Strategic Goal 1

The first strategic goal, which is intended to augment "Focus on Transformative Learning Experiences and Educational Foundations," includes a number of proposals that would challenge and engage students.

As the description of the first strategic goal states, "Brandeis students will have an intense educational experience that matches their passion for learning and engagement.

This education will be flexible and individualized to enable students to realize their personal and professional aspirations, address complex problems, and act with moral courage in the service of social justice."

The strategic draft lists proposals to increase the number of Justice Brandeis Seminars; First-Year Seminars and seminars for advanced students; internship opportunities and the development of "signature courses," large classes that would include faculty from Creative Arts, Humanities, Science and Social Science to "engage students in considering ideas and problems organized around broad core topics or problems."

"Opportunities like JBS allow students to take what they are learning in the classroom and apply it to the real-world, which helps them to ... explore what working in a particular field might actually be like so they can make informed decisions about their academic and career paths," wrote Program Manager of Brandeis-Led Study Programs Amber Thacher in an email to the Justice.

"This type of learning and engagement enriches a student's academic career and truly embodies the mission of Brandeis. Expanding these opportunities will enhance the overall Brandeis curriculum and will allow more students and faculty to participate in this type of important learning and teaching," she continued.

The draft also includes a proposition to expand opportunities for combined bachelor's and master's degrees. New combinations such as a bachelor's degree in Health: Science, Society and Policy with a Master of Public Policy or a Master of Science in Medical and Health Informatics, as well as a Fine Arts Bachelor of Arts with a Master of Arts in Art and Museum Studies are proposed. In addition, the draft mentions strengthening graduate education in general.

The proposal also includes plans to initiate an Office of Educational Innovation that "will offer instructional design, workshops on online pedagogy, and consulting for faculty, graduate students, and post-docs ... [and] facilitate and offer incentives for designing new courses and experimenting with innovative pedagogies on the classroom, in the field, and online." The goal is to use technology to its greatest potential for educational use and research.  

Strategic Goal 2

The second strategic goal intends to support the University's research community by encouraging more interdisciplinary collaborations, examining ways to provide more assistance to faculty researchers and postdoctoral fellows and publicizing advancements made at Brandeis.

The first objective outlined aims to have the University become a "world class" institution "in a greater number of select fields." Although these fields remain unidentified in the draft, the process will involve exploring cooperations within and across departments at Brandeis, as well as with Boston-area scholars.

In addition, the University plans to invest more in resources that support research, such as the library and the Office of Technology Licensing, and examine ways to better connect researchers to sources of funding.

"This is the first strategic plan among the last four to include serious recommendations for the library," wrote Prof. Robin Feuer Miller, the Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities, in an email to the Justice. "Many of us in the humanities, social sciences and the creative arts, and even some in the sciences, rely on the library in countless ways, with, for many of us, books being at the top of the list."

The strategic draft also focuses on fostering the work of postdoctoral fellows, providing them with more opportunities to teach funded seminars or "special courses," as well as offering financial support and advising.

In the fourth objective, the draft looks at "enhanc[ing] public relations resources" and building the University's "national reputation." To achieve this goal, the draft aims to emphasize the school's "identity as a research university" and the contributions each of its professional schools. For example, the draft suggests that the Heller School for Social Policy and Management could employ "dissemination strategies" such as producing policy briefs and webinars in order to strengthen its reputation "as a source of unbiased policy information." The draft also calls for increased publicity for research done at Brandeis directed at a more general audience, not just for other members of academia.

The last objective intends to foster collaboration between departments by creating a committee to examine the activity and goals of each department, "engaging" faculty with the "whole of the institution," and giving more support to interdisciplinary programs such as Health, Science, Society and Policy.

The overall goal is to improve Brandeis' role as a research institution by providing more opportunities to engage in research and by publicizing its role as a major contributor to key fields. 

Strategic Goal 3

The purpose behind the third strategic goal is to retain and attract diverse, top-tier faculty and staff that will promote a higher level of learning and student growth. While the draft suggests that Brandeis is not currently investing in faculty as much as other institutions, it also characterizes Brandeis as a liberal arts university committed to research and learning, a quality that professionals recognize and appreciate.

The draft stresses the need to attract newer faculty members, especially since currently, 40 percent of the faculty is 60 years or older. With a large number of expected retirements on the horizon, investing in maintenance of the "faculty pipeline" by strategically hiring in sub-disciplinary fields, as well as maintaining a large amount of research-active faculty in educational programs that the University is known for, will help maintain national distinction in a variety of academic areas.

Another major goal cited in the draft was to increase the numbers of faculty in underrepresented groups. This will mainly be achieved through "cluster hires," groups of academics that span multiple subject areas, and in searching for faculty in the earlier stages of their careers. In order to attract a more diverse postdoctoral group, additional two-year postdoctoral fellowships will be created. The draft stresses that though hiring newer and diverse faculty is a major goal, the tenure system will remain an integral part of the University's mission. Newly hired full-time "masters-teachers" and professors of the practice will serve to inform the curriculum with up-to-date fieldwork without undermining the teaching of tenure faculty.

A third long-term goal for faculty excellence involves finding better ways of balancing the demands on professor's teaching time and research time. In order to ensure faculty time is well-allocated, flexible teaching schedules and lighter teaching loads will be implemented. Additionally, the draft stressed the need for increasing recognition of faculty through awards and other obvious forms of expressed appreciation that will promote faculty satisfaction.

This will involve expanding the amount and availability of research funds and supporting nomination of faculty for official national and inter-campus awards, as well as keeping employee compensation and other benefits competitive.

