In May, Southwestern University adopted a new 10-year strategic plan with the goal of making the school a better asset to the community and its students.    

With its vision statement of “Think, create, connect, to make meaning and make a difference,” Southwestern President Edward Burger said the plan provides direction for the school to live by.

For years Southwestern has been a part of the city’s economic development, said Conchita Gusman, who works in the economic development office for the city of Georgetown.

She said the university plays an important role in multiple capacities. 

“The university is one of our largest private employers with a major impact on our local economy,” Gusman said. “Generations of Southwestern faculty, staff and students have been leaders in the community serving in myriad ways through City Council, boards and commissions, the chamber of commerce, schools and for nonprofits. Truly, the relationship is more integral than any dollar figure could suggest.”

Burger said it was important to keep that relationship in mind when creating the strategic plan.

Creating the plan

When Burger arrived at Southwestern in 2013, the university was almost halfway through its Shaping Our Future 10-year plan. Burger  said that he and university officials felt the plan needed to be updated and after spending his first few years educating himself and making financial cuts, he began the process to update the plan in November 2014.

During the year-and-a-half-long process, Burger and his staff put together several drafts of the plan. It was then vetted by the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee and shown to the university trustees.

The committee, composed of 16 people representing the faculty, staff and students, asked for feedback from the Southwestern community and offered its own input.

Ben Pierce, a biology professor at Southwestern, served as chairman of the committee  last year and said including all members of the university community was important.

“I think a strategic plan needs to have direction from the top but also needs buy-in for everyone carrying it out,” Pierce said. “I think this inclusive committee was important in playing a role in helping Burger shape this vision.”

Two of Burger’s goals for the strategic plan were to make it attainable and useful, he said.

“Every time we do anything major at the university, any decision we make, it’s going to be how does it stand up against [the strategic plan],” Burger said.

Strategic goals

In the next several years Burger said he hopes to maintain a viable financial model at Southwestern.

“When I arrived the university was living beyond its financial means, and we had to do these unpleasant, but necessary, things,” Burger said. “Now we are living within our means, and that allowed us an opportunity to build a vision for [how] to go forward and be distinctive in the educational space.”

Burger said he plans for enrollment to slightly increase while still maintaining the university’s culture and infrastructure.

“What I want are engaged, curious minds, and if the person doesn’t have straight A’s [in high school], that’s fine,” Burger said. “I hit my stride as a student in college, and those are the students I want at Southwestern.”

Southwestern had 1,515 students enrolled during the 2015-16 school year, with about 15 percent coming from outside Texas. Burger said he hopes to attract more interest from throughout the nation and increase that number to 20 percent.

Burger said he also hopes to see school pride increase and student participation continue.

“Something I want to work on is to get students to realize that they are a part of a community that is not just a four-year experience, but a lifelong experience,” Burger said

Sporting events, including the return of the Southwestern football team in 2013, are helping achieve this goal, Burger said.

But Burger said he also intends to play a role in school pride. Burger said that upon his arrival at Southwestern, he made a promise to himself to wear a black-and-gold tie every day. He currently owns 45-50 of them.

Burger and newly hired Vice President of Integrated Communications Tim Cobb said they dislike Southwestern being known as a “hidden gem.” The two want Southwestern to be widely known and agree that showcasing its strengths is important.

“It’s important that we boil our message down to the essence of who we are,” Cobb said. “More importantly, how that can positively impact a student’s life.”

One of the things Burger said he would like to highlight is the opportunities allowed to the school’s undergraduate students.

Undergraduates have had their research published (see Page 20), are studying cancer cells and attending Southwestern’s own study abroad program in London, Burger said.

“[Students] don’t have to wait until [they] are out in the real world or going to graduate school to make contributions,” Burger said.

Implementation

Burger said that the 2016-17 school year will be focused on living out the plan.

“This coming year is going to be about finding out a way to live into the strategic vision and making [it] a reality,” he said.

During the first week of August, Burger and his colleagues met for a planning retreat. The main focus of the meeting was to create action items for the year and the plan going forward.

Paul Secord, vice president of university relations, said the past few years have been focused on securing Southwestern academically and financially, and now is the time to look toward the future.

“The goal of the retreat is to begin operationalizing the strategic plan and ensuring that everything we do as a university focuses exclusively on our academic mission and intellectual experience,” Secord said. 

Secord said the steps for reaching these goals, who will be in charge of implementing them and funding are all things that were discussed.   

“Putting the goals and vision into action is important for the university’s future,” Secord said.

Burger said making Southwestern the best place it can be for its students, city and culture are his top priorities.

“I want Southwestern to be the template for how the elite small liberal arts institutions can do education in the 21st century,” Burger said.