Strategic Plan Goals & Objectives

UNITE the Community

Priority 1:  Building our university community and creating a pervasive culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Goal 1.1: Create equitable opportunities that improve inclusion, belonging, and thriving for all, in alignment with Dominican tradition.

Objectives:  

• Increase education and communication about the Dominican tradition and the ways that it can inform responses to address issues of social justice.
• Solidify the DEI organizational structure to improve representation, inclusion, belonging and thriving for every member of the Molloy community, particularly, members of our community from marginalized groups.
• Enhance university-wide wellness initiatives that promote multiple dimensions of wellbeing.

Goal 1.2:  Improve infrastructure and coordination of recruitment and retention of diverse personnel and students.

Objectives:

• Use the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan as a living document to guide goals, related to the recruitment and retention of diverse student populations.
• Enhance and sustain diverse representation among faculty, staff, and administration.

Goal 1.3: Ensure that academic programs and support services reflect diverse perspectives, elements of a transformative education, attend to issues of social justice and integrate mission.

Objectives:

• Center principles of DEI in teaching and learning through the intentional application of evidence-based course design, pedagogy, and instructional practices.
• Develop assessments of curricula and student support services in alignment with the goals that are attentive to the needs of all students living on or off campus and ranging from first-generation to adult learners.

Goal 1.4: Articulate and address the connection of our mission as a Catholic, Dominican University with our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Objectives:

• Articulate and communicate Molloy's mission, values, and guiding virtues.
• Improve campus and community awareness of Molloy's mission and heritage and its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging through education.

USHER in Programs for Student Success

Priority 2:  Fostering academic advancement through innovative research, creative activity,  scholarship, and teaching.

Goal 2.1: Foster a culture of innovation in pedagogy and curriculum to engage all students to develop their skills, knowledge, and dispositions to transform local/global communities.

Objectives:

• Support faculty in effective pedagogy and curricular innovation through the Faculty Professional Center and the schools.
• Identify mechanisms to assess courses in the curriculum to address diverse learning perspectives.
• Create a system for sharing innovative instructional modules, techniques, and assignments that can be assessed on demand, and recognize faculty for innovative teaching practices.
• Create opportunities for faculty to interact informally with each other to enhance a sense of community.

Goal 2.2:  Ensure existing programs are consistent with current pedagogical disciplinary trends and redesigned to close equity gaps.

Objectives:

• Disaggregate and analyze student success data across the University to identify areas for improvement and develop targeted interventions.
• Review the general education curriculum to ensure that it is cohesive, meets the stated learning outcomes and objectives, and supports the Molloy mission and values.

Goal 2.3:  Expand the opportunities, financial resources, professional development and other support for faculty and students to engage in high impact research, creative activity, and scholarship (RCS) and instruction.  

Objectives:

• Increase faculty capacity to seek external funding to support teaching, learning, and research, creative activity, and scholarship.
• Increase undergraduate and graduate student research experiences and support.
• Expand external support for faculty and student research, creative activity, and scholarship across disciplines.
• Expand professional development opportunities for faculty dedicated to innovation.

Goal 2.4:  Expand our outreach activities with community partners that promote mission alignment.

Objectives:

• Build and strengthen community partnerships.
• Achieve the Carnegie Community Engagement Status.

Priority 3:  Engaging all students in holistic co-curricular and extra-curricular experiences.

Goal 3.1:  Increase student engagement in extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.

Objectives:

• Create and strengthen University-wide cultural programming and collaboration with diversified activities.
• Expand opportunities for international engagement and experiences.
• Strengthen the offerings of athletics, service learning, student involvement, and leadership development.

Goal 3.2:  Expand and assess the impact of student support services responsive to all students.

Objectives:

• Increase utilization and assessment of academic and non-academic support services.
• Restructure academic advising models to support and monitor student success and development.
• Expand support services in response to changing demographics.
• Enhance the student residential experience.

Goal 3.3:  Enhance the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual programming in the University community to develop the whole person.

Objectives:

• Create mission-based programs celebrating the arts, culture, and intellectual endeavors.
• Integrate the Dominican tradition by infusing ethical and transformative leadership opportunities inside and outside of the classroom.

