Bertolon School of Business Strategic Plan (2022-2028)

EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF POSSIBILITY

STRATEGIC PLAN 2022 – 28

Mission

Provide innovative and accessible education grounded in experiential learning and applied research to prepare a diverse community of global-minded business graduates who contribute responsibly to the growth of their communities.

Vision

To be recognized as the preeminent business school on the North Shore offering innovative experiential curriculum, impactful research and an inclusive collaborative environment that produces confident graduates from diverse backgrounds who are ready to lead and serve.

Values

• Success of all our students: Student success is primary in all our policies and actions. We ensure that all students irrespective of their backgrounds have a similar chance to succeed and grow.

• Innovation and Collaboration: We strive to continuously improve our practices in teaching, research, service and student engagement, and we believe that the best innovations and improvements happen through collaboration with the broader community.

• Equity, Inclusion and Belonging: We celebrate diversity of our students, staff, faculty and the communities we serve, and we strive to build a collaborative intellectual community that pursues equity, inclusiveness and a sense of belonging in all its actions.

• Respect, Impact and Sustainability: We believe that our engagement with each other should be based on mutual respect, our teaching, research and engagement efforts should have an impact and all our actions and policies should be sustainable.

BERTOLON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS 2022-28 STRATEGIC PLAN

Increase Awareness of BSB’s brand and our Unique Value Proposition.

Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in our policies, practices and programs.

Empower all students to succeed academically and professionally.

Provide the infrastructure and promote a collaborative culture focused on innovation, impactful teaching and research and societal engagement.

Sucess of

All Students

Secure financial resources to support strategic initiatives.

Develop lasting relationships with the community that benefit our students and the region.

Support faculty and staff development, maintain personnel to ensure a sustainable S/F ratio.

Goal 1: Empower all students to succeed academically and professionally

Objectives (Initiatives) and Action Steps:

A. Increase the number of students participating in internships

i. Enhance financial support for unpaid internships

ii. Review and revise eligibility criteria for internships

iii. Increase internship partners

iv. Make BUS 220 pre-requisite for internships

v. Explore apprenticeship program implementation

B. Increase the number of students participating in professional development workshops, shadowing and mentoring

i. Promotion of these events by faculty and peer mentors

ii. Promotion via TV screens and social media

C. Continue to expand innovative programming

i. More minors

ii. 4+1 MBA

iii. MBA concentration in Analytics (STEM)

iv. Increase participation in SMIF, VITA, BUS Pitch, etc.

v. Proposal through university governance to allow minors in business disciplines

D. Increase enrollment in our graduate programs

i. Offer more flexible course delivery method

ii. Graduate Program Coordinators to prepare highlights of our programs

iii. Continual meetings with Enrollment Management to highlight our points of pride

E. Enhance opportunities and increase student participation in our of class experiential education

i. Identify additional financial support

ii. Increase community partnerships

iii. Faculty support for field trips

iv. Encourage industry certifications

F. Enhance support for students academically and professionally

i. Identify struggling students early (Mentor Pro)

ii. Connect students with university resources (Mentor Pro)

iii. Peer Tutors

Goal 2: Provide the infrastructure and promote a collaborative culture focused on innovation, impactful teaching and research and societal engagement

Objectives (Initiatives) and Action Steps:

A. Increase the number of courses incorporating in-class projects or service learning.

i. Identify courses with potential for project-based or service learning

ii. Develop partnerships with local organizations

iii. Provide support for course re-design

B. Enhance faculty and student global exposure through innovative programming and policies including 1-2-1, COIL, study abroad, faculty led study trips abroad, Fulbright, etc.

i. Provide faculty development on integrating global content

ii. Promote study abroad

iii. Assess impact of COIL and identify partners for continuing

iv. Collaboration with CIE and CRCA for Fulbright training for faculty

C. Encourage and recognize faculty research that impacts student success and/or society.

i. Provide grant-writing training

ii. Facilitate inter-disciplinary research groups

iii. Expand the award and recognition system

iv. Create a formal student/ faculty research program

v. Capitalize on current industry partnerships for research purposes

vi. Provide support for summer research

vii. Enhance social media promotion of faculty accomplishments

D. Refine the assessment system as it relates to assurance of learning and ensure consistency.

i. Create acceptable benchmarks

ii. Review and revise current learning goals and/or rubrics

iii. Increase the range of scores possible

iv. Enhance faculty engagement with Assessment plan (every faculty meeting)

