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Strategic Plan Pillars

 

Academic Vibrancy

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Marist will emerge as a leader in its student-centered approach to teaching and learning. Our students will benefit from the best of the liberal arts and pre-professional training through an education that is relevant, innovative, experiential, interdisciplinary, globally connected, and larger than the sum of its parts. Marist will empower its students, faculty, and staff to change the world through the generation of knowledge and societal impact.

Core Strategies

Enrich student learning and faculty engagement by making Marist a higher-education leader in experiential learning and student-focused educational practices.

  • Inspire student engagement and enhance outcomes by making studentfocused educational practices like faculty-mentored research and community-based learning prominent in all programs. 
  • Ensure that all students benefit from a high-impact education by expanding participation in programs like study abroad and internships. 
  • Deepen support for faculty to design and deliver more experiential and transformative learning opportunities.

Foster and sustain a vibrant intellectual community of teacher-scholars and practitioners eager to experiment inside and outside of the classroom, who are deeply committed to the academic and professional success of our students, and who produce ground-breaking scholarly, professional, and creative work.

  • Promote teaching excellence, innovation, and student success by equipping Marist faculty with world-class pedagogical and technological resources.
  • Empower faculty to teach, advise, and mentor students by examining teaching and advising loads and by closely aligning the evaluation and promotion of our faculty with our values and strategic priorities.
  • Strengthen our academic community by investing in long-term, full-time faculty positions.
  • Enrich the learning experience and help students build deeper mentoring relationships early in their academic careers by dedicating more full-time faculty to teaching first-year students and in the Marist Core.

Create pathways for student success by adapting how and what we teach, and through the development of programs that match student interest, societal need, and market demand.

  • Enhance Marist's suite of undergraduate degree programs by exploring the development of new, innovative, and interdisciplinary majors and minors.
  • Augment Marist's undergraduate academic offerings by exploring the development of new certificates, badges, stackable credentials, combined/accelerated degrees, and graduate programs in a variety of delivery formats.
  • Build early connections with high-school students, introducing them to the quality and distinctiveness of a Marist education, through the expansion of our pre-college programs.
  • Promote agility, innovation, and experimentation through the streamlining of processes for the creation of new academic programs and the revision of existing ones.

Ensure that Marist undergraduates make interdisciplinary connections, solve complex problems, collaborate, and develop leadership capabilities by investing in the relevance and distinctiveness of the Marist Core.

  • Empower our students to improve the world by investigating opportunities to embed leadership, global citizenship, and sustainability studies in the Core.
  • Ensure that all students benefit from the breadth of learning opportunities in the Core by making it easy to navigate, flexible, and experiential.
  • Foster and sustain deeper engagement by all students with the liberal arts by embracing high-impact practices in the Core.

Enrich the educational experience through a curriculum and classroom experience that reflects and embraces the diversity of our society and our world.

  • Ensure the impact and relevance of our academic programs by embedding and integrating elements of inclusion, equity, and diversity, as well as internationalization, in the Core, majors, and co-curriculum.
  • Build a strong culture of inclusive and engaging teaching among all faculty by dedicating pedagogical resources and embracing best practices.

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Student Centrality

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Marist will offer a truly distinctive student experience. As an institution large enough to offer a dynamic and engaged campus culture, yet small enough to deliver individualized care and attention, we will create an environment that allows each student to flourish. Students will benefit from world-class facilities, services, and activities that engage and develop the whole person and promote health, well-being, and overall success.

Core Strategies

Empower students to explore, learn, find and pursue their passions, develop their voices, and lead through the creation of a dynamic campus culture offering a rich array of co-curricular and recreational activities.

  • Promote student engagement, belonging, and retention through a robust suite of activities, clubs, events, and lectures that reflect the diversity of student interests.
  • Facilitate student participation in community-based learning, service, work, and cultural opportunities on and off campus through enhanced and better coordinated transportation options. 
  • Provide a superior student-athlete experience and contribute to the overall sense of community spirit and pride through enhancements to key facilities and Division I athletics.
  • Enable students to enjoy athletic competition, make and deepen interpersonal connections, and promote their overall well-being and engagement through enhancements to club and intramural sports.

Enable all Marist students to meet their full potential through the delivery of best-in-class academic- and student-support services that are personalized, impactful, and easy to access and navigate.

  • Assist all incoming students in successfully transitioning to college through enhancements to the design and delivery of pre-college bridge programs, orientation, first-year advising, mentoring, and academic support offerings.
  • Enhance student success through the systematic use of data to identify those in need of support and ensure they receive the services necessary to thrive. 
  • Improve coordination and integration across academic and support centers to make services simpler for students to find and utilize effectively.
  • Better leverage technology in the communication and delivery of support services. 
  • Ensure that support offerings and hours are responsive to the needs of all Marist students, including international, graduate, adult, and commuter populations.

Create an environment that allows students to thrive through a holistic approach to health and the many dimensions of well-being.

  • Offer expanded and integrated services for all Marist students through a centralized health and wellness hub.
  • Assist students in navigating challenges through a more dedicated case-management approach that connects students with relevant on- and off-campus resources.
  • Develop additional resources for students experiencing unexpected hardships—in order to cover basic needs including food, transportation, and housing, including during breaks and intersessions.

Ensure that all students have equal access to every benefit Marist offers by integrating principles of equity across the student experience.

  • Promote equity in the academic experience by identifying and addressing any disparities in educational outcomes or student success measures based on demographic traits or intersectional identities.
  • Ensure that Marist students have equitable access to co-curricular offerings, including opportunities to participate in mentored research, internships, and short-term or semester-long study-abroad programs.
  • Promote equitable access to resources and recreational opportunities across student populations and identities.

Amplify the transformative power of an in-person educational experience through investments in student-centered spaces and resources.

  • Build a culture of engagement, collaboration, experimentation, and creativity through the activation of outdoor and indoor spaces where students can build relationships and gather to perform, collaborate, or work independently on projects and creative activities.
  • Investigate opportunities to deliver intellectual, social, cultural, and cocurricular programming through expanded living-learning communities in the residence halls.
  • Invest in physical spaces and support structures that enhance the graduate, commuter, international, and adult student experience.

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Expansive Community

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We will bring Marist to the world and the world to Marist, building a broader community and richer learning environment for all. Marist will foster a deep sense of connection and belonging among its internal, local, and global communities, one which will span generations of students and foster lifelong connection and engagement. Marist’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive community will allow the institution to introduce itself to new audiences, attracting talent from an increasingly diverse range of geographies and backgrounds.

Core Strategies

Expand the Marist community through the recruitment, retention, and support of an increasingly talented and diverse faculty, staff, and student body.

  • Ensure that the student body reflects the plurality of our society and world through the recruitment and retention of students with great potential from different identities, backgrounds, and experiences.
  • Make a Marist education more accessible and affordable to talented students from all socioeconomic backgrounds by directing resources to better meet student financial need.
  • Increase the representation of racial, ethnic, and other forms of diversity among faculty and staff through the latest techniques and tools in talent acquisition, and the availability of relevant resources and supports for search committees. 
  • Engage, professionally develop, and retain diverse faculty and staff with rich and supportive programming, resources, mentoring, and policies.

Foster and sustain a strong sense of belonging and inclusion so that every member of the Marist community feels welcome, supported, and valued.

  • Foster a vibrant, supportive, and inclusive campus culture through ongoing learning opportunities that celebrate differences and encourage open dialogue.
  • Create a reflective and thoughtful culture committed to continuous improvement through the regular assessment of the campus climate.
  • Make the campus increasingly accessible and inclusive, through the adoption of Universal Design principles and incorporation of elements to make physical spaces more welcoming to all.

Build upon Marist's strong international foundations to deepen our institution's connection with the world and to empower members of our community to succeed in and contribute to a society that is globally interconnected and interdependent.

  • Ensure the vitality of signature international programs and locations, including the Florence branch campus and Dublin and Madrid sites, through investments that enhance the student experience and promote student success.
  • Broaden student participation in a variety of international programs, enhancing access across all student populations and disciplines.
  • Expand education abroad opportunities in geographies such as Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Americas, and the Middle East, alongside Marist's traditional strengths in Europe.
  • Make Marist's Poughkeepsie campus a premier destination for international faculty, staff, and students through the development of robust resources, services, and culturally responsive programming.

Enhance the academic experience as well as Marist's reputation and reach through new and deepened connections with signature industry, academic, and community partners.

  • Build on the success of our distinctive Centers of Excellence such as the Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership and Marist Poll to attract students and allow them vibrant co-curricular experiences.
  • Explore opportunities to develop new, and enhance existing, corporate and nonprofit partnerships and centers that enhance teaching, learning, scholarship, and career outcomes.
  • Investigate opportunities to enrich the academic environment and raise Marist's profile through the development of consortia, the hosting of academic conferences, or the creation of partnerships with other educational institutions, especially those in the Hudson Valley.
  • Deepen our connections to the greater Poughkeepsie and Hudson Valley communities, including the development of impactful civic and community engagement opportunities that enhance the educational experience for students while benefitting the local community through Marist’s talent and resources.

Ensure that our growing alumni population feels a deep and lifelong sense of belonging through the creation of new and the strengthening of existing opportunities for academic, professional, and personal connections with Marist.

  • Continue to engage the alumni population in the intellectual, cultural, and social life of the University through communications, in-person events, and virtual programs.
  • Meet the ongoing educational and professional needs of alumni throughout their lifetimes, through a variety of continuing education, networking, and career services offerings.
  • Expand opportunities for alumni to support current and future Marist students through philanthropy, mentorship, networking, internship and job opportunities, and admissions-focused events and programs.