become skillful and reflective practitioners, lifelong learners, and active citizens engaged in fostering a just, humane society and sustainable, beautiful communities.

Burlington College will benchmark progress toward the strategic goals and objectives that follow in of support its Mission and Vision. The operational foundation for these strategic efforts includes an open, inclusive community that strives to function as a cohesive team; attracting, supporting, and retaining talented students, staff, faculty, trustees, and donors; and development of processes, policies, procedures, and systems to become more efficient, transparent, and in-line with best practices.

1. Gradually increase enrollment to a headcount of 300 students, encompassing all College programs without giving up the values and distinctiveness of a small community.

The College recognizes that increasing the enrollment to a headcount of 300 is a campus-wide effort.

• Coordinating the efforts of Financial Aid, Admissions, the Business Office and the Board Finance Committee, the College will outline a tuition structure that supports institutional enrollment objectives. The College will explore various pricing strategies, and will implement a new tuition structure by fall 2010.
  
• The Marketing department will continue and expand a targeted marketing campaign to articulate and differentiate programs and majors, and enhance our reputation as a progressive liberal arts college.
  
• On average (3-year), 60% of incoming full-time freshmen reside in on-campus housing. The Director of Student Services will expand residential housing and student life opportunities in order to keep pace with expected enrollment growth and student/parental demand through acquisition of additional properties and partnerships with local resources.
  
• Additional student life programming will support institutional retention strategies by expanding on-campus activities and increasing attendance at said events by 50% over the next five years.
  
• The Enrollment Management Team will develop strategies to improve retention from its aggregate 5-year average rate of 59% to 70% to be more comparable with IPEDS peers.
  
• The academic committees, Academic Programs Committee and Outcomes Assessment Committee, will be responsible for strengthening existing academic offerings, and developing new ones. Academic offerings will be strengthened primarily by the Outcomes Assessment Committee through use of quantitative data collected about student learning with new narrative course evaluations instituted in fall 2008.
  
• New baccalaureate program development includes majors in both Documentary Studies and Expressive Arts to be launched in FY2010.
  o The Admission department will be responsible for increasing outreach and recruitment base in order to bring in the students. Percentage yields are expected to initially decrease; therefore, progress will be benchmarked by increases in headcount.
  
• The College will enrich opportunities available to its constituents by expanding local and global partnerships to internationalize and diversify the College.

2. Examine and respond to the individual educational needs of current and prospective students.

The overarching goal is to live up the College’s mission, founded on progressive ideals. In a climate that increasingly encourages standardization of education, BC will reexamine assumptions about structure, modes of delivery, and individualization to increase access to higher education and better respond to the needs of its learners.

• The Academic Dean will oversee committee efforts to strengthen the interdisciplinary approach and broaden the existing curriculum by promoting team-teaching in Core courses. The Dean will oversee departmental SWOT analyses and development of departmental mission statements in FY2010.
  mentary Studies and Expressive Arts to be launched in FY2010.
  o The Academic Programs Committee (APC) and Enrollment Management Team will assess current standardized semester calendar and consider various learning activity durations that can be modified without compromising quality of instruction or learning in FY2011.
  
• Various modes of delivery will be examined by the above committees to best serve individual learner’s needs. Possibilities include: on-line programming, utilization of interactive television, and sequential courses.
  mentary Studies and Expressive Arts to be launched in FY2010.
  o Beginning in FY2010, the Independent Degree Program (IDP) calendar will be aligned with the campus-based program to facilitate student cross-enrollment. The President’s Council will direct efforts to assess and evaluate this degree completion program to ensure it remains relevant to student needs and is administratively effective.
  
• APC will strengthen required internships to connect students with real world experiences by increasing employer contacts by 300% through FY2014.
  
• APC will clarify and systematize the in-house portfolio option in FY2011 to promote awarding of college credit for experiential learning.

