Draft Strategic Plan
DRAFT - February 2024A Generational Moment
The Strategic Plan for Hobart and William Smith
As Hobart and William Smith enters its third century, we celebrate our history and remain ambitious for the future, knowing there is more to be done for our students, our community and for the world as it could be.
Domestic and global challenges demand citizen leaders with the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that a Hobart and William Smith education is uniquely positioned to cultivate: the ability to ask meaningful questions, reason carefully, communicate effectively and engage constructively with people whose identities, faith traditions, political beliefs and perspectives differ from their own.
Hobart and William Smith has a bold mission – to prepare students to lead lives of consequence – that remains wholly relevant.
And we have an equally bold vision – to attract and educate students of character and potential, and to meet their talents and abilities with financial aid that allows them to graduate with confidence and without the kind of debt that influences life decisions.
Our vision provides students with a dynamic residential and experiential education available through study abroad experiences, research opportunities, community service, athletics, co-curricular leadership and career preparation.
Our vision requires that we invest in our campus infrastructure so that Hobart and William Smith facilities and technology meet the aspirations of faculty and students.
Our vision is grounded by this place we call home – 320 acres of incomparable beauty on the banks of Seneca Lake and in the City of Geneva. This region provides students with opportunities for research, collaboration, civic engagement and service, and with models of leadership and a commitment to cooperative community building.
The Hobart and William Smith strategic plan marks the beginning of an exciting next chapter for HWS and reflects our resolve to graduate individuals equipped with the values, perspectives, skills and entrepreneurial mindsets that inspire them to imagine a better world and capable of making a consequential impact.
This generational moment is our opportunity to move Hobart and William Smith forward.
Our work together could not be more important.
Priorities
The Strategic Plan comprises four interrelated goals, each of which includes ambitious objectives that provide direction for our future aspirations. Underpinning these campus-wide efforts is a blueprint for a comprehensive campaign – Further Together: The Campaign for Our Third Century – that will raise the necessary funds to support Hobart and William Smith’s future.
the Academic Program
1. Strategic GoalInvigorate the Academic Program
We must ensure that the academic program is relevant to the changing needs of the world, engages students while preparing them through a liberal arts and sciences education and prepares them to meet challenges and opportunities now and in the future.
Objectives
- A. Create a New General Education Curriculum
- i. A new general education curriculum will reinvigorate the academic core of the institution. The new curriculum will be guided by our faculty and reflective of their scholarly interests. It will be grounded in Hobart and William Smith’s long-standing values of equity and ethics, commitment to global education, civic engagement and leadership, prioritization of independent thinking and in consideration of multiple modes of delivery. A compelling and engaging curriculum will enable us to recruit and enroll a diverse student body and will prepare students for careers, graduate school and professional school.
- ii. Evaluate all academic programs to identify opportunities to optimize faculty talent and with the goal of streamlining, developing and consolidating majors, minors and programs.
- iii. Ensure that Hobart and William Smith has the appropriate faculty and staff to deliver the new curriculum, and that those faculty and staff represent the plurality of the world students will go on to lead.
- iv. Consider a broadened approach to the curriculum through the greater use of technology to deliver content and through the year-round use of campus via the expansion of summer research and academic programs.
- B. Construct a Vibrant Center for the Sciences
Design and build a state-of-the-art integrated science hub on campus that will:
- Provide physical facilities that include teaching and lab spaces for interdisciplinary collaboration and that match the dynamism of our evolving science curriculum.
- Revitalize current spaces to complement the new facility and create an accessible center for all of the sciences including aquatic science, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, data analytics, environmental studies, geoscience, health professions, mathematics, physics and psychological science.
- Include spaces, features and opportunities that convey the centrality of HWS research and science to the broader community.
- C. Create a graduate program in the sciences that will allow HWS students to continue their research efforts as they prepare for doctorate programs, medical school and industry.
- D. Enhance student support with an advising model that builds clear pathways for individualized academic success and that ensures every student has the support necessary to thrive. The new model will provide each student with multiple mentors throughout the institution. The mentors will consider students’ identities, ideologies, perspectives, neurodiversities, academic pursuits, co-curricular interests and career goals. The advising model will assess and streamline services, providing students with the academic and co-curricular scaffolding necessary for a successful college education. Connections to peers and staff support will provide students with the tools to navigate challenges and develop critical problem-solving skills.
the Student Experience
2. Strategic GoalEnhance the Student Experience
Hobart and William Smith will empower students to become self-reflective world citizens by providing co-curricular learning opportunities that enhance student growth, skill development and personal wellness. We seek to empower students to cultivate their autonomy while fostering a deep understanding of their interdependence with their peers, HWS and the global community.
Objectives
- A. Address the objectives of the HWS Strategic Diversity Plan through collaboration with offices and departments across campus. Foster a community in which students develop a commitment to one another and to service as they grow to a deeper understanding of the relationship between self and others.
- B. Redefine the Residential Curriculum to create an inclusive and dynamic living and learning environment that leads to skills for independent living. Collaborate with faculty, staff and students to design innovative and unique residential experiences that make meaningful connections between academics and co-curricular living, promote community engagement and pride, and cultivate intercultural competence and holistic development.
- C. Increase the number of students involved in high-impact practices including living/ learning communities, student leadership experiences, community engagement and internships/research opportunities.
- D. Establish the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education as the premier resource of its kind in the nation by leveraging the momentum created by nearly two decades of national leadership in career services.
- E. Continue to enhance our distinctive global education programming by establishing new sites around the world, offering innovative short-term offerings during January and in the summer, and design pre-departure and post-abroad initiatives that allow students to prepare for the educational experience and to bring their global perspectives back to campus afterward.
- F. Enhance cocurricular programming and traditions that create community. As society becomes more diverse across all forms and expressions of identity, we must commit to helping students deeply understand and respect the multiplicity of identities and perspectives, their role in deconstructing exclusion, and the importance of preserving traditions that build community. To that end, continue the decades-long effort to build belonging by evolving historic coordinate traditions that no longer match students’ lived experiences.
- G. Provide opportunities and spaces for members of the HWS community to explore and participate in spiritual practices and traditions that respect the dignity of all human beings and of the planet, and that provide a peaceful focus for our lives together.
- H. Enhance Wellness Support
Create a holistic, nurturing environment that supports students in their personal and academic journeys by providing unique activities that address physical health and emotional, mental, social and spiritual well-being.
- I. Support Athletics and Wellness
Building on two centuries of success and recognizing that Hobart and William Smith has expanded its athletics program to 31 teams, invest in facilities, staff and programming that match the ambitions of our student athletes and coaches. This comprehensive approach includes support for our excellent Sports & Conditioning, Sports Medicine and Athletic Communications programs.
- J. Assess Mental Health Resources
- i. Promote mental health as an integral component of wellness. Ensure that HWS as the necessary mental health and counseling resources to meet the changing requirements of 21st century students.
- ii. Strengthen the curriculum and broaden the outreach of the Personal Empowerment Program and related support systems to give students effective tools for managing stress, building resilience and fostering mental well-being.
- iii. Develop comprehensive programming aimed at equipping students with essential skills to attend to their own wellness. This initiative will focus on empowering students to recognize the importance of self-care while also ensuring the availability of appropriate resources.
- iv. Facilitate seamless access to resources so that students will learn not only when and how to access support for themselves, but also how to refer others effectively and confidently to the available resources.
Enrollment
3. Strategic GoalGrow Enrollment
Hobart and William Smith will recruit, enroll and retain an intellectually curious and academically prepared student body, and surround them with a community of peers that will challenge them to think critically about the world and their place within it.
Objectives
- A. Increase the undergraduate and graduate student enrollment to 2,200 students to create and enhance a robust academic and cocurricular environment inclusive of a wide range of people, perspectives and ideas. This optimal enrollment level will ensure that we are using the entire HWS physical plant.
- B. Create transfer-friendly policies and procedures that streamline the transfer process for students, including knowing which courses will transfer and providing pathways for community college students via 2+2 articulation agreements.
- C. In order to best serve HWS’ growing graduate population, streamline the graduate application process for all programs and evaluate online learning to broaden opportunities for professional individuals to take advantage of HWS’ high-quality graduate education.
- D. Implement an equitable financial aid model for all students that optimizes the distribution of institutional financial aid and is sensitive to each family’s unique situation.
- E. Grow the overall net tuition revenue by adopting a prudent tuition pricing strategy, optimizing financial aid awarding, increasing undergraduate and graduate enrollment, strengthening retention and balancing and controlling costs.
- F. Conduct a thorough evaluation of HWS’ retention efforts led by the Office of Academic Affairs, the Division of Campus Life and the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. Create programs and advising structures that will increase retention and graduation rates.
Operational Excellence
4. Strategic GoalIncrease Operational Excellence
Deliver exemplary core services that support the campus community and efficiently manage Hobart and William Smith’s physical, financial, technology and human capital resources.
Objectives
- A. Recruit, develop and retain skilled, committed and diverse staff that are essential for teaching, learning, research, residential life and operations. Establish competitive compensation strategies, alternative pay structures, professional development opportunities and flexible work arrangements to ensure that Hobart and William Smith remain a top area employer that attracts talented employees.
- B. Thoughtfully manage Hobart and William Smith’s financial resources through optimal timing of the use of resources for projects and initiatives that improve operational efficiencies and advance its competitive advantage..
- C. Improve HWS’ operational revenue resources through increased net revenue and philanthropy and right-sizing operational costs.
- D. Fulfill the final phase in the HWS Climate Action Plan by taking the necessary steps to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.
- E. Invest in information technology systems, solutions and services that maintain and advance HWS in all aspects of teaching, learning, research, residential life and campus operations.
Financial Future
Securing our Financial Future
Through the launch of a comprehensive campaign, ensure that Hobart and William Smith has the resources necessary to realize its ambitions in support of the strategic plan.
Objectives
With a goal of $400M, the Campaign seeks to secure the resources necessary to:
- Increase HWS’ financial aid offerings through gifts in support of endowed and current use scholarships.
- Create an integrated science hub through the construction of a new science building and renovation of existing facilities.
- Establish endowed professorships and endowed programmatic support for faculty and academic initiatives including culturally inclusive programs.
- Expand the summer research and academic programs by investing in student support funds and creating sponsored research programs.
- Support innovation in the Salisbury Center for Career, Professional and Experiential Education and the Center for Global Education.
- Invest in wellness programs, operations and facilities that support the whole campus population including student athletes.
- Support a broadened and comprehensive advising structure to meet student needs and make enhancements to the residential experience.