Presenting Our University Strategic Plan (Students)

February 4, 2014

Dear Rutgers Students:

I am pleased to report that the Board of Governors approved our University Strategic Plan today. This bold, five-year plan challenges our University community to work together toward a shared aspiration for Rutgers: to be broadly recognized as among the nation’s leading public universities—preeminent in research, excellent in teaching, and committed to community.

You can download a PDF of the plan or read it online at: http://universitystrategy.rutgers.edu/. 

Our plan reflects the participation of Rutgers students, faculty, staff, alumni, members of our governing boards, and friends of the University. During the planning process, we conducted a frank assessment of the challenges we face and outlined a strategy to meet those challenges.

While Rutgers is committed to every area of the plan, I want to emphasize that improving the student experience is one of our key strategic priorities. In pursuit of that goal, we will:

  • revamp academic support services, instructional support, academic advising, and career counseling;
  • create additional personalized learning environments, such as living-learning communities and honors colleges;
  • strengthen graduate education programs;
  • leverage technology to support learning and improve student services;
  • develop additional programs to provide increased interaction between undergraduates and our faculty; and
  • enhance the physical appearance of our campuses.

I am confident that achieving the goals we have set in our plan will advance Rutgers into the ranks of the nation’s most outstanding public research universities. But our work is just beginning. The next critical step is to form campus- and division-level strategic plans for Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. That effort, led by the chancellors, will be completed by the end of the academic year. In addition, in the coming weeks I will launch several University-wide initiatives that will begin to shape the vision outlined in our strategic plan.

With all the transformative changes that are happening at Rutgers and our 250th anniversary right around the corner, this is a singular moment in our history—a time for bold action to achieve our enormous potential. Together, we will build the new Rutgers.

Sincerely,

Bob Barchi