Into The Future:  Developing The Strategic Plan

In 1997,
Wagner College embarked upon an ambitious transformation of the academic program, the very core of the College. Driven by leaders in the faculty and the administration, Wagner reshaped its future, as the faculty and Board of Trustees approved the creation of The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It was the first step in the re-conceptualization of Wagner’s role in higher education and its responsibility to educate its students.

The Plan emphasized connection - between classes, across the curriculum, and to the community to which Wagner has been tied since 1918. The Plan formalized values that Wagner had long held, that the combination of a traditional liberal arts curriculum and the invaluable experience students could gain while enrolled at Wagner in New York City was the essence of the value of a Wagner education.

In 2004, the Board of Trustees, led by the Strategic Planning Committee.instituted a campus wide initiative that is to form the blueprint for the coming years for
Wagner College. Wagner embarked upon a strategic planning process to help define the future.

Throughout the planning process we have had the opportunity to reflect on our mission and envision
Wagner College in the future.  While progressive change, indeed the ability to adapt, will continue to be a hallmark of the College, it is important for us to establish a number of constancies to which we are committed.  These, along with our
Mission and Vision statements will keep our plan focused.

First and foremost, we are committed to our size and composition:

• Wagner College will remain an institution of approximately 2,000 undergraduate students.
• We will continue to be a residential college with at least 75% of our students residing on campus.

In addition, as a member of both the Associated New American Colleges (ANAC), and Project Pericles,
Wagner College affirms its dedication to the principles of the two organizations.  ANAC is an organization of small to mid-sized colleges committed to the integration of liberal and professional studies.  ANAC institutions are “committed to teaching and learning, a collegial ethos that is student and value centered, a flexible professional model that emphasizes  the faculty teacher scholar.”  As a Periclean institution we strive to “include education for social responsibility and participatory citizenship as an essential part of our educational programs, in the classroom, on the campus, and in the community.”

Our location will continue to define the educational experience at Wagner College.  We are unique, as New York City’s small, residential college which utilizes the city throughout the Wagner Plan.  The connection our students experience between our park like 110 acre campus on Staten Island and the vibrancy of Manhattan just a ferry ride away; parallels the relationship all ANAC colleges foster by combining liberal learning with “practice oriented learning.”  We are committed to the continued development of both sets of connections.

COMPONENTS OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN

In the following pages, we have laid out the four priorities for Wagner College, developed through the planning process:  Educational Excellence, Resource Enhancement and Management, Institutional Reputation, and Facilities Improvement. Within each area we will establish specific targeted goals, and each, over the coming years, will be measured accordingly.

STRATEGIC OVERVIEW

COMPONENTS OF THE PLAN