November 9, 2011

Dear Members of the University Community:

I want to take a few minutes to share some information with you about Sacred Heart University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan for 2011-2016. In the spring of 2009, prior to the completion of the planning cycle, it became evident that many of the goals and objectives in the previous strategic plan had been achieved. It was also evident that changes in both the external and internal environments necessitated the development of a new plan.
 
These changes and challenges were refined and presented to the Trustees on December 18, 2009, as 1) affordability; 2) changing demographics in the United States; 3) emergence of on-line education, especially from the for-profit sector; 4) decreasing public appreciation of the value of a diverse system of higher education in the United States and 5) the end of a worldwide United States monopoly in higher education.
 
As you know, we followed that presentation with a series of campus forums and open discussions where we asked you all to come and share your hope and expectations for this University. Many of you did, and your input was critical to making this an inclusive and successful process. After months of intense work by the committee, led by Dr. David L. Coppola, SHU’s new strategic plan was produced. I encourage you to read it in its entirety, but I will also share here the five broad goals of the new five-year strategic plan:

• Increase academic excellence and distinctiveness
• Develop a student development plan of Learning and Living Outside the Classroom
• Build new facilities and upgrade existing infrastructure to be more competitive
• Strengthen the long-term financial stability of the University
• Deepen the commitment to the Mission and Catholic Identity of the University    

The full document outlines the steps that will be undertaken to successfully achieve these goals. Four committees made up of faculty, staff and students worked very hard to determine how these goals can best be met. Their names also appear in the full document, and I ask that when you see them, you join me in thanking them for their commitment to this project and to the University.
 
The hard work is not over. It will take the vision and dedication of every one of us in the University community to ensure the success of this plan. However, I am confident that at the end of this journey, we will have achieved together the ambitious goals our colleagues have set before us.
 
Sincerely,
 
John J. Petillo, Ph.D.
President