New Strategic Plan Lays Out Bold Vision for Emerson

By Charna Westervelt and Erin Clossey

President Jay Bernhardt, in partnership with the Emerson community, envisions a bold, innovative, and inclusive future for the College, doubling down on the institution’s founding commitment to communication and the arts. This week, Bernhardt announced the launch of Extraordinary Emerson 2030, the College’s new strategic plan, drawing on the College’s rich history and legacy of leadership in communication and the arts.  

Extraordinary Emerson 2030 lays out four priorities–Academic Innovation, Collaborative Connections, Community Engagement, and Operational Excellence–supported by numerous goals and initiatives that will guide Emerson into its 150^th anniversary year.

“This plan is a testament to our unwavering commitment to the importance of education and scholarship in the arts and communication,” President Jay Bernhardt said. “Our plan honors Emerson’s rich history and builds on previous progress as we chart a bold and ambitious course for our shared future in an ever-changing world.”

In developing Extraordinary Emerson 2030, a strategic planning executive team, steering committee, and working groups comprising faculty, staff, students, administrators, trustees, and advisors gathered feedback from a multitude of engagement points: surveys, interviews, focus groups, and anonymous feedback, said Jon Derek Croteau, Vice President of Strategy, Innovation, and Institutional Initiatives, who led the management of the strategic planning process since mid-July of 2024. 

Strategic Planning Committee and working group members also analyzed a number of existing college resources and data, including recommendations from the NECHE Commission, Emerson’s accrediting body, the Emerson360 report of campus climate, and the Sustainability Action Plan, among many others. 

“As an alumnus and proud Emersonian myself, it has been remarkable to see so many people be able to share their thoughts about Emerson’s extraordinary future,” Croteau said. 

As a member of the Future of Emerson Working Group, one of three tasked to gather information to inform the final report, Nydia Bou, senior distinguished scholar-in-residence and chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, said she and her colleagues were tasked with looking at Emerson’s successful past initiatives and ideas, as well as where the College wanted to go. 

“By valuing what we have done in the past and the ideas that were in the pipeline when Covid changed the world, we were able to frame a solid conversation on how we see the future. I think this is captured brilliantly in the final product,” she said. 

Paul Raglow-DeFranco, a graduate student in Sports Communication who served on the Constituent Engagement Working Group, said he was grateful that students had a voice in the process, and thinks the plan lays out a “forward-looking vision” for the College. 

“I’m particularly excited about the emphasis on academic differentiation and student achievement, as it not only reinforces the value of an Emerson education, but also ensures that students are well equipped with the skills and experiences necessary for success beyond Emerson,” he said. 

Board of Trustees Chair Eric Alexander said trustees were in full support of Extraordinary Emerson 2030.

“This plan brings to life the strategic direction provided by the Board of Trustees. It reflects a candid assessment of the complex challenges facing Emerson and higher education today and provides a realistic blueprint for strengthening our distinct offerings, assuring our ongoing viability and future success,” he said.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Alex Socarides, who served on the Strategic Plan Executive Team, said Emerson’s plan is “not conventional.” 

“It sets out very ambitious goals… differentiates Emerson [from its peers], and it really tries to express to people who we are in a way that… has a lot of energy behind it,” she said. 

Christie Anglade, Vice President for Student Affairs, said the strategic plan isn’t just a roadmap for the College, it’s a promise. “It’s a promise to our students that we are committed to their growth and success,” she said. “It’s a promise to our faculty and staff that we will continue fostering an environment where they can do their best work. And it’s a promise to our community that Emerson will continue to lead with creativity, excellence, and a commitment to bringing people together through storytelling, communication, and education.”

Extraordinary Emerson 2030 also amplifies and celebrates the College’s focus on communication and the arts. “What I think is really clarifying is that it calls on us to lean into the fact that we’re a communication and arts college,” said Allison Dawson, Vice President for Institutional Advancement. “We occupy a niche in higher education, and that’s going to help set us apart.” 

Academic Innovation 

A number of initiatives linked to Academic Innovation are already underway in Phase 1 of the plan, including an academic review of all majors and minors, as well as an exploration of new interdisciplinary majors and graduate programs.

“Already this year, I’ve seen faculty across units collaborating on ideas for new minors, new majors, new master’s programs. Now, the strategic plan is going to name it, and kind of catalyze it,” Socarides said. 

The Faculty Research Hub was launched at the beginning of this year, and it is designed to be instrumental in recruiting, developing, and supporting an innovative and inclusive faculty.

Planning is already underway to expand career readiness, Socarides said, and will require the College to map career goals and workforce skills into curriculum and consider “what kind of experiences allow students to be career-ready [and] where those experiences are embedded in the curriculum.”

