To the Marietta College Community:

This is a very special week for Marietta College as we prepare to welcome the Class of 2022 to The Long Blue Line in Saturday’s Commencement and look to the future by presenting a refreshed Strategic Plan to the Board of Trustees. A dedicated group of faculty, staff, administrators, students, alumni and Trustees have worked together for the past year to shape a document that we believe lays a solid foundation for a successful future.

For the past two weeks I have used this weekly message to share with you the ways in which the Strategic Plan aligns with what the campus community told us via a survey conducted in March. Each week I have focused on one of the Plan’s three priority areas. The first two were Support the Students of Today and Meet the Academic Challenges of Tomorrow; today I am focusing on Priority 3: Create the Campus of the Future. That encompasses not only bricks and mortar, but the community and connections that make Marietta College such a special place.

Survey respondents were asked to identify our key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Here are some of the areas of broad agreement, paired with the Strategic Plan Priority 3 objectives that address them (Some objectives address more than one of the survey responses):

Strengths

  • A safe, beautiful campus with a strong sense of community
    • Objective: Update 10-year master plan for facilities
    • Objective: Identify key residence hall and building fixes/upgrades
  • Personalized education with strong student-faculty relationships 
    • Objective: Create campus common hour
  • STEM, leadership & business, health & caring fields, education
    • Objective: Continue to seek funding for new Center for Earth, Energy & Environment

Weaknesses

  • Low retention & graduation rates compared with peers
    • Objective: Grow alumni engagement to expand experiential learning, recruiting, philanthropy and student outcomes
  • Lack of specific & motivation vision for the future
    • Objective: Develop modern & flexible work options

Opportunities 

  • Corporate and higher-education institution partnerships
    • Objective: Identify leader of Corporate and University Partnerships, with focus on local businesses and health care providers
  • Increase involvement of alumni in recruiting and co-ops
    • Objective: Grow alumni engagement to expand experiential learning, recruiting, philanthropy and student outcomes

Threats

  • Traditional undergraduate education increasingly unaffordable
    • Objective: Seek government funding for Appalachian grant program and minority/first generation support
  • Lack of diversity within Marietta community
    • Objective: Seek government funding for Appalachian grant program and minority/first generation support

The Strategic Plan provides a vision of a vibrant Marietta College that will thrive for another two centuries. That future can be ours, but only if we make the necessary changes now to respond to a changing higher-education landscape. We cannot afford a gradual evolution; we intend to have new offerings such as high-quality online programs in place for the coming fall.

I look forward to the work that lies ahead and the future we will build together.

Bring Forth a Pioneer!

Bill Ruud
President and Professor of Management