Strategic Plan Goals

DePauw will seek renewal for our academic programs by centering and strengthening the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, deepening our longstanding commitment to the humanities, arts and sciences and extending them to a new School of Business and Leadership and a new school focused on creativity, media arts, music and the performing arts.

Major Objectives

• Deepen DePauw’s commitment to the liberal arts and strengthen research and scholarship in the humanities, arts and sciences through an enhanced and renamed College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).
• Extend liberal arts methods and philosophy to business education and establish a new School of Business and Leadership to build on our historic success preparing ethical leaders the world needs in a range of disciplines and for business and non-profit organizations.
• Create a new school with the working name, The Creative School, that encourages new disciplinary connections and develops new career tracks in the creative and performative arts.
• Reimagine the Centers, Honor Scholar and Fellows programs to better leverage their roles in supporting interdisciplinary pursuits and in creating strong connections among the curriculum and co-curriculum.
• More clearly communicate the High Impact Educational Practices we already do well and expand and integrate others into every student’s academic and co-curricular plans.

THREE-SCHOOL MODEL

Guided by reliable data about students’ evolving preferences and purposes, DePauw will revise or create new academic programs to attract, retain, and graduate students whose success will be measured by their engagement as leaders and thinkers, their creativity and imagination, their readiness for rewarding careers, and their service to local, national and world communities. DePauw will sustain the liberal arts as the sound foundation for academic innovation, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, and the elevation of each student’s potential; every DePauw student, regardless of school or major, will be broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences.

DePauw will reinvest in the residential experience, better support student organizations and activities, build an inclusive and values-centered fraternity and sorority life model and sharpen our focus on students' well-being to make student experiences richer and more connected.

Major Objectives

• Revitalize the residential experience as a core component of a DePauw education through robust programs that support all students equitably.
• Enhance student engagement and develop strong systems of support, advising, and leadership development that increase the vibrancy of the campus and enable students and organizations to thrive.
• Build on our over 170-year history of fraternity and sorority life at DePauw to develop an inclusive, equitable, and values-centered 21st century liberal arts college model for fraternity and sorority life.
• Exemplify a culture of care at DePauw that ensures students have access to resources, opportunities, and services that prioritize student wellness and well-being and can help students to thrive.

DePauw will become a more fully inclusive university, ensuring that all aspects of the student, employee and alumni experience are fully aligned with our core values of diversity, equity and inclusion, and appointing a cabinet-level vice president to lead our expanding efforts.

Major Objectives

• Centralize and elevate an institutional-level strategic focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion at DePauw to be led by a senior cabinet officer.
• Institute systems, policies, and practices that strengthen DePauw’s ability to recruit, retain, and support a diverse community to ensure that all of the students, staff, and faculty can pursue their interests, follow their passions, and feel they belong at DePauw.
• Partner with university departments to support a comprehensive review of all programs to ensure that they are broadly accessible, inclusive, and equitably delivered.
• Develop, sustain and uphold a clear set of community values, standards, and expectations.

DePauw will combine operational excellence, fiscal stewardship, investments in our exceptional workforce and deepen connections with alumni and Greencastle to ensure that DePauw becomes a preferred employer and flourishes in every sense of the word.

Major Objectives

• Ensure that compensation, benefits, and workplace policies, culture and climate make DePauw a preferred employer.
• Adjust to changing institutional priorities and needs by shifting the responsibilities of current employees and/or by helping them develop the skills that align with these new priorities and needs.
• Invest in training, professional development, and career advancement to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of staff and faculty.
• Encourage and support employees’ living in, and actively engaging with, the DePauw/ Greencastle Community.
• Develop robust alumni engagement opportunities that strengthen a meaningful and lifelong relationship between current students, alumni, and the University.
• Build the foundation for continued philanthropic investments to increase our endowment and build on our legacy.
• Clearly articulate institutional priorities and align all procedural, organizational, and operational functions to maximize productivity towards these priorities.
• Align the University’s resources with strategic priorities; identify what to stop doing, and reallocate resources where necessary to effectively steward our endowment.