v. Provide training as needed for assessment (use of rubrics and canvas)

vi. Department curriculum committee to ensure common assignments

E. Develop an assessment system for the strategic plan.

i. Create a list of KPIs associated with goals

ii. Schedule strategic review meetings

iii. Check initiatives/action items against SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound

iv. Create/update data dashboard

v. Assign team leads for goals/objectives

vi. Develop reporting templates for departments

vii. Set regular timeline for assessment

viii. Centralize data storage/access

ix. Share results often and incentivize participation

x. Shift committee structure to line up with strategic goal or create a matrix structure with ‘functional’ committees and strategic goal committees

xi. Publish an internal newsletter twice a year

F. Enhance curricular innovation

i. Apply for curriculum innovation grant

ii. Undertake more collaboration among BSB disciplines and with other university- wide departments – Criminal Justice, Computer Science, Healthcare Studies

iii. Hold faculty workshops on emerging technologies

iv. Technology and AI readiness workshops for faculty and students

v. Review and propose changes to courses and curriculum

Goal 3: Develop lasting relationships with the community that benefit our students and the region

Objectives (Initiatives) and Action Steps:

A. Promote and incentivize faculty and student participation in impactful societal engagement

i. Conduct a cost benefit analysis of utilizing Riipen to identify and manage micro internship projects

ii. Increase engagement of Center for Entrepreneurship in bringing projects to courses

iii. Support faculty - community member connection building

B. Increase opportunities for alumni engagement in curricular and extracurricular activities

i. Create and maintain database of interested alumni as guest speakers, panelists, judges, mentors, summit meeting participants and other event attendees etc.

C. Expand Advisory Board Membership and Engagement

i. Identify gaps and recruit more members

ii. Increase Advisory board engagement in strategic initiatives

iii. Increase advisory board member giving

D. Expand Community Engagement

i. Update current database and add new partners

ii. Create a monthly partner outreach program newsletter

iii. Hire an experiential education and community engagement coordinator

E. Merge the Center for Entrepreneurship with the Center for Economic Development and Sustainability (CEEDS)

i. Develop a strategic plan for CEEDS

ii. Appoint two faculty fellows, one from BSB one from Economic Development and Sustainability

iii. Hire a PT Exec Director

Goal 4: Support

faculty and staff development, maintain personnel to ensure a sustainable S/F ratio

Objectives (Initiatives) and Action Steps:

A. Encourage F-F and F-S research collaboration

i. Create course-release or summer workgroup opportunities for FT faculty member to devote sufficient time to identifying collaborative research opportunities with colleagues

B. Develop a hiring plan for each concentration (that considers student population, future developments and faculty turnover).

i. Review course enrollment trends and history of courses taught by all faculty

ii. Forecast needs based on faculty attrition

C. Improve availability of resources to recruit and retain talented faculty and staff

i. Designate more funding to advertise SSU/BSB

ii. Continue to provide social interaction opportunities

iii. Provide funding for ACUE training

D. Develop a mentoring program for junior faculty and staff

i. Partner all new hires with tenured faculty or senior staff to enhance engagement and review personnel actions, AACSB FQ guidelines, etc.

E. Enhance faculty and staff professional development

i. Increase Professional Development Funds for conference presentation

ii. Provide opportunities for ACUE training to all faculty who have yet to be trained

iii. Identify opportunities and encourage staff for professional development

F. Develop opportunities for summer research funding for tenured faculty

i. Continue model used in Summer 2024 and 2025; advocate for additional funding (if necessary)

Goal 5: Secure financial resources to support strategic initiatives

Objectives (Initiatives) and Action Steps:

A. Funds to support the development and operations of the Bloomberg lab and Business Analytics Lab for at least three years rolling

i. Engagement with donors through advancement

ii. Identify ways to raise revenue through analytics lab

B. Funds for programmatic and operational enhancement

i. Advocate for more institutional funding and advertising for grad programs

ii. Increase number of grad assistantships

iii. Identify opportunities for grad students’ internships

C. Raise funds to support experiential education - Bus Pitch, Internships, Field Trips, Study Abroad and more

i. Increase advisory board participation in sponsorship of Bus Pitch competition

ii. Engage with Advancement for creative solicitation for internships, apprenticeships and other field experiences

iii. Continue to support NSCC events, board membership and articles in their magazine

D. Increase scholarship opportunities for our undergrad students

i. Outreach to donors through advancement

ii. Information campaign for students to apply for scholarships

E. Enhance Funding for faculty scholarly activities

i. Increase APRs for faculty

ii. Continue financial awards for research

iii. Increase support for faculty research - grad assistants, AI in lab

iv. Increase funding for conference presentations

Goal 6: Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in our policies, practices and programs.

