Strategic Plan 2008–2012

Strategic Plan 2008–2012 Preamble For a number of years, the Board of Trustees worked with the document called ‘The Bicentennial Plan—2012.’ This was more a list of implementations than an overall strategy, which took account of who we are, what our resources are, and what we can do, know, and give. This document is an attempt to draw these implementations together, while taking full account of our mission and what we ought to do, know, and give in the light of all that we have been given. It begins with the Seminary’s Mission Statement. The Mission Statement of Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary prepares women and men to serve Jesus Christ in ministries marked by faith, integrity, scholarship, competence, compassion, and joy, equipping them for leadership worldwide in congregations and the larger church, in classrooms and the academy, and in the public arena. A professional and graduate school of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Seminary stands within the Reformed tradition, affirming the sovereignty of the triune God over all creation, the gospel of Jesus Christ as God’s saving word for all people, the renewing power of the word and Spirit in all of life, and the unity of Christ’s servant church throughout the world. This tradition shapes the instruction, research, practical training, and continuing education provided by the Seminary, as well as the theological scholarship it promotes. In response to Christ’s call for the unity of the church, the Seminary embraces in its life and work a rich racial and ethnic diversity and the breadth of communions represented in the worldwide church. In response to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, the Seminary offers its theological scholarship in service to God’s renewal of the church’s life and mission. In response to God’s sovereign claim over all creation, the Seminary seeks to engage Christian faith with intellectual, political, and economic life in pursuit of truth, justice, compassion and peace. To these ends, the Seminary provides a residential community of worship and learning where a sense of calling is tested and defined, where Scripture and the Christian tradition are appropriated critically, where faith and intellect mature and life-long friendships begin, and where habits of discipleship are so nourished that members of the community may learn to proclaim with conviction, courage, wisdom, and love the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord. 1 An Honest Appraisal of Where We Are I. Who are we? Princeton Theological Seminary is a professional and graduate school of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with a primary vocation to theological scholarship and instruction within the Reformed tradition. It is blessed with an outstanding faculty and a decades-long reputation for academic excellence. It has a remarkably motivated and well-qualified student body. It offers degree programs for the M.Div., M.A., Th.M., and Ph.D. Situated on an historic and beautiful campus, it finds itself immediately adjacent to one of the world’s most highly regarded universities. It has a long history of producing leaders for the church both in the U.S. and abroad. Financially, it is strong enough to rely largely on endowment for its operating budget, and can balance fee income against financial aid. A significant portion of the annual Th.M. cohort is from the world church. The Seminary maintains one of the very best and most accessible theological libraries anywhere. The Speer and Luce libraries, with their maintenance and collecting policies, are a magnet for scholars from all over the world. The Seminary is blessed with a strikingly beautiful chapel and tracker organ. It provides residential housing for single and married students, as well as for the majority of faculty. The Seminary is well-equipped and has made considerable investment in information technology. This includes facilities for speech and audiovisual training, etc. The Seminary is a complex institution with resources unparalleled among its peers. Among its academic strengths are: • A well qualified and prolific faculty of 51 persons (plus an average of 25 adjuncts) • A highly qualified, committed, and motivated student body • A Center of Continuing Education • A flourishing Association of Black Seminarians • The Hispanic Theological Initiative • The Hispanic Leadership Program • The Asian American Ministry Program • The Institute for Youth Ministry • The Tennent School of Christian Education • Field Education • The Dead Sea Scrolls Project It is supported by: • The Dupree Center for Children • The ARAMARK food service • The Theological Book Agency (TBA) • Various recreational facilities (gym, pool, athletic field) • A full-time maintenance and facilities staff • Professional business and accounting services Its public outlets include: • The Princeton Seminary Bulletin • InSpire • Theology Today • Koinonia • A constantly evolving website 2 What is the world in which we live at the beginning of the third millennium? • A world in which many nations are struggling to establish and maintain viable democratic governments and productive economies with protections of human rights. • A world in which disparities in wealth, availability of health care, clean water, and mortality rates vary greatly between northern and southern hemispheres and within countries everywhere. • A world in which freedom of religion, speech and the press is often violated, and access to educational opportunities, learning resources and cultural exposure is widely restricted. • A world in which Christianity’s center of gravity has shifted within the space of a century from the northern to the southern hemisphere, where some of the most momentous action in World Christianity is occurring today. • A world in which today’s most ‘representative’ Christianity is no longer European or North American but Latin American, African, and Asian. • A world in which tremendous differences and lack of understanding exist among the world’s different religions and philosophies. • A world in which Christianity is divided against itself in terms of basic understandings of human sexuality, economic systems and the relation of creation to ecology and evolution. • A world in which bio-engineering, geo-engineering and social systems-engineering are reconstituting our life worlds with little theological or ethical guidance. This world is also: • An endangered world in which both very high consumption patterns and the desperate efforts of the very poor to get food, shelter and fuel threaten the environment. • A changing world in which digital technologies and communications media are reshaping the ways people live, work, think, relate, understand and practice their faith. • A competitive world in which explosive new opportunities in science, law, business and medicine draw many of the best and brightest young people into non-clerical professions. • An engaging world in which the discourse of theology, the guidance of ethics and the practice of ministry are moving into settings that extend far beyond congregations. • A shrinking world in which large developing societies – China, India, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa and Nigeria – will challenge every hegemony. • An expanding world order in which new transnational institutions and movements—the World Bank, IMF, WTO, corporations, Non-Governmental Organizations—limit the sovereignty of