New strategic plan maps out goals: Part 5

RELEASED: March 13, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—Centre College's ongoing promise to provide personal education that enables students to achieve extraordinary success, in addition to its commitment to playing a leadership role among the nation's colleges and universities, requires that the College regularly evaluate its goals for the future and map out strategies for achieving them.

Parts 1 – 4 in this series have outlined many of the initiatives set out by the strategic plan approved by Centre's Board of Trustees at their January meeting. The final two goals for information technology and finance and resources are outlined here.

The core goal for information technology as it's presented in the strategic plan is to use IT to enhance, not supplant, the core elements of the Centre experience: rigorous inquiry, community, collaboration and creativity. Centre will also develop and maintain the support infrastructure necessary to achieve and sustain this goal. As it proceeds, Centre has the opportunity to make an important contribution to the continuing conversation regarding information technology and higher education.

The following summarizes the many ways in which Centre plans to dramatically enhance the information technology experience of members of the College community:

Developing a "Learning Matrix," a multimedia information commons to be located on the main floor of the Grace Doherty Library. Numerous stations will provide services and resources including: reference and research; web and graphic design; video editing; presentation development; and video screening.

Making better use of opportunities for distance learning by investigating ways in which it can take advantage of the best elements of high-tech distance education while also exploring how it can export "best of class" material to the wider world

Exploring technology to record and retrieve audio and video for teaching and learning

Incorporating an "information fluency proficiency" into the curriculum

Significantly expanding videoconferencing capabilities

Expanding collaborative classroom technology

Adding computer classrooms

Examining policies for providing computer/information technology equipment to faculty and staff

Exploring the creation of a recording studio

The final section of the strategic plan focuses on long term initiatives involving finance and resources for the College. The plan calls for creating a financial base adequate to support the fulfillment of the College's aspirations, through effective management of current resources and the development of new and enhanced sources of support. The plan calls for developing the base of support necessary for implementation by:

Maintaining and enhancing the College's extraordinarily effective Board of Trustees

Creating and maintaining a model program of alumni and friend relations

Creating and maintaining a model program of communications, media relations and marketing

Establishing and achieving the following financial objectives:

• Having an endowment of at least $325 million by 2010 and $750 million by 2020
• Maintaining the College's leadership position in alumni giving while also increasing the overall giving and average size of gifts from alumni, parents and friends
• Growing the Capital Improvements Fund to at least $25 million by 2012

Reviewing endowment management policies and procedures

Reviewing policies related to the acquisition, use, management and sale of College properties

Reviewing resources required for full funding of current needs and activities

Over the next few weeks, additional Web stories will address other goals and initiatives of the strategic plan.

Centre's Board approves new strategic plan click here for goals.

Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 of the series "Centre's Board approves new strategic plan."

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.