Anchored in Mission, Empowered for Excellence. King's College Strategic Plan 2024-2029

ANCHORED IN MISSION,

EMPOWERED FOR EXCELLENCE

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Since its founding, King’s College has been anchored in its mission to provide an outstanding Catholic higher education that teaches its graduates “not only how to make a living, but how to live.” The present Strategic Plan is marked by a recommitment to and reaffirmation of our mission, and it strengthens our ambition to be recognized for excellence as a premier institution of Catholic higher education in the MidAtlantic Region.

Each dimension of Anchored in Mission, Empowered for Excellence is rooted in a foundational component of Catholic higher education, as embodied in the educational philosophy of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and challenges the King’s College community to achieve greater levels of distinction for delivering transformational student experiences.

GOAL ONE:

TASKS:

Ensure financial and enrollment growth and a renewed campus infrastructure for long-term viability.

1.1 Implement a five-year strategic enrollment management plan that is data-informed, involves various college departments, and includes recruitment and marketing strategies at the undergraduate, graduate, transfer, and international levels.

Vital to a Holy Cross and Catholic philosophy of higher education is the importance of access, community, and place.

King’s College seeks:

1.4 Prioritize short-term and longterm campus master plan initiatives and begin phased implementation of key projects.

• financial growth to ensure generous merit and needbased scholarships, fair and just compensation for employees, and resources to enhance existing and develop new academic and co-curricular programs.

1.5 Analyze the campus footprint and implement deferred maintenance initiatives. Include steps to develop a resource refreshment plan for resources with known life expectancies (e.g., security cameras, network equipment, athletic equipment).

• enrollment growth to ensure the presence of a diverse and dynamic student body that exemplifies learning across borders.

• increased alumni engagement and benefaction from alumni and friends that sustains, promotes, and expands the experience of community beyond matriculating students.

• renewed campus infrastructure to ensure that the campus environment provides the learning, recreational, and living spaces most conducive to building community, engagement, and learning.

1.2 Strengthen existing programs to increase enrollment.

1.3 Continue robust development of new programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

1.6 Increase annual philanthropic revenue to $14M (private dollars and grants) and secure a commitment for a named school.

1.7 Complete a comprehensive analysis and overview of auxiliary revenue to identify opportunities for growth or activities to add new revenue streams.

1.8 Identify, develop, and implement cloud-based resources for the purpose of providing the technology required to maintain a fault-tolerant business operation and providing the uninterrupted delivery of in-person and online academic instruction.

1.9 Identify, develop, and integrate AI technologies into the ongoing functions of non-academic operations.

1.10 Identify, develop, and integrate cybersecurity technologies and individual end-user training into our existing security functions.

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GOAL TWO:

Demonstrate excellence in achieving student success outcomes.

A Holy Cross education transforms “minds and hearts with zeal in communities of hope.” King’s College seeks to be a community of hope by providing all students with support structures that facilitate success. Student access to core services within the academic, student affairs, and campus ministry divisions plays an essential role in ensuring such support.

TASKS: 2.1 Develop and leverage the Student Success Center to foster first-year student engagement with multiple offices in the same day and time span.

2.2 Systematically implement a plan to employ professional success coaches who proactively support first- and second-year students.

2.3 Ensure that the College has a Strategic Retention Committee (SRC) that is successful in evaluating, strengthening, and creating academic and programmatic services that support first-year students.

2.4 Evaluate current policies, procedures, and communication processes regarding financial barriers that hinder academic persistence (i.e., registration holds, textbook assistance, financial packaging and awarding, and technology insecurities).

2.5 Evaluate and assess the Holy Cross Experience (HCE) course for first-year students to improve its impact.

2.6 Collaborate with faculty to explore and implement pedagogical strategies that optimize student success.

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GOAL THREE:

Demonstrate excellence in engaged mentorship and the achievement of high impact learning outcomes.

Blessed Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, affirmed that a Holy Cross education, rooted in a strong Catholic liberal arts tradition, provides students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for contemporary engagement of society. Access to mentorship and experiential learning in multiple forms (e.g., service learning, faculty-student research) are essential to disciplinary mastery, the development of essential skills, and the cultivation of intellectual virtues.

TASKS: 3.1 Establish required experiential learning, called the Monarch Experience, in all academic programs.

3.2 Establish a structure/office to oversee, coordinate, support, and promote all online course and program activity.

3.3 Establish a center for experiential learning with a place to house Career Planning, Study Abroad, and Undergraduate Research.

3.4 Assess and implement best practices for using AI technology in academic programs to enhance student learning and prepare students for a rapidly changing work environment.

3.5 Review the administrative structure of the Arts and Sciences.

3.6 Earn and maintain specialized accreditations—all of which are up for review over the next several years, including ABET, CAATE, ARC-PA, AACSB, ACEND, ACOTE, ACS, CASCE, CCNE, and PDE review of Education programs—and consider specialized accreditation for Education.

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GOAL FOUR:

Demonstrate excellence in Division III NCAA athletic competition and student-athlete achievement.

An essential feature of a Holy Cross education is the formation of the whole person in the context of community, and the community formed in and around athletics is unique. It develops skills that lead to individual success in personal, social, and professional contexts. It also fosters a culture of excellence, encouragement, and accomplishment for teams and the communities in which those teams compete.

TASKS: 4.1 Establish and maintain optimal staffing levels and expertise to deliver premier coaching and mentorship services.

4.2 Enhance the Betzler Athletic Complex facilities and increase branding efforts to maximize marketing of King’s College to the public, attracting and retaining successful student-athletes while elevating the overall appearance and visibility of the institution.

4.3 Cultivate a campus-wide culture of excellence that supports the student-athlete journey towards championship success.

4.4 Make substantial investments in the Intermetro Wellness Center to elevate recruitment of all prospective students and enhance satisfaction among the campus community.

4.5 Maximize revenue opportunities with internal and external partners.

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GOAL FIVE:

Ensure excellence in student life/ co-curricular participation, learning, and engagement.

A Holy Cross education is transformative, not merely transactional, and it seeks the development of the whole person. At King’s College, this transformative experience is made possible in a nurturing environment that emphasizes personalized attention, so students can develop individually and socially. Campus clubs and organizations, residential life communities, and co-curricular engagements with the arts provide unique opportunities for students to become wellrounded citizens contributing to the good of society.

TASKS: 5.1 Create a college-wide cocurricular engagement initiative to strengthen and assess the cocurricular engagement experience.

5.2 Increase interest and engagement in the arts.

5.3 Establish a vibrant and wellresourced Diversity/Multicultural Center in a visible, central, and accessible location.

5.4 Strengthen wellness resources, training, education, and outreach to ensure student wellbeing and success.

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GOAL SIX:

Foster an enhanced campus community rooted in our Catholic, Holy Cross mission.

Holy Cross institutions champion the inherent dignity of every person and promote the search for the true, beautiful, and good. Modeled after Christ the King, who taught by example and ruled by love, King’s College welcomes a diverse community of scholars, workers, and learners and fosters a common vision for all members to flourish in personal and public realms.

TASKS: 6.1 Advance a distinctive culture of care and welcome for all members of the campus community that is rooted in our Catholic identity and Holy Cross mission.

6.2 Develop and recognize faculty and staff to create a community of excellence and accountability.

6.3 Develop partnerships and bridges with targeted community organizations to help recruit and serve diverse and missionaligned constituents.

6.4 Implement a plan for intentional community building among faculty and staff.

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