One new initiative involves the creation of a new academic collective focused on LGBTQIA arts and media, building on Emerson’s expertise and strengths through the lens of the LGBTQIA community. Emerson also will see enhanced education and capacity in emerging media and technologies, building on existing technologies and expanding into cutting-edge XR production. 

“I think the first stage is coming together to have creative thoughts about the future of our academic programs. The second stage is asking how we are going to invest in that future, in the expertise and technologies that are essential to it,” Socarides said. 

Collaborative Connections

Emerson will look to forge closer connections with alumni, strengthen student recruitment in markets across the country and around the world, enhance Emerson’s global offerings at Kasteel Well and beyond, deepen relationships with partners in the communities the College calls home, and invite members of those communities to join in the mission of preparing the next generation of artists and communicators.

Some of this work will happen through initiatives addressing other goals and priorities, such as a more robust Career Readiness Initiative that leverages relationships with employers in target fields and communities to prepare students for meaningful careers. Related, the plan calls for making sure that all student internships have formal links to Emerson’s academic programs.

The plan also looks to boost enrollment by strategically targeting specific cities and regions that have a significant alumni presence and solid employment opportunities. To that end, it looks to further strengthen Emerson’s four-decades-long Los Angeles program with new operational plans by Spring 2026.

A Global Engagement Initiative will not only increase international student enrollment in targeted regions, it will increase and deepen student engagement with the Kasteel Well program.

Strengthening the Emerson experience means ensuring that all students have access to “transformational opportunities,” Anglade said.  

“This includes expanding experiential learning, improving access to internships, and making sure that our global programs, co-curricular activities, and student life experiences are as rich and inclusive as possible,” she said. “It’s about making sure that when students leave Emerson, they do so not just with a degree, but with a network.”

Community Engagement 

The third priority is centered on building and sustaining a vibrant and inclusive campus experience.

“I love that this plan is not just about setting goals—it’s about taking action,” Anglade said. “We’re already seeing tangible efforts in areas like student success and community engagement, and that momentum is exciting.”

Specifically, Student Affairs is working closely with Enrollment Management to better support students from admission to graduation, and they’re collaborating closely with faculty and staff to create a more seamless, student-centered academic experience. Work is already underway across departments as part of the EmersonTogether initiative, which aims to support a campus culture where students feel deeply connected to their peers, faculty, and mentors from the start, Anglade said. 

“We’re reshaping the Emerson experience to be more cohesive, dynamic, and empowering than ever before,” Anglade said.

An important piece of the Community Engagement priority–and of this entire strategic plan–is alumni engagement. “[This plan] is tackling some of the existential problems in higher ed, and it’s very clear that we’re not going to be able to do that without our alums being involved,” Dawson said. 

Already, Emerson’s Alumni Engagement team has been focused on new events in targeted cities; improved communication; and launching with the President’s Office and Academic Affairs a new Master Class initiative to create meaningful, expert engagement among alumni, parents, friends, and others with Emerson students.

“None of [these initiatives] are coming out of left field. It’s all really grounded in what alums are telling us,” said Dawson, referring to the comprehensive alumni survey that was conducted last year. In that survey, alumni reported that they want more opportunities to mentor students, hire students, and visit campus.

To that end, one future aspirational goal is to build an Alumni Center on campus, serving as a physical hub for Emersonians to gather. “It’s a physical manifestation of community and alumni engagement,” Dawson said. “We want this campus to be as familiar to those who went to Emerson in the Back Bay as it is to those who graduated five years ago.”

Operational Excellence 

Undergirding the entire strategic plan is a commitment to operational excellence and efficiency, and the financial health of the College. As a tuition-dependent college, the strategic plan calls for diversified revenue sources, including increased efforts around fundraising.

Increased philanthropic support is critical to the financial strength of the College, said Dawson. “It gives us flexibility,” she said. “[Growing] our endowment gives us options into the future, such as the ability to offer increased financial aid and scholarship packages, and funds to attract and retain the best faculty.” 

Importantly, the strategic plan provides a clear framework for the College’s fundraising priorities. “Our fundraising efforts will be in service to [this] strategic plan,” Dawson said.

Leaders acknowledge that Extraordinary Emerson 2030 is ambitious yet realistic, flexible, and leans into the College’s strengths. 

“When this strategic plan is completed in 2030, Emerson will celebrate 150 years of extraordinary accomplishments,” Bernhardt said. “I am excited about the journey ahead and confident we will achieve our ambitious goals with your collaboration and support.”

 
Visit the Strategic Plan website to learn more.