The Strategic Plan: Summary and Process to Date

Updated August 11, 2006

On August 1, 2006 the Board of Trustees reviewed the first draft of R-MWC’s Strategic Plan entitled “The Future of the College.” The Board voted to forward the plan to faculty and senior administration for consideration and comment.

The Strategic Plan is based on over two years of in-depth study, including market research and other internal research studies of women’s colleges that have become coed institutions and women’s colleges that have chosen to remain single-sex. The concise four-page draft document is a broad blueprint that will be brought to life by implementation teams appointed by the President of the College and the President of the Board of Trustees.

The Strategic Plan recommends that R-MWC adopt a global honors emphasis with experiential learning in a coed environment. Included in the document are:

• a statement of vision based on the rich heritage of R-MWC’s liberal arts curriculum with an intensive emphasis on preparing our students to contribute and lead in a global society;

• an acknowledgment of the value the College places on high academic standards, its faculty and staff, its students and their diversity of background, its alumnae, the strong tradition of its Honor System and personal integrity, and its commitment to a total education experience;

• a background of the strategic planning process (see Timeline);

• a statement of five goals related to the development of curriculum and pedagogy, student recruitment and admissions strategies, marketing and branding, implementation of a coeducation environment, and the adoption of a business plan;

• the acknowledgment of the Strategic Plan as a starting point for implementation planning through working groups.

After reviewing the comments from faculty and senior administration, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee will develop a final version of the plan and present it to the Board of Trustees (for review) in mid-August.

A complete copy of the final plan will be available if it is approved by the Board of Trustees on September 9, 2006.