Students, staff, and faculty have received an 81-page update on Stevens 2032: Inspired by Humanity, Powered by Technology, the university’s second 10-year agenda to improve the reputation and academic output of Castle Point. Announced to the student body by President Farvardin, the Strategic Plan Progress Report highlights changing metrics in a number of areas important to the administration over the period of July 2022 to June 2023.
The full report covers different aspects of the university, such as student experience, research programs, diversity efforts, and cultural and student life initiatives. The last 10-year plan, which concluded last year, achieved or exceeded many of Stevens’ official goals in these areas and rose significantly in prominent national college rankings. It remains to be seen whether Stevens can maintain its momentum in building research and student success and accruing reputational heft.
The report points to the development of a new signature core curriculum, among other recent projects, in the section examining the undergraduate student experience in the past year. Called “Essential Skills for Success,” the new course series is intended to include academic courses, entrepreneurial courses, and a “first-year experience” course mandatory for students across all majors. Additionally, there are now eight living-learning communities operating across on-campus housing.
Applications increased to 14,170 from 12,500, and selectivity to 43%, down from 46%. In contrast to the previous ten years, which saw major increases in enrollment as infrastructure and academic expansions took place—including the addition of the Gateway Academic Complex and the University Center Complex—the administration is prioritizing increasing applications and selectivity by 2032. If all goes according to plan, selectivity will fall all the way to 24% by that year.
Stevens hired 28 new faculty members in this span of time, bolstering the university’s research activity and ability to attract pure research money from the government and other beneficiary organizations. The report pointed to a record 24 faculty proposals made to the National Science Foundation’s Career Program, an initiative aimed at early-career faculty who have the potential to lead advances in their department. Total research expenditure across the university over this period was $52.5 million, another record.
More programs and initiatives were launched to improve engagement and collaboration between current Ducks and alumni, including StevensConnects, the new professional connections-oriented platform that was launched last March, and the newly redesigned Stevens Indicator, Stevens’ quarterly magazine. In total, about $18.3 million was raised in alumni gifts, including five large-scale “principal” gifts.
Perhaps the administration’s greatest goal over the next ten years is to significantly advance the reputation of the Stevens brand, a process that began with the university’s brand redesign, which saw the overhaul of logos and other official emblems. The report highlights efforts to advance awareness of the new brand, and the Harris Brand Index shows awareness has risen accordingly by about 12%. Accompanying the brand shift was the launch of the new Stevens website at stevens.edu, which also saw large jumps in traffic and impressions.
Not all goals of the plan have seen progress in the first year. The makeup of first-year undergraduates, including the proportion hailing from out of state or out of the country, has failed to see appreciable growth even since the beginning of the last 10-year plan. However, President Favardin writes that he believes Stevens “will meet and exceed each of the goals we have set for our university,” pointing to the monumental progress made in areas such as faculty recruitment, curriculum development, and overall growth. To delve deeper into the report’s findings and initiatives, including full statistical breakdowns, interested students can access the full report online.