Objectives (Initiatives) and Action Steps:

A. Review policies and procedures to ensure asset based inclusive language in all aspects

i. Assign task of review to all committees

ii. Recommend and update in all policies/procedures as recommended by specific committees

B. Find ways to enhance a sense of belonging among all classes of students, staff and faculty.

i. Encourage faculty, staff and students to join BIAC and JEDI groups

ii. Organize 3-4 social get-togethers in each academic year

C. Minimize gap between faculty demographic and student demographic

i. Build additional articulation agreements with schools in different demographics

ii. Minimize gap between graduation and retention rates among different demographics of students.

iii. Increase academic support, tutoring, mentoring, advising

iv. Encourage social capital building

v. Provide financial support to ensure student success

D. Increase collaborations to support HSI status

i. Increase faculty, student and staff participation in external events

ii. Enhance engagement with NSLBA

iii. Establish ties with Hispanic media outlets

Goal 7: Increase Awareness of BSB’s brand and our Unique Value Proposition (pending review with

Marketing and Communications)

Objectives (Initiatives) and Action Steps:

A. Develop branding materials and USP to showcase BSB value for students, parents, recruiters and the community.

i. Create digital, interactive, and traditional brochures for all BSB programsInternships, Rise Together’ Peer Mentoring, Peer Tutoring, SMIC, VITA, Viking Business Pitch, IMPACT apprenticeship program

ii. Explore using “Experience the Power of Possibility” as a tag line for BSB, logo

iii. Update BSB content on SSU website - Accreditation, departmental/disciplinary updates

iv. Develop outreach campaign targeting community college and high school counselors

v. Establish ties with Hispanic media outlets

B. Expand the use of social media to promote BSB’s outstanding value

i. Showcase our students, faculty, alumni and other stakeholders’ accomplishments

ii. Maintain a robust database to communicate these accomplishments

C. Showcase our students, faculty, alumni and other stakeholders’ accomplishments on our website and social media

i. Update BSB content on SSU website regularly

ii. Update social media accounts regularly

STRATEGIC PLAN 2022-28

The Plan Development Process:

May–August 2020

Strategic planning taskforce sought input from various stakeholders and conducted a SWOT analysis and made recommendations for next steps considering the new environment brought on by COVID. Taskforce consisted of two faculty members, an administrator and an alumna.

September 2020

Outline of the report presented to the Dean, steering committee and BSB faculty. The task force recommended continuing with a bridge plan for two years to synchronize the BSB plan with SSU plan scheduled for 2022-27. Faculty voted yes.

March–September 2021

A new taskforce of three faculty members and an administrator sought input from all stakeholders (faculty, staff, students, university administrators, community partners and worked on revising the mission, vision, values and goals.

September 2021

Final report including revised mission, vision, values and goals was shared with faculty and inputs sought.

October 2021

Report of the taskforce was shared with advisory board and inputs sought.

November 2021

BSB Faculty debated and approved the Mission, Vision and Values with slight revisions and the highlights were shared with SSU leadership.

December

2021

Highlights of the report were shared with SSU leadership.

February 2022

BSB faculty approved strategic goals with slight revisions. Final plan was adopted for implementation for 2022-27.

September 2022

Strategic Plan implementation and Review Cycle began.

January ’23, ’24 and ’25 Retreat

March 2022

Plan was shared with SSU leadership

Strategic initiatives for the year were reviewed for prioritization by the steering committee and shared with faculty.

February 2025

Faculty voted to extend the strategic plan by one year with a mid-period review in May 2025. Strategic plan then became a 202228 strategic plan.

May 2025

Mid-term review of the strategic plan was undertaken by six members consisting of three department chairs and three administrators.

September 2025

The revised 2022-28 strategic plan with some changes in initiatives and minor changes in mission and goals was approved by faculty.