The draft outlines three main methods of sustaining staff excellence: Developing methods of improving the staff hiring process, maintaining retention through rewards and recognition and offering developmental opportunities for staff. The staff hiring process will be improved through examining fluency in technology due to the University's increased interest in using technologies that improve efficiency, as well as through conducting exit interviews that give the University a better sense of how to improve staff retention. Through the use of both informal and formal rewards, the University hopes staff will be better recognized for their work.

Improved developmental opportunities for staff will come in the form of increased communication between various staff support systems such as Library and Technology Services and human resources, as well as opportunities for career development by way of computer skills training and management and leadership training.

Strategic Goal 4

Strategic goal four of the strategic draft, titled "Building the Engaged Lifelong Community," focuses on strengthening the community of both current students and alumni. According to Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff David Bunis '83, a member of the Alumni and Community Building task force, "We are extremely focused on current students and instilling a sense of Brandeis spirit and pride." One of the goals is to extend this to alumni as well. "President Lawrence says it best: 'You are a student for four years. You are an alum for the rest of your life,'" wrote Bunis in an email to the Justice.

This goal also includes increased sustainability and healthy living, as well as disability services, increasing diversity in the student body and strengthening Brandeis' roots in the American Jewish community. "The [U]niversity has outstanding programs in Judaic studies and in Tikkun Olam [a Jewish concept that means "repairing the world"].  For alumni who are interested in these topics, Brandeis is the place to provide lifelong learning and involvement with a group of like-minded peers," Bunis said.

Alumni will be involved in programs on campus, in addition to helping Brandeis financially. This includes "helping advocate for Brandeis with prospective students, providing input and leadership for alumni programs, returning to campus for special programs and events, and by providing financial support and opening doors for Brandeis with others who might be interested in supporting Brandeis students, faculty or programs through philanthropy," Bunis said.

The exact ways these goals will be accomplished are not explicitly stated in the draft, which according to Bunis is because "alumni, student and campus community will be involved in the implementation." Although the alumni and students will have a say in how the community building will occur, some programs are already underway. One such program is a program for alumni who are lawyers, which "takes a group of lawyer alums to be sworn in together as members of the bar of the United States Supreme Court," Bunis said. Existing programs will be improved upon as new ones are created. "The strategic plan seeks to build on the strengths of these programs and expand them, with the input of key audiences, to serve these constituencies in new, innovative ways," Bunis said.

Strategic Goal 5

The fifth strategic goal within the draft of the strategic draft is for "Brandeis to ensure its financial strength into the future through stewardship that supports the University's academic mission in a sustainable manner."

According to the draft, Brandeis must be "vigilant ... in committing resources" due to the University's comparatively modest endowment and young age.

"We are stewards of this university, inheriting an institution built by our predecessors and bequeathing it to those who will come after us," the draft states.

"The prudent handling of our resources-our finances and our facilities-is an obligation as well as a necessity," it continues.

Within this goal, the more specific objectives are to "support the academic mission," "promote a culture of academic entrepreneurship" and maintain "campus spaces and facilities that enable and inspire."

This goal states that the University plans to integrate financial planning with consideration of academic and structural factors.

The draft says that "budgets should reflect the University's long-range priorities" and that "in assessing new and existing programs, financial criteria must be considered."

One of the action items under this fifth strategic goal is to increase transparency "so that everyone knows the rules and can access the information they need" by raising accountability, equity and predictability.

Another related goal is to "generate clear and explicit reporting documents for senior leadership and trustees."

Additionally, this fifth strategic goal emphasizes an increased investment in the physical infrastructure of campus including facilities, buildings and outdoor spaces.

This investment will take the shape of approximately $10 million per year (four times the $2.5 million that is currently spent on renovating and renewing buildings) according to the draft, and will "remove barriers to student, faculty, and staff satisfaction" by, among other things, "making our topographically inspiring, but challenging campus as accessible as possible for all."

"In light of the goals and priorities emerging from this strategic plan," the draft said, "we must develop an updated campus master plan." 

Strategic Goal 6

In order to effectively improve the quality of research, education and innovation at the University, the sixth and final strategic goal outlines a new system of gathering and evaluating initiatives submitted to Provost Steve Goldstein '78 by faculty members.

The process, described in the strategic draft, begins with the provost, who will establish a set of criteria that will be used to review proposals.

Criteria used for evaluation will include the impact the initiative will have on the University, how the initiative will "tap into existing faculty, programs, scholarships, and student interest," the initiative's innovation, how it will enrich the curriculum and if it will bring together multiple departments or produce collaborations with external groups and institutions.

Twice a year, faculty will have the opportunity to submit proposals.

The proposals will require a number of components, including a "summary of the idea," the motivation behind the initiative, a specific plan and timetable, criteria to determine the success or failure of the project and financial information such as cost, revenue and a budget.

The provost, along with a subcommittee of the University Advisory Committee, will examine the submitted initiatives and select a few to fund or evaluate further.

The proposals may call for the "creation of interdisciplinary programs, departments, centers, institutes or schools," according to the draft.

Appendix B of the draft lists several previously submitted proposals that have not been evaluated as examples of potential initiatives.

The initiatives include the creation of a school of informatics, an engineering program, an Entrepreneurship Center and many other projects.

The provost plans to make an official call for proposals before any initiatives are examined.

The draft states that the purpose of the proposal process is to "identify and promote promising areas of growth for the [U]niversity."

"Brandeis must develop a process for identifying initiatives that bring together different parts of the [U]niversity in ways that build areas of strength greater than their parts," states the draft.

"Brandeis is ideally suited to such a project because of its size and structure, as well as its unique ability to sustain both a liberal arts education and professional schools," the draft continues.
*