Dear Pitzer
Community,
The Pitzer
College Strategic Plan was unanimously approved by the College Board
of Trustees on Friday, May 17. This important milestone for the College
followed a unanimous approval by the College Council and more than a year of
information-gathering and priority-setting by the entire College community. As
a result, Pitzer now enters the third and final phase of its Strategic Plan for
2019-2024.
Through the strategic planning process, four distinct yet overlapping goals were identified by students, faculty, staff and alumni as most relevant to the future of Pitzer College:
- Broaden the interdisciplinary landscape and expand academic resources to better equip students to engage holistically with the complex problems of the world.
- Advance a College-wide sense of community and engagement by cultivating an environment in which students, faculty and staff all thrive.
- Deepen our commitment to financial sustainability to promote broader access to a Pitzer education and create adaptability in response to the evolving higher education landscape.
- Develop a culture of inclusive, intentional, and transparent planning and decision-making.
Over the
past year, Pitzer’s strategic planning team guided the College community
through 12 strategic planning meetings, 13 working group meetings, more than 25
remote meetings and interviews, 50+ in-person meetings, multiple surveys with
more than 800 participant responses, four campus visits by Pitzer’s consultants
and a two-day capstone retreat where all constituencies participated in
drafting the plan.
The successful
completion of this Strategic Plan to date reflects the strength, vision and
collaboration of our Pitzer community. I
am confident that as we move ahead into the implementation process over the
months ahead, we will accurately and effectively respond to the priorities of
our community members.
I’d like to
express my thanks to the members of our Strategic Planning Committee led by
co-chairs Professor Brinda Sarathy and Trustee Don Gould, the members of all
the working groups and the entire Pitzer community – on-campus and off – for
your participation. I look forward to continuing our work together to realize
the goals of the Pitzer Strategic Plan for the next five years.
Melvin L. Oliver
President