August 2, 2022
Dear members of the Bellarmine community,
As in our town halls, our guiding principles for community discussions are being respectful to one another, seeing the good in each other, trusting and being trustworthy, and candor. In that spirit, I write today with enthusiasm to announce our partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to guide the creation of Bellarmine’s new strategic plan.
In May of 2019, our Board of Trustees unanimously approved a strategic plan, titled “Tradition and Transformation,” with the expectation that it would guide us over the next five to seven years. As we adapted – and continue to adapt – to the ebbs and flows of one of the most challenging times in Bellarmine history, specifically the COVID pandemic, our well-laid plans now merit a revisit amidst this changing landscape.
I will not understate the challenges facing the higher education business model. Even before the pandemic, confidence in the value of education had been declining. Nationally, enrollment in universities has dropped, with an especially significant shift over the past two years. In Kentucky, the number of high school graduates is projected to decline over the coming years, the demographics of college-bound students continue to shift, and, with more students seeking out-of-state college experiences, the headwinds for smaller institutions like ours are real.
We are facing an incredible opportunity to shape Bellarmine into a postsecondary leader as we emerge from the pandemic. We are taking advantage of this unique moment in time to undergo a strategic reset that will build on our distinctive strengths and offerings to forge a defensible and financially sustainable path forward that secures the future of the university in the long-term.
We will explore ways to grow in areas where Bellarmine has established itself as a leader in our state and region. We will seek to enrich our programs and student supports in cost-efficient ways that will drive student recruitment, success and retention. We will deepen community partnerships and relationships so that our students can further their experiential learning and find fulfilling pathways to employment. And we will build our development and fundraising capabilities aligned to a vision that will amplify pride of Bellarmine within our community.
As with our previous strategic efforts, we intend for this to be an inclusive, collaborative, and transparent process. Our community relies on the strength of collaboration with one another, and we ask for your honest and sincere input. We anticipate speaking with many of our students and many of you. While BCG will serve as a facilitator and a guide, ultimately the process, and the decisions, are our own. To this end, we have asked the following individuals to serve as members of our “Steering Committee,” representing several of our key constituent groups:
Steering Committee Members:
- Susan Donovan – President
- Russ Cox – Chair of the Board of Trustees, President and CEO of Norton Healthcare
- Megan Danzl – Associate Professor of Physical Therapy, President of Faculty Council
- Susan Diamond – Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, CFO of Humana, Inc
- Barry Fields – Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees, trial lawyer and partner at Kirkland & Ellis (Chicago)
- Daniel Frockt – Vice President of Finance
- Paul Gore – Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Dana Hummel – Chief Human Resources Officer
- Frank Hutchins – Professor of Sociology, faculty representative (former) on the Board of Trustees
- Mike Marshall – Vice President of Enrollment, Marketing & Communication
- Nancy York – Assistant Provost
Our work begins in August and is anticipated to run through the end of the calendar year. The end goal of our effort: an exciting, inspiring, differentiated strategy aligned with our mission and vision, a sustainable financial operating model, and an execution plan to implement the initiatives we decide upon.
I will note that this process, while energizing in its potential, will not be easy. We anticipate that we will need to make difficult decisions as we move forward and recognize institutional changes of any kind are unnerving. I take comfort that, throughout every challenge that Bellarmine has faced, our community has placed one foot in front of the other and overcome these challenges through focusing our efforts on what we do best – leveraging our distinctive spiritual qualities to educate the leaders of tomorrow. We will continue to provide our students with the knowledge, skills, and experience to succeed in a diverse and increasingly complex world.
Please join me in shaping the Bellarmine of tomorrow. We will be in touch with more information and ways to engage soon.
Sincerely,
Susan M. Donovan, Ph.D.
President