Dear Members of the Fordham Community,

Fordham is engaged in developing its next strategic plan, which aims to chart the University’s course through 2030. We are reaching out to introduce the strategic planning coordinating committee, share more about the planning process, and encourage your input and engagement throughout the spring semester. 

As President Tetlow shared in her letter to the community on February 5, the strategic planning coordinating committee is charged with gathering information, learning about promising new initiatives and ideas, and developing informed perspectives that can help elaborate the central themes in Fordham's strategic planning framework. 

The coordinating committee is shaping a process that engages faculty, staff, and students in conversations about our shared aspirations and in proposing initiatives of great promise. We are eager to hear from you and invite you to interact with our strategic planning website, where you can learn about the planning process, submit ideas that can shape Fordham’s vision for 2030, and be informed about upcoming opportunities to participate in virtual & in-person discussions and surveys.  

In the State of the University address last September, President Tetlow shared an exciting vision for how Fordham University could impact the world. Her vision comprises three broad pillars - Meaningful Opportunity, Transformative Learning, and Research that Matters. As a community, we will shape these pillars further in the months ahead. 
 

Meaningful Opportunity encompasses our commitment to expand access to a transformative Fordham educational experience grounded in our Jesuit values. How might we increase access and affordability to attract and support the widest possible range of students; end racial, class, and other disparities in our educational outcomes; and give our students more of the resources they need to pursue their dreams and lead meaningful, purpose-driven lives? 

Transformative Learning centers on our promise to teach and inspire our students to be thoughtful, creative, responsible citizens in their communities and the world. How can we build on the strength of our academic programs, the richness of our co-curricular experiences, and our culture of caring to prepare students to keep pace with rapid, unimaginable change? How can we help students become ambitious, relentless learners and leaders who rise to meet new challenges, embrace opportunities, and make an impact in their community?

Research that Matters highlights the need for Fordham to leverage its significant research strengths to address matters of great consequence to the human family. How can Fordham’s faculty work together to improve the human condition, promote justice, and protect the planet? How can we make distinctive contributions to solving some of the world’s most urgent and vexing problems—from protecting democracy to tackling climate change and responsibly harnessing artificial intelligence?

Driven by inspired innovation and the need to be a more nimble organization, Fordham will better utilize its governance structures, forge more efficient data-informed processes and systems, and integrate institutional planning efforts to respond to and anticipate a fast-changing world. 

The coordinating committee is working closely with our strategic planning consultants to shape, schedule, and engage faculty, staff, and students in conversations about these and other emerging areas of focus. In the coming days and weeks, we invite you to engage by participating in virtual and in-person discussions as well as through surveys. We encourage you to interact with the strategic planning website and submit ideas and initiatives that could advance the planning process. 

We look forward to connecting with you soon as we shape our university's future together. 

With gratitude,

Co-chairs of the coordinating committee: 
Dennis C. Jacobs, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Falguni Sen, Professor of Strategy and Statistics and Faculty Senate President

Members of the committee:
Laura Auricchio, Dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center
Justin M. Bell, Vice President for Marketing and Communications
Michele C. Burris, Vice President for Student Affairs
Julie L. Gafney, Assistant Vice President, Strategic Mission Initiatives and Executive Director, Center for Community Engaged Learning
Dawn Lerman, Professor of Marketing and Special Advisor to the Provost for Strategy
Tokumbo Shobowale, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer
Michael R. Trerotola, Chief of Staff