In the fall of 2013 President Fisher began a year-long collaborative thinking process to develop Belmont’s Vision 2020. Drawing on initial input from Faculty Senate, Staff Advisory Council, and Student Government Association to create a visioning framework, we moved forward with a series of small focus groups engaging more than 1,000 members of the Belmont community. These group conversations centered on discovering the things that make us most proud of Belmont and warrant further investment, as well as areas needing improvement. Analysis of the group responses generated ten clusters of focus that guided trustee, faculty, staff, and alumni discussions at the January Board of Trust meeting. During a March workshop, 47 key position leaders began exploring how they might utilize the guiding principles, which have since been affirmed by the Board of Trust. Next steps will include having key leaders generate specific goals and action plans; engaging the Board of Trust in continued strategic thinking; working with the Faculty Senate, Staff Advisory Council, and Student Government Association to assist with implementation; developing and implementing a transparent process to track and communicate progress toward Vision 2020.
The Belmont Challenge is an ongoing process to generate workable ideas and turn them into realities. The specific topic for consideration will be introduced to the campus in the form of a challenge statement. The Round One challenge statement focuses on student learning and the role of technology. Our goal for the Belmont Challenge initiative is to leverage the insights, expertise, and vision of our faculty and staff to help chart the future course for Belmont. The strategic intent of the Belmont Challenge is to discover innovative ideas around a specific topic and turn them into realities. We want to target opportunities with the greatest potential to provide Belmont with a strategic advantage. We are seeing shifts at Belmont and in the broader higher education landscape regarding student and market needs, funding models, and educational delivery systems. Institutional sustainability requires that we continually ask ourselves what we can do to improve student learning, how we can meet new and changing market demands, and ultimately, how we can create a competitive advantage for Belmont students and the university.
• Internal Audit – Office of the President
• Internal Review of Compliance Regulation
• Internal Review of Marketing and Communications
• Internal Review of Credit Card Merchant Fees
• Internal Review of Electronic Media
• Internal Review and Audit of Curb Event Center and Set-up Functions within Auxiliary Services
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Reaffirmation