Goucher College Strategic Plan 2021-2025
Goucher College Strategic Plan 2021-2025

Cultivating
Global
Changemakers

Our world is divided. On one side, we find the familiar, the safe, and the comfortable. On the other, we see uncertainty, risk, and the promise that a step forward means nothing will ever be the same again. For more than 135 years, Goucher students have chosen to take that step and make a difference in the world.

Our students have overcome intimidating challenges when the stakes were high and stood alongside those society has ignored. They’ve had new experiences, challenged conventions, challenged each other, and even surprised themselves.

And they all start from a single place: Goucher College. They come to Goucher to take on big ideas in small classes. To open their minds and abandon prejudice. And they leave our leafy home to become global citizens.

A Goucher College education is a starting point, and it is a touchstone of the future.  

The stakes have never been higher for a new generation seeking a balanced, transformative, and global educational experience. The human race faces significant challenges, and society will expect our graduates to answer world-changing questions—questions that have not even been asked yet.

With this strategic plan, our students will be ready.

Our world is divided. On one side, we find the familiar, the safe, and the comfortable. On the other, we see uncertainty, risk, and the promise that a step forward means nothing will ever be the same again. For more than 135 years, Goucher students have chosen to take that step and make a difference in the world.

Our students have overcome intimidating challenges when the stakes were high and stood alongside those society has ignored. They’ve had new experiences, challenged conventions, challenged each other, and even surprised themselves.

And they all start from a single place: Goucher College. They come to Goucher to take on big ideas in small classes. To open their minds and abandon prejudice. And they leave our leafy home to become global citizens.

A Goucher College education is a starting point, and it is a touchstone of the future.

The stakes have never been higher for a new generation seeking a balanced, transformative, and global educational experience. The human race faces significant challenges, and society will expect our graduates to answer world-changing questions—questions that have not even been asked yet.

With this strategic plan, our students will be ready.

Key Pillars:

Exploration

I.

Our Programs

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Goucher College will strengthen its academic programs, reputation, and visibility through an ongoing focus on student success and a concerted effort to deliver an innovative, interdisciplinary, global education grounded in critical inquiry, the pursuit of excellence, and the care for the mental and physical well-being of every individual, while rooted in the principles of respect, inclusion, communication, responsibility, service, and social justice.

1

Enhance student success.

2

Strengthen our position as a leader in global education.

3

Develop innovative, future-oriented educational programs that respond to the needs of today’s students.

4

Enhance our reputation for delivering outstanding interdisciplinary education and experiential learning.

5

Identify an authentic
approach to integrating
athletics into the college
consistent with our mission
and values.

Opportunity

Goucher College is committed to becoming a diverse, welcoming, and inclusive institution that treats every individual with humanity and respect; invests in initiatives designed to foster a climate of inclusion and confront the legacies of racism, antisemitism, and sexism; is considered an employer of choice by its faculty and staff; and is the first-choice college of the overwhelming majority of students who enroll at Goucher each year.

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II.

Our People

6

Commit to becoming an inclusive institution.

7

Attract and retain a highly qualified, diverse faculty and staff.
Strength

III.

Our Resources

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Goucher College and its Board of Trustees are committed to ensuring that the college has adequate financial resources to fulfill its institutional mission by adding undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education offerings in high-demand and emerging fields, growing both domestic and international student enrollment, increasing and diversifying the sources of charitable donations, and better leveraging the significant investment that has already been made in our physical campus to grow auxiliary revenues through innovative new partnerships.

8

Build a solid financial footing to enable Goucher to achieve its ambitions.

9

Develop and implement a robust enrollment management plan that substantially grows our applicant pool and increases net tuition revenue.

10

Leverage Goucher’s marketing and communications resources to develop a high value, distinctive, and inspiring brand identity for the college.

11

Recognize that in a post-pandemic world, Goucher must make significantly greater investments in technology to remain competitive.

12

Build a culture of philanthropy that expands and diversifies our constituency and creates a community committed to Goucher for life.

13

Leverage one of Goucher’s most valuable assets, its location, through innovative uses of the campus to generate new revenue and enhance distinctive program growth.