nation-states, and blur national and cultural boundaries. There are other factors, of a particularly western kind, which affect an institution of learning such as ours. As part of our context, we see: • The rapid increase in the breadth of knowledge in modernity, together with a conviction that its range must be assimilated • A consequent externalizing of learning as fact-like information, which is then “learned” in isolation from its implications for human participation in growth and wholeness • A displacement of accepted authorities in truth and morals 3 • Stable forms of life – including the Christian faith – are destabilized by a series of complex causes • Increasingly diverse corporate expressions of Christian conviction and practice in America, (some in continuity with traditional ecclesial forms and denominational norms, but many discontinuous with these traditions) which are shaped by (a) distinctive ethnic and/or generational cultures and (b) an array of musical traditions • Social fragmentation by resurgent identity politics, fundamentalist militance, cultural clash, and visible increases in economic inequality • A proliferation of information and “values” through IT II. What is our mission? From those to whom much is given, much is expected. Our vision is constantly to be attentive to the calling of Jesus Christ today, maintaining integrity with our past while ever listening and reaching out to a changing church and world. In pursuit of this vision, we are a mission-driven school, a hybrid institution that embodies outstanding pedagogy, research, and leadership in service to the church. Our vision is to be a community of hospitality, dynamism, learning, transformation and faithfulness. How, as an institution with commitment to the church, financial stability, academic freedom, enormous resources and highly qualified faculty, may we respond? What is our distinctive MISSION in the first two decades of the third millennium? The heart of our mission remains that of theological learning and education, honoring diversity and unafraid of change, for the service of God, in this place and time, using the gifts which have been given us, to prepare women and men for leadership worldwide in congregations and in the larger church, in classrooms and in the academy, at the local level and in the public arena. 1. Curriculum: Mission as an educational endeavor Our academic curriculum and our mission must be closely interlocked. This means that awareness of the changing world and our unique ability to reach out as a place of Christian learning, should galvanize our every activity and choice. Currently, the range of courses offered is enormous. It testifies to the industry, creativity and intellectual fertility of the faculty. New areas are constantly added. Despite such range and every good intention, the curriculum (as focused requirement for students in service of the church) is difficult to navigate and without a clear overall strategic purpose. What we teach and how students may most effectively learn is challenged by our mission, not set by an institution’s previous reputation and the more stable world of yesterday. Consequently, over the next few years, we will engage in an increasingly deep review of our academic programs and courses. For whom are they intended and for what purpose? The interrelation of curriculum and mission should encourage us to ask different questions. 4 Overall curriculum strategy should consider: • Mission relates to how we deal with both plenitude and with shortages. Out of our plenty (instructional and material), we have corresponding blindnesses, so how may we become less blind in the midst of plenty? • In any place of convictions, passion and faith may develop narrowness. How may we become able more adequately to address diversity? Historically, at least in the developed west, diversity is addressed through increasing tolerance. Yet, mere tolerance tends to evade other explanations of difference and ultimately leads to a shallowness of koinonia (community). This points to the challenge of combining a deepening evaluation of diversity with the ability to maintain a coherent ethos within the trajectory of the Reformed tradition. 2. Governance: Mission as a collective endeavor Our sense of vision will necessarily affect how we understand ourselves, what our priorities are, and what the partnerships are that we cultivate. As a seminary of the church, the thriving of such values is linked to the quality of collegiality. • Governance is not to be separated from collegiality and is intimately related to the shared creation of an ecology within which the values we seek are best able to flourish. • Governance is not to do with everyone doing the same thing, but recognizes an appropriate separation of the powers. • Governance is formative as well as participatory and relates also to faculty, staff and student development. • The seminary faculty will continue to be a community of highly qualified scholars whose shared commitment is to the formation of competent leadership for the church in its diverse forms. The development of the faculty will emphasize their skills as teachers, mentors, and scholars. • We believe that a faculty flourishes best in a context which is both supportive and stretching. Stretching operates through peer review, feedback from student assessment, contact with guilds, opportunities for research, exchange and collaborations. 3. Collabo rations: Mission as an interactive endeavor Traditionally, pastors have dispensed the sacraments of Jesus Christ, interpreted scripture, pointed others to God, set an example in moral living, and provided reassurance in times of distress. A generation ago, this tradition focused upon the individual pastor and his or her professional preparation by the Seminary. Today, we live in a world with less confidence in finality, and growing awareness of the human cost of individualism and the importance of the biblical vision of a people called and formed for God’s mission. The same pastoral responsibilities continue, but the rapidly changing global and local contexts require more collaboration with other disciplines and engagement with other faith traditions. This strategic document addresses new and expanded initiatives that can enhance our service to the gospel in the decades ahead. That service to the gospel remains crucial, which means that our long tradition of theological scholarship in service of the church will not be compromised. A responsibility for pastors today is to enable others in community to see beyond shallow certainties. All our seeing is limited; all our judgments are partisan; and much of the world is 5 beyond Christian comprehension. Therefore, the Seminary’s service to the church in the 21st century must include the following objectives: • Formation of leaders who will be fluent, courageous spokespeople who are capable of being both insiders and outsiders. They will be leaders who do not fear, but welcome, what is unfamiliar and complex. • Challenge the sectarianism of modern intelligentsia and cultural and national xenophobia. • Engagement in interfaith dialogue with the world’s religions, both here and abroad, with special attention to the Abrahamic family. Involvement in building two-way bridges toward the Hispanic presence in the U.S. in which all leaders will learn to negotiate cultural differences from either end. In furtherance of these objectives, the Seminary will seek to create a series of collaborations of different kinds. