Strategic Plan 2022-27

Higher education is undergoing transformational change. SUNY Geneseo views change as an opportunity to grow and refine our identity as a public liberal arts institution. Our intention to become the nation’s first equity-centered public honors college is a natural extension of our strengths and values, and its foregrounding in the 2022–27 Strategic Plan provides a unifying vision for the College.

The strategic plan elements of access, experience, outcomes, and infrastructure support that honors college vision. In addition, they align with New York State’s focus on increased access to an affordable, high-quality education and promote the development of the long-term structures that ensure our financial and institutional stability.

Focus Areas

Note: Wherever measurable outcomes are articulated, Fall 2022 data will serve as the baseline throughout unless otherwise indicated.

Access

Increase enrollment of all students, particularly adult learners, pre-college students, first generation, BIPOC, and other underrepresented communities, with a specific emphasis on accessibility and affordability.

Desired outcomes and actions:

Increase transfer enrollment by 25%.**

• Develop new partnership agreements with community colleges (pathways, guaranteed admission, and articulation agreements).**
• Expand need-based financial aid for transfer students.**

Expand graduate enrollment by 100 students through new program development.

• Identify and seek expertise to help determine where and how to grow graduate programs.
• Develop the infrastructure to support departments in program development.

Increase out-of-state enrollment (domestic and international) to represent 10% of the overall student population.**

• Expand out-of-state marketing efforts to increase the prospective student pool, name recognition, and yield.**
• Implement out-of-state tuition match scholarship.**

Increase enrollment of historically underrepresented racial groups to represent 30% of the overall student population.*

• Add two new college prep partnerships focused on developing pathways for students from historically underrepresented racial groups.

Increase first-generation enrollment by five percentage points over five years.**

• Enhance the first-generation experience from enrollment through graduation by creating a sense of community.**
• Increase access and affordability by providing additional scholarships to first-generation students.**

Decrease post-graduation college-related debt by 10% over five years.

• Expand scholarship opportunities to increase affordability and decrease reliance on student loans.
• Increase institutional match of federal work study funds to provide students with job opportunities aligned with their educational goals and reduce reliance on student loans.

Engage 250 pre-college high school students (in-person and virtual) by 2027.

• Develop partnerships with community-based organizations and school districts to identify and support low-income, first-generation, and students of color interested in participating in summer pre-college programs.
• Develop a series of two- to four-week online and in-person (residential) summer courses/programs for high school sophomores and juniors.

Student Experience

Enhance and expand learning, creation, and inquiry by developing new academic and co-curricular programs and restructuring and/or expanding existing ones to provide an honors experience for all learners. All opportunities should: promote diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and well-being; highlight experiential and integrative learning; and build upon our academic and community strengths while caring for the environment.

Desired outcomes and actions:

Reach a broader range of learners.*

Reach a broader range of learners by offering 15 to 30 new learning opportunities including a mix of pilots, strategically selected for-credit academic experiences (e.g., degree or certificate programs, microcredentials, and course offerings) and non-credit administrative programs (e.g., alumni programming, community outreach and engagement, professional development for community or corporate partners) by December 2027.

• Develop policy guidelines for and pilot non-credit-bearing programs, like professional microcredentials.**
• Obtain approvals for and pilot programs in two program types we do not currently offer but for which we see growth potential (e.g., post-baccalaureate certificates, microcredentials developed for post-baccalaureate audiences, Rochester Education Justice Initiative collaboration, more graduate and online offerings, and offerings at a Rochester site).
• Develop and launch new graduate and undergraduate academic programs based on market growth potential.

Implement and assess all components of the new GLOBE curriculum.

• Design and implement an assessment for the new curriculum.** 
• Implement all aspects of GLOBE through governance and ensure consistency with the new SUNY General Education framework.** 
• Develop campus-wide solution (perhaps ePortfolios) for documenting Integrative and Applied Learning experiences for all students.

Improve student success, retention, and persistence.

Improve student success, retention, and persistence by increasing by 50% the number of students served by the academic and student support services and taking actions to respond to the findings of the 2021-22 Campus Climate Survey.

• Strengthen the handoff from admissions to the New Student Orientation program.** 
• Rework the New Student Orientation to emphasize equity and advance students’ sense of belonging.**
• Offer a first-year seminar to every new student by Fall 2027.
• Expand learning centers, supplemental instruction, tutoring services, and the Accessibility Office, and investigate new forms of academic support.
• Encourage the use of academic support services by modifying the campus culture and providing faculty support.**

Assess the holistic well-being of the Geneseo student community.

Assess the holistic well-being of the Geneseo student community to improve the mental, physical, spiritual, financial, and academic health of students.** 

• Identify, review, evaluate, and implement existing best practices that have proven outcomes to implement or inform work of improving student well-being.**
• Assess the general well-being of students to determine the effectiveness of campus services and resources and create a well-being needs projection through 2029 based on current and peer-reviewed research to drive actions to address said needs.

Ensure that students' experiences are aligned with the College's vision to cultivate a distinctive, equity-centered public honors college experience.*  

• Strengthen the relationship between the residential experience and integrative learning through further development of Living and Learning Communities.**
• Develop equity-centered student leaders through a revamp of the GOLD Leadership program; highlight diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) as the program’s foundation and strengthen collaboration in all programming.
• Increase equitable access to undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity by improving support for faculty and students.
• Expand equitable access to all Integrative and Applied Learning experiences by addressing financial and logistical challenges.

Outcomes

Promote student success and community well-being by further developing equitable support systems, increasing persistence and graduation rates, and improving student placement in a broad spectrum of career pathways and career mobility over time.

