Strategic Direction

The Framework

Our VISION directs our strategic focus for the next five years and is supported by five THEMES that permeate and empower the vision and are operationalized through INITIATIVES buttressing the five themes, with results delivered through annual TACTICS with assigned METRICS, RESOURCES, and ACCOUNTABILITIES.

Once delineated, we have an established strategic direction for the next five years, and each year, the tactics we develop serve as the building blocks of our annual work plan. Through this approach, each year's work plan ties into and aligns with our vision and five-year strategic direction.

Our Vision Directs Our Strategic Focus for the Next Five Years

One University, One Vision
As Western New England University enters its second century, we reflect on our institution's rich history and cherished traditions while boldly confronting the challenges and leveraging opportunities the future presents.

In the competitive higher education industry, institutions that embrace innovation as a mindset will thrive and WNE will be among them. While each of our four colleges and School of Law present unique assets and contribute to the vibrancy of the University, we aspire, through our shared ambition, to become One University with One Vision.

We strive to be a pacesetter among national universities with the advantage of being comprehensive yet personal, private, and nimble. By respecting our traditions, capitalizing on our strengths, and with a willingness and drive to be entrepreneurial, we will differentiate ourselves in the marketplace.

We will be known as a 'New Traditional University,' defined by our agility and motivation to create value as we seek an intentional and enriching approach in all aspects of the academic and co-curricular student experience.

As one university with one vision and a shared ambition, we are poised to respond adeptly to the challenges and opportunities of the future.  By so doing, all members of our University community—students, faculty, staff, and alumni alike—will benefit.

Vision Statement
Our vision statement guides us—providing the overarching strategic focus for Western New England University over the next five years.

"Our vision is to be a 'New Traditional University' that is agile, grounded in professional studies, and enhanced by the liberal arts and mentored research, that provides graduates with the skillset and mindset to continuously create value throughout their professional career and assert their humanity in contributing to a global society."

OUR VISION IS SUPPORTED BY FIVE THEMES THAT PERMEATE AND EMPOWER THE VISION

FIVE THEMES ARE OPERATIONALIZED THROUGH INITIATIVES BUTTRESSING THE FIVE THEMES

Initiatives for Each Theme

• Theme One: Provide a Student-centered Experience
  • Ensure every student graduates with a competitive advantage and a unique value proposition
  • Establish a streamlined signature common core curriculum for the three undergraduate colleges
  • Anchor the WNE narrative in developing the whole person who has a global view
  • Emphasize personal brand building, and the ability to articulate it, through activities woven through curriculum and co-curriculum
  • Focus on completion, retention, and progression and eliminate friction and barriers
  • Engage and mobilize alumni, donors, and volunteer leadership in support of an exceptional student experience
  • Provide students a personalized experience in discovering their unique "why" that prepares them to continuously create value and contribute to a global society.
• Theme Two: Become a Laboratory for Academic Innovation
  • Create an applied and experiential teaching and learning infrastructure
  • Form a best in class hybrid and online learning platform
  • Graduate all students who are prepared for the future, with essential human attributes and a value-creation orientation that cannot be replicated by an algorithm
  • Establish an Office of Mentored Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Projects that will operate on a self-funding basis
  • Launch competitive innovation and bootstrap funds for teaching and scholarship
  • Articulate a path forward for internationalization, global citizenship, and cultural competence
• Theme Three: Promote Innovation and Transformation
  • Create infrastructure to approve new programs and research support
  • Invest in multidisciplinary programs, centers, institutes, and experiential teaching and learning
  • Augment signature academic programs
  • Integrate living, learning, community engagement, and leadership opportunities
  • Establish an entrepreneurial, shared revenue model for new programs
  • Refine identity and articulate a path forward as an agile 'New Traditional University'
• Theme Four: Create Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Recognize diversity as a strength and a business imperative
  • Make the ethos of our culture inclusive for all students and employees
  • Instill and promote civility with a sense of humanity throughout the organization
  • Establish a starting point for diversity, equity, and inclusion as outlined in JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Strategic Framework (AY2022-23 through AY2027-28).
  • Undertake the goals and objectives of the JEDI Strategic Framework AY2021-22 that serves as the plan of work for the current year
• Theme Five: Enhance Culture and Excellence
  • Inspire an efficient, collaborative, and results-oriented culture among faculty and staff
  • Invest in people and infrastructure
  • Transform the technology environment
  • Reorient evaluations, promotion, and tenure to institutional priorities
  • Cultivate faculty and staff development and retention
  • Streamline student processes
  • Embed "Lessons Learned from the Pandemic" as part of our new way of doing business as an agile New Traditional University