3. Continue to lay the ground work for offering masters degrees

Institutional efforts to strengthen academic programs will be honed in preparation for a FY2013 submission of request to NEASC to offer graduate certificates and masters-level degrees.

• A feasibility study will be conducted by a faculty advisory group to be formed in summer 2009, to determine specific majors, compatibility with Mission and Purposes, and conduct research to confirm anecdotal demand.
  
• In spring 2010, this committee will propose the academic program(s): student learning goals and curriculum including means of assessing student learning and a plan to evaluate resulting changes in the institution.
  
• In summer 2010 pending approval from the Board of Trustees, NEASC will be formally notified of the College’s intent to submit a substantive change proposal.
  
• Current efforts to strengthen faculty credentials will be augmented by detailed strategies to identify qualified faculty hires; this will be led by the Academic Dean and Director of Human Resources in the following fall/spring terms.
  
• Simultaneously, plans for development of current faculty, increased library acquisitions, technological resource support, and detailed marketing strategies to include identifying target populations will be developed by relevant departments.
  
• Pricing strategies, resource expenditures, and budgetary impacts will be addressed by the Director of Finance.
  
• All efforts will be coordinated by the President’s Council with appropriate Board oversight.
  
• By spring 2011, Burlington College will submit a full proposal to the Vermont Department of Education.
  
• Once approved, a formal substantive change request will be submitted for the Commission’s consideration.
  
• The anticipated launch date for initial masters-level degree offerings is fall 2012.

4. Improve and expand physical and technological infrastructure to accommodate enrollment growth.

In addition to regular attention to operational details, the College will focus strategic energy on the following infrastructure changes:

Facilities:

The College will significantly improve and expand the campus, improve the visual impact of the site, utilize our location overseeing the lake, to full advantage, and improve our energy-efficiency.

• Following recent bonding approval for $1.75million from the Vermont Educational and Health Building Finance Agency (VEHBA), renovations to the existing physical plant in accord with 2007 NEASC Self-Study projections will take place between 2009 -2011.
  
• Additional funds secured by a 2008 congressional earmark will allow for energy efficiency modifications, including enhancements to student housing and learning environments, to be completed by the end of 2011.
  
• While not a traditional residential college, changes in student demographics and expected growth will necessitate additional residential options for students. The Finance Committee of the Board will oversee College efforts to take advantage when necessary of external opportunities for property acquisition in the immediate neighborhood.
  
• While the current economic environment constrains opportunities for a capital campaign, the current economic stimulus package presents opportunities for shovel-ready projects. The President will continue to work with the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges to attempt to secure this and other funding for campus expansion.
  
• Groundwork, such as site evaluations and architectural renderings, will be used to begin the permitting process with local government in 2009.
  
• Guided by careful fiscal management, the President, CFO, and Board of Trustees have preliminary plans to break ground on a new 16,000sqft building in summer 2010, dependent upon enrollments. (See 2007 NEASC Self-Study Projections.)

Technology:

The College must ensure that our students, faculty, and administration have access to quality IT services that enable state-of-the-art education and that we have sustainable models for IT enhancement as we progress. In order to improve student access to administrative services and academic records, the College will incrementally convert its information system, with complete conversion expected by 2014.

• Additional software modules to support development and alumni efforts will be acquired in 2009.
  
• The Director of Information Technology will be instrumental in the institution’s exploration of strategies for varying modes and methods for educational delivery. (See Goal II above.)
  
• Work with the seven small colleges in the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges to establish a technology consortium in FY 2010. This would include shared hardware through an established common server; a 24/7 help desk for faculty, staff and students; shared purchasing power for hardware and software; and migration to one or two shared platforms for internal and external functions with improved on-campus training to allow more experienced on-campus assistance.
  
• Apply for an initial planning grant by FY2011 to enable these steps to be implemented in as soon as time frame as practicable.
  
• Aggressive plans for improving informational infrastructure and capabilities are outlined in the 2007 NEASC Self-Study projections.