Desired outcomes and actions:

Increase the overall first-year retention rate to 90% for the general student population.*

• Establish a first-year seminar for 100% of new students, introducing Integrative and Applied Learning, career design, internationalization, metacognition, and well-being while concurrently identifying  students in need of academic support.
• Implement a holistic student advising program.** 

Increase the overall graduation rate for all students by five percentage points.

• Develop a student mentor program connecting 100% of new students with an upper-class mentor in their first year. 
• Thread well-being into the fabric of the culture of SUNY Geneseo (woven with diversity, equity, inclusivity, belonging, and sustainability).

Narrow the graduation rate equity gap by 10% for historically underrepresented racial groups.*

• Continue to invest in intentional hiring of diverse tenure-track faculty to increase campus diversity and role models for students of color (SUNY PRODiG program or similar model).**
• Initiate more focused, intentional retention programming for marginalized student populations (BIPOC, transfers, etc.).** 

Integrate career education into the academic experience.

Integrate career education into the academic experience for 100% of first-year students, and ensure all students will experience at least one high-impact career mobility practice prior to graduation.

• Include career design elements in first-year seminars.** 
• Develop an on-campus annual event to connect alumni with students.

Expand alumni, emeriti faculty, and community friends involvement with students.**

Expand alumni, emeriti faculty, and community friends involvement with students as a part of curricular and co-curricular programming.

• Establish an infrastructure to partner alumni and emeriti faculty and staff with students to support academic and personal development.
• Find opportunities to maximize the Rochester presence to engage alumni and community friends.**

Expand and sustain employee development programs.**

Expand and sustain employee development programs that support career growth and personal well-being in all units across campus.

• Develop a comprehensive employee retention program to further foster a positive campus culture, including but not limited to a comprehensive employee onboarding program that supports new employees through the first year of employment.
• Expand professional development training opportunities and awareness of existing offerings to ensure access by all staff and to develop skills in key areas like project management and conflict resolution.

Infrastructure and Financial Sustainability

Continue to cultivate a sustainable planning and decision-making system, in alignment with our mission and values, that fully addresses the structural budget gap, increases revenue, enhances institutional financial health, improves campus infrastructure and further prioritizes the campus value of sustainability, including environmental, social, and economic stewardship.

Note: As of Fall 2022, the structural budget gap is in the order of magnitude of $10M and currently growing due to inflation.

Desired outcomes and actions:

Diversify funding sources and address the college’s structural budget gap.*

Diversify funding sources and address the college’s structural budget gap by generating income from the 15–30 new learning opportunities outlined in Student Experience Outcome #1 (reach a broader range of learners) by December 2027.

• Identify resources needed to launch new learning opportunities; establish criteria for resource approval before developing and launching pilot learning opportunities.
• Develop an assessment plan to evaluate progress toward the new learning opportunities’ financial goals. Use assessment to continue the course of action if targeted financial goals are met and to make adjustments if not.

Generate new revenue from a Rochester satellite location.**

Generate new revenue from a Rochester satellite location by December 31, 2024, and serve at least 100 new students annually at that location by December 31, 2027. Direct a portion of the new revenue toward the structural budget gap.

• Develop criteria for evaluating Rochester satellite new programs to include resource prioritization.
• Select, resource, and launch new or existing programs to pilot at the Rochester satellite location.

Increase restricted and unrestricted current gifts and pledges.**

Increase restricted and unrestricted current gifts and pledges by 10% each by June 30, 2027.

• Complete the Opportunities Rising Campaign by securing $45M in new gifts and pledges by June 30, 2025.**

Increase annual program funding contributions to the College from Campus Auxiliary Services.**

Increase annual program funding contributions to the College from Campus Auxiliary Services revenues by 10% by December 31, 2027.

• Adjust commission revenues to provide a greater percentage to program funding; implement new vending options.
• Increase meal plan revenue through increased enrollment; assign a portion of this revenue to program funding. 

Finish major building renovations on time, budget, and scope.**

Finish major building renovations on time, budget, and scope, in accordance with the campus master plan. Complete other campus renovations in accordance with SUCF-campus multi-year plan that includes priorities, values such as sustainability, funding options, and design and construction deadlines. 

• Finish Milne Library project by June 30, 2025, to advance priorities in the campus master plan and help support the strategies identified above in the Access, Student Experience, and Outcomes sections.**
• Finish Sturges Hall project by June 30, 2027,  to advance priorities in the campus master plan and help support the strategies identified above in the Access, Student Experience, and Outcomes sections.**
• Develop a multi-year residence hall renovation plan by June 30, 2026.
• Update priorities for non-residence hall renovation master plan based on priorities and resource availability.** 

Complete major upgrades to campus infrastructure (utilities and technology) on time, budget, and scope.**

Complete major upgrades to campus infrastructure (utilities and technology) on time, budget, and scope and in accordance with a multi-year plan that includes priorities, funding options, design and construction deadlines, and infrastructure projects.

• Complete IT network switches, IT network core, and WiFi upgrades (date TBD).
• Plan, bid, and complete College Circle  infrastructure project in collaboration with SUCF by June 30, 2025.
• Complete Fraser Hall roof upgrade by August 30, 2023.

Assess campus spaces and develop a plan to create more and better student communal areas.**

Assess campus spaces and develop a plan to create more and better student communal areas by December 31, 2025.

• Identify optimal areas to develop as communal spaces in our current inventory of buildings. 
• Prioritize the identified areas and commence developing the highest priorities as resources allow.

* Year 2 priority
** In progress/ongoing