UTILIZE Approaches for Sustainable Growth

Priority 4:  Implementing new and adaptable approaches to enrollment, recruitment, and retention.

Goal 4.1: Increase undergraduate enrollment and improve retention rates for all students with more targeted and data-driven initiatives.

Objectives:

• Implement recruitment efforts geared towards enrolling a diverse class reflective of populations outlined in the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan approved in 2022.
• Implement retention efforts geared towards retaining and graduating current enrolled students as outlined in the SEM Plan.

Goal 4.2: Build and expand graduate enrollment.

Objectives:

• Identify graduate programs, current and new, where mutually beneficial partnerships with local, regional, and national industries can be developed. 
• Enhance graduate student recruitment strategies.
• Improve completion rates.

Goal 4.3: Evaluate current academic offerings and explore new high-demand academic programs to determine the balance between market demand, mission fit, and academic strengths.

Objectives:

• Apply a data-informed approach to develop new academic programs that respond to community demands.
• Create programs that address expanding opportunities for adult learners, degree completers, and those seeking education to meet the needs of the regional workforce.
• Evaluate current enrollment patterns and programs to refresh academic offerings holistically.

Goal 4.4: Deliver leading educational opportunities that serve the needs of adult learners.

Objectives:

• Review policies and practices to be more responsive to support the needs of the adult learner.
• Develop custom programs to respond to the workforce development needs of local industries and organizations, providing career transition and advancement through continuing education.

Priority 5:  Ensuring financial health while achieving sustainable growth.

Goal 5.1: Diversify and increase revenue streams to ensure a strong and sustainable budget.

Objectives:

• Identify alternative revenue sources.
• Employ best practices for course offerings and organizational efficiencies.

Goal 5.2:  Grow and expand the endowment by building a culture of philanthropy.

Objectives:

• Update Advancement infrastructure to expand fundraising opportunities and implement best practices for fundraising to increase private philanthropy.
• Engage a larger percentage of alumni and employees in fundraising initiatives.

Goal 5.3:  Expand corporate and foundation support.

Objectives:

• Increase opportunities for foundation grants.
• Expand the number of corporate partnerships.

Goal 5.4:  Increase ongoing communication with alumni and the broader community to promote lifelong engagement.

Objectives:

• Implement an overarching communications strategy that includes outreach to alumni, parents, and the broader community to promote sustained engagement.
• Strengthen opportunities for alumni to share their "Molloy story" with each other and the broader community.

UPDATE Our Systems and Facilities

Priority 6:  Cultivating an institution-wide commitment to purposefully utilizing data-informed assessment for continuous improvement.

Goal 6.1: Adopt best practices using data in decision-making and assessment of all operational areas.

Objectives:

• Create a comprehensive data warehouse architecture.
• Develop an operational planning framework and assessment system.
• Evaluate the efficacy of website activity using SEO data.
• Employ and assess marketing and branding strategies to increase applications and enrollment in Molloy's existing and developing programs.

Goal 6.2:  Utilize assessment data in process and program review and improvement.

Objectives:

• Establish policies and procedures for support services review.
• Utilize assessment data in periodic academic and nonacademic program review.
• Utilize a lean process to evaluate all institutional processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness.

Priority 7:  Enhancing our facilities and technology to improve the student and employee experience.

Goal 7.1: Evaluate and improve the University's technological infrastructure, emphasizing security, mobility, and flexibility.

Objectives:

• Invest in an enterprise-class virtual computing infrastructure.
• Implement a comprehensive cybersecurity program.

Goal 7.2: Increase utility of current space and technology platforms.

Objectives:

• Secure funding and local approvals required for the completion of the final structures in the Facilities Master Plan.
• Establish a utilization evaluation process to make decisions on space allocation.
• Develop a software evaluation process for existing and potential new software purchases.

Goal 7.3: Create and sustain new and innovative physical and virtual spaces for teaching, athletics, research, creativity, and scholarship (RCS).

Objectives:

• Develop a comprehensive Instructional Space plan.
• Continue to study and address space constraints.
• Continue to analyze and interpret use of space considering flexible work models.
• Create state-of-the-art physical and online instructional spaces.
• Ensure that sustainability is a focus for Molloy.