From the cover
Transforming campus experience
Digging deeper
The big picture
Diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity Priorities: Retention Infrastructure Program development Compensation
The strategic planning task force specifically high- lighted DIBE and retention as the two most immedi- ate concerns for the tactical plan, with the majority of the tactics going toward these objectives. One reason for that is to uphold the “lifecycle of a student,” Trombley said. “You come and you spend four years with us, and then become an invested alum and you stay in touch with us,” Trombley said. “In addition to hopefully assisting you into graduate school or into your first career through our career center, you will also then choose to mentor one of our students and perhaps help them along the way.” One key accomplishment of the plan’s DIBE efforts is Southwestern’s new designation as a Hispanic-serving institution, which means 25% of the full-time undergraduate enrollment is Hispanic. The school is the first top-85 liberal arts insti- tution according to U.S. News & World Report to receive this designation. “This is just part of the growth that we have seen because that is a part of the population that’s actually growing when it comes to students going to college in the Southwest,” Trombley said.
Southwestern’s five-year tactical plan has five central priority areas: diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity, or DIBE; student retention; program development; physical and technological infrastructure; and competitive compensation. The strategic planning task force created these priority areas after receiving community feedback in 2020, Bednar said. “We had broad inputs, and we sorted through them and coded them and themed them until we saw these points of emphasis start to cluster together,” Bednar said. Four years in, the university has achieved 89% of the plan. So far, a key tactic has been making school more affordable for students, Trombley said. Decreasing student debt is the first tactic included in the plan’s funding priorities. “Providing additional financial aid to our students is absolutely essential because it’s really all about access,” Trombley said. “That is very quickly becoming a real concern of ours because of what we see as cuts in students’ ability to access student loans.” Other key accomplishments in the first four years of the plan include fundraising over $83 million, which contributed to successfully completing the $150 million Thrive campaign. The fundraising initiative began in 2017 and contributed to increased financial aid, paid student internships, endowed faculty positions and campus capital improvements. “When we created the tactical plan, we did it in aligning with our ability to fundraise,” Trombley said. “So the two were always on a parallel path from the very start.”
Funding priority
Cost
$100K per year
Decrease student debt
New academic advising program
$400K per year
Development of Advising Quality Enhancement Program
$500K + $10K per year
Develop inclusive teaching certificate program
$10K per year
Fund research to document efforts for inclusivity
$5K + $10K per year
Vibrant campus amenities for students
TBD
Student training and employment program
TBD
Develop a technology master plan
TBD
Staff professional skill development
$5K
Housing and amenities projects Phase 1
$30M
Percent of tactics in each priority area Compensation 11.1%
Improved faculty office space and classrooms
$10M
11.1%
Programming
Student emergency fund
$20K per year
38.8%
Retention
41.6%
Infrastructure
TBD
Increase hourly staff wages
47%
DIBE
NOTE: THIS TABLE IS ORGANIZED BY FUNDING PRIORITY.
NOTE: THESE PERCENTAGES DO NOT EQUAL 100% AS SOME TACTICS ARE IN MULTIPLE PRIORITY AREAS.
SOURCE: SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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