Bradley aims to change the landscape of campus by 2017.
“Every five years, universities go through a process to guide their path,” Provost David Glassman said. “We go through strategic plans to reassess where we are and where we want to go. At Bradley, we have a vision of becoming a university of national distinction, so what can we do in the next five years to get Bradley there?”
Glassman said there are three main goals the plan focuses on.
“The first major goal is based around enhancing education- al excellence and the value of a Bradley education,” he said. “The second is enhancing Bradley’s liv- ing and working environment and the third is enhancing Bradley’s operations, endowment and resource efficiencies to support activities of national distinction.”
Some of the tasks to be implemented by the plan include reevaluating the general education classes, increasing environmental awareness on campus and increasing campus tradition and spirit.
“We’ve already started putting more recycling bins across campus to increase environmental aware- ness,” Glassman said. “There are also new water fountains where you can fill up your water bottles.” The plan also includes goals to upgrade and create new facilities. “Facilities upgrades like the Engineering and Business Convergence Center, library and student center will enhance the Bradley community’s living, learning and working environment, and will help Bradley remain competitive with other universities,” Student Body President Anklan said. Glassman said the viability of building new facilities and updating current buildings will be assessed according to the plan.
“What are our needs for a new student center? For residence halls?” he said. “Over the next five years, we need to start looking at the need and feasibility for these things. Library improvements have been going on for the past several years, and we want to continue to improve it.”
Glassman said there isn’t an issue that is considered most important in the plan.
“There’s something in the plan for everyone,” he said. “There are issues that pertain to students, faculty, staff and alumni.”
Vice President for Business Affairs Gary Anna said he agreed. “It is difficult to indicate which [issues] are more important than others as they are purposefully not ranked,” he said. “Obviously for a student, the issues of planning for a student center, housing, seeing the Convergence Center, review of general education and the library are all important. For faculty, the issues of compensa- tion and benefits always seem to gather high interest. Greater involvement of our alumni and their support and fundraising helps a lot.”
Anklan said thinks the most press- ing issues in the plan are academic development and facilities development.
“It is crucial that Bradley evaluates its general education program to ensure students are taking mean- ingful courses that foster an appreciation of lifelong learning,” she said. “I am very proud of Bradley’s commitment to environmental awareness that is expressed in the strategic plan. It is important for individuals to recognize that they have a responsibility to the environment, and I am extremely pleased Bradley has made this an institutional priority.”
Glassman said students’ thoughts are important to the development and implementation of the plan.
“We hear a lot from students –‘Why do I have to take these gen eds? Should I be taking others?’ so we’re looking at what the general outcome should be. We will be looking to students [to implement] some of these [goals],” he said. “It’ll take the cooperation of all students, faculty and alumni to move the university forward. The plan is ambitious and bold, yet doable, and we’re all excited about it.”
