Succeed Boldly

At Newberry, students come first. We strive to foster a culture tailored to the needs and priorities of our No. 1 constituents — our students.

• Engage an organizational culture consultant to assess current attitudes, environment and student spaces.

• Establish a student advocacy office, address student issues, establish student-first priorities and develop supportive institutional policies and procedures.

• Create space for students to connect, and for them to just "be students." Specifically design space for students into the campus master plan.

• Create professional development curricula around student-first actions and attitudes, including cultural competence and the history of the institution.

• Ensure hiring, onboarding, incentivizing, and regular evaluation is done with the student-first lens and leads connected to continued professional development.

• Recruit, retain and support the advancement of faculty, staff and administrators from underrepresented and/or marginalized groups.

• Implement a strategic communication plan which informs students about campus initiatives including inclusivity, opportunities and resources.

Newberry seeks to keep its academic programming relevant, rigorous and enriching. Here's our academic plan for the coming decade:

• Implement new programming, both traditional and graduate-level. Ensure a healthy balance of the liberal arts and professional programs.

• Streamline the core curriculum to be more relevant to students, leaner, and mission-centric.

• Design curriculum and calendar to ensure clear three- and four-year pathways to graduation, which create more time for experiential learning.

• Design and implement a premier academic advising program.

• Create a culture of talent management, including support and recognition of faculty and student academic accomplishments.

• Expand the student experience by working with students to become global citizens in an increasingly global and virtual world.

• Implement an action-oriented culture of program assessment and review.

• Expand programming Summerland Honors, Muller Center, student research, Gerding Authors, January and May terms, and more.

On this close-knit residential campus, the student experience outside the classroom is an inseparable part of a Newberry education. Here are our priorities to help immerse boldly:

• Improve integration of classroom instruction with residential programming.

• Expand student organizations, intramural sports and other student driven initiatives. Explore the addition of club sports.

• Expand student engagement opportunities to address diverse interests.

• Develop tiered student leadership program.

• Develop financial literacy program.

• Develop sophomore year experience and other signature programs for each year of progression.

• Improve student-athlete experience, including sculpting rosters, expanding competition opportunities and more. 

• Expand experiential learning, including a revisit to Fine Arts and Lectures (FAL) programming.

We pride ourselves on providing a high-quality education within reach — affordable, accessible and applicable. One of our continued goals is to improve our enrollment, both in quality as well as quantity.

• Develop and increase enrollment pipelines to achieve student enrollment objectives.

• Develop and launch graduate and online enrollment plans.

• Develop and execute the "hand-off" of prospective students to the campus community by connecting them with faculty, staff, alumni and current students.

• Develop, review and implement the student search process and communication plans to target specific groups of students to enhance the student learning community.

• Develop and execute an “Inquiry to Graduation” student engagement model to increase student engagement, retention and graduation.

• Develop and execute a student financial aid plan that leverages institutional aid to attract and retain students, and features new academic, athletic and co-curricular programs.

• Build enrollment partnerships with dual enrollment, two-year and baccalaureate degree-granting institutions.

• Create and implement a one-of-a-kind campus visit experience (in-person and virtual) for personal and open house events.

• Develop a student enrollment plan based on the academic and co-curricular programs being added, and identify the type of student to be recruited.

Our continued success hinges on the continued support of our alumni and friends of the institution. This means making sure that donors know their investments reap measurable, life-changing fruits for our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community.

• Successfully complete the Scaling the Summit capital campaign.

• Increase Newberry Fund and Athletic Club fundraising.

• Transform data analysis to identify new prospects and build the donor pipeline.

• Launch an endowment campaign to educate donors on the value of building the endowment.

• Expand the donor base with new gift types, including planned gifts, corporate support, grants and more.

• Strengthen alumni giving with affinity group and class reunion engagement.

• Enhance College visibility and donor growth with inviting activities and events, including Scarlet & Gray Week.

Successful ends go hand-in-hand with sustainable, effective means. Here are our objectives for the continued management of institutional resources:

• Maintain student access & affordability.

• Maximize earnings on investments consistent with mission.

• Establish annual operating budgets with 1-2% surplus.

• Pursue alternative revenue sources and reduce dependency on tuition, fees, room and board.

• Reinforce cost-benefit return-on-investment assessment on future business ventures and institutional initiatives.

• Develop multi-year plan to address capital infrastructure improvements, including deferred maintenance.

• Revisit campus master plan to ensure consistency with institutional strategic plan.

• Develop and regularly update a three-year operating budget model, annually increasing surplus funds.

No one lights a lamp only to cover it with a basket, but puts it on a stand to light the entire home. So it is with our success. It is our duty as Newberrians to share boldly the Newberry College story through effective communications.

• Understand current perceptions of the College and develop an action-oriented market plan.

• Create, test and market the value proposition of Newberry College.

• Redesign the College website to improve the user experience.

• Leverage good news on campus and alumni successes.

• Utilize data and digital marketing to target intended audiences.

• Build the brand, nourish it frequently and provide resources to strengthen messaging.

• Improve internal communications to ensure breadth of understanding.

• Conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of institutional pride and develop an action plan.