Strategic Directions 2010

 

In December 2004, the Board of Trustees of the College of Saint Benedict and the Board of Regents of Saint John’s University approved Strategic Directions 2010, a blueprint designed to secure the future of the colleges as premier, Catholic, undergraduate, liberal arts institutions.  The plan was designed around four foundational learning designs and three critical support designs.  Strategic Directions 2010 is a living document reviewed and updated annually by the Boards.

FOUNDATIONAL LEARNING DESIGNS

Liberal Learning Design

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will be recognized nationally as premier, residential, liberal arts colleges inspired by Catholic and Benedictine community tradition:

• Providing a liberal arts education that is demanding, engaging, disciplinary and integrative, and that prepares students for engaging life work and a lifetime of continued learning and growth.
• Emphasizing and nurturing academic excellence and the individual development of each student through exceptional classroom experiences that are extended, enriched, and reinforced by experiential education programs.

Key Coordinate Strategic Objectives, 2005-06:

1. Approve an integrated core curriculum reflecting distinctive institutional characteristics and experiential education requirements.
2. Assess best opportunities to enrich disciplinary learning.
3. Identify and select signature academic programs.
4. Enhance international education as a national model for integrating global and experiential learning on campus and abroad.
5. Develop a defined set of programs encouraging integrated learning and student immersion in support of stronger academic ethos.
6. Provide incentives for faculty to regularly present scholarship and creative work to national audiences.

Residential Learning Design

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will be recognized nationally as leading residential environments for student learning that foster community, are transformative, and integrate learning.

Key Coordinate Strategic Objectives, 2005-06:

1. Implement a targeted program for staff and faculty development addressing the educational needs and aspirations of CSB/SJU students.
2. Develop a defined set of programs encouraging integrated learning and student immersion in support of stronger academic ethos.
3. Enhance residential facilities and core residential programming to foster community life and strengthen the environment for learning.
4. Develop an enhanced student responsibility culture that diminishes the role of the alcohol subculture in favor or a culture fostering healthy, respectful, and generous living.

Spiritual Learning Design

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will be recognized nationally as vital centers of Catholic and Benedictine culture:

• Expressing and embodying the colleges’ Catholic and Benedictine values and heritage.
• Providing a nationally distinctive program for students of all faiths to engage deeply in spiritual inquiry and development.
• Promoting thought and scholarship in theology and religious culture.

Key Coordinate Strategic Objectives, 2005-06:

1. Consolidate programs strengthening faculty and staff capacity to contribute to Catholic, Benedictine educational values.
2. Develop nationally distinctive programs for students of all faiths to deeply engage in spiritual inquiry and development.
3. Consider dedicated time for communal learning and reflection in the annual academic calendar.

Gender Learning Design

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will be recognized nationally as institutions for student learning and faculty scholarship in gender education. 

Key Coordinate Strategic Objectives, 2005-06:

1. Infuse gender studies throughout the curriculum.
2. Provide incentives for significant undergraduate research on the scholarship of gender.
3. Promote CSB/SJU gender scholarship nationally and internationally.
4. Articulate and assess gender development goals for CSB/SJU programs and services.

SUPPORT DESIGNS

Student Composition Design

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will maintain their student academic profile and become more racially and ethnically, geographically, and socioeconomically diverse. 

Key Coordinate Strategic Objectives, 2005-06:

1. Increase enrollment of American students of color to 6% of all undergraduates.
2. Increase the socioeconomic diversity of students.
3. Preserve and strengthen enrollment of international students.
4. Increase enrollment of non-Minnesota students to 21% of all undergraduates.
5. Increase enrollment of students from the Twin Cities metropolitan area to 55% of all Minnesota students.

Racial and Ethnic Diversity Design

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will provide an academic and residential environment that embraces and nurtures racial and ethnic diversity. 

Key Coordinate Strategic Objectives, 2005-06:

1. Create an institutional direction to guide activities supporting the education of underrepresented students.
2. Strengthen the effectiveness of multi-cultural programs to serve all students, including those from underrepresented populations.

National Visibility and Distinctiveness Design

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will attain national recognition for their shared distinctive identity and institutional excellence. 

Key Coordinate Strategic Objectives, 2005-06:

1. Achieve measurable gains for both CSB and SJU in the indicators used to rank liberal arts colleges nationally.
2. Achieve greater parity between CSB and SJU in national rankings of liberal arts colleges.
3. Achieve measurable gains for CSB/SJU in programmatic national recognition, including the sciences, international study, and the fine arts.
4. Articulate a vision for a nationally distinctive core curriculum.
5. Provide incentives for faculty to regularly present scholarship and creative work to national audiences.
6. Institute systems to encourage faculty and staff to publish in national news and opinion print media.
7. Make significant progress toward achieving Phi Beta Kappa chapter status.
8. Demonstrate student achievement by increasing the number of students who seek and win competitive national fellowships.