Strategic plan efforts finalized and presented

After countless meetings, conversations, ongoing data collection and over one-thousand recent survey responses from members in all corners of the CSB+SJU community, the framework of the new Strategic Plan has entered its final phase.

The Strategic Plan aims to provide CSB+SJU with a comprehensive plan that addresses the needs and wants of students, faculty, staff and alumni. The administration will hold Board and Committee meetings related to the Strategic Plan on Oct. 19 and 20.

The Strategic Plan initiative has been in the works since President Bruess’s arrival in 2022 and is supplemented by the goals of Stronger Integration, which have become especially notable on campus following Bruess’s historic joint inauguration.

Chief Operating Officer Kara Kolomitz is leading the efforts for the Strategic Plan alongside Provost Richard Ice. Kolomitz said the creation of a strategic plan marks a strong turning point for CSB+SJU.

“Strategic planning at this point in the history of our two institutions is probably one of the most important inflection points in our history, because of the momentum moving forward with strong integration, our exceptional outcomes, what our contemporary students are signaling and also the really unparalleled way that CSB+SJU become a lifetime home for our students,” Kolomitz said.

The process for creating the strategic plan involved collecting data and testimonies from alums, current students and faculty over the course of the last year. This data was synthesized into three main planning “pillars:” Student Experience, Financial and Operational Excellence and Mission-Centered Practice. Each pillar has ten specific goals and an administration team attached to them who spearhead each issue within the plan itself.

Kolomitz emphasized that the most important part of creating these pillars and goals was making sure that community input was collected, particularly from students.

“The part that I think is a unique highlight in our process is that no voice was more important than the other,” she said. “There’s an entire ecosystem of need but those needs are all interrelated. One of the reasons I’m here is because the student voice is so honored and respected here. No one knows the needs of students more than students.”

Kolomitz said that the recent survey sent to students and faculty allowed the Strategic Planning team to learn what initiatives were most important or desirable to different groups on campus to make choices about which ideas take priority for the committees.

“Students might say facilities, since those are critical to our quality of life, and faculty might say time for scholarship and professional development. People who are in tune to market demands might say growing the endowment,” she said. “We care about so much…but we know from research that thriving strong institutions are institutions that are strategic and disciplined in their moves forward.”

Dean of Curriculum and Assessment Karyl Daughters is part of the Mission-Centered Practice committee and said that the committees will use student feedback and success measures to keep the strategic plan on track.

“Each strategic initiative will have a year one goal and be connected to specific and measurable outcomes [such as] student access to and engagement with resources [and] student success measures,” Daughters said via email. “Those features keep us accountable for the plan and provide a clear understanding of what it means to accomplish each initiative.”

CSB senior and senate Vice President Liz Hamak said she hopes that in addition to monitoring these success measures, administration will provide students with a timeline for when certain goals will be achieved. She said she hopes both student senates can also continue to play a role in helping the planning team complete tasks as the year goes on to tackle as many as possible.

“I think the big thing here, since we’re at such a turning point is just making sure it’s really transparent and giving people checkpoints along the way to give people something to look forward to,” Hamak said. “I think a lot of the ideas in the survey were really forward thinking, so I’m hoping that even if they can only focus on a few at once, nearly all those things they mentioned in the plan do end up happening.”

Hamak mentioned that for her, the addition of a committee centered around Benedictine traditions is an important facet of the plan since it takes into account the community values of CSB+SJU.

“I was really glad to see ‘Mission-Centered Practice’ up there in equal standing with Student Experience and Financial and Operational Excellence,” she said. “I feel like we have a unique role as a private, liberal arts, Catholic institution, and the Benedictine values are super important so I’m glad they elevated that to be a backbone of all the other things that are happening.”

The strategic planning board and committee meetings this week will allow the planning team to showcase their finalized plans and their findings from the recent community feedback survey before taking the first steps towards executing items in the plan.

Kolomitz mentioned that the implementation of the strategic plan comes on the heels of success with meeting enrollment goals for this fall and promising attendance numbers at various campus events, and the hope is for the strategic plan to use these successes as a jumping-off point going forward.

“It truly is the roadmap to the future. It is a very competitive higher education landscape right now, and we have so many competitive advantages,” she said. “We’re so preeminent in so much that this roadmap moving forward will ensure even greater regional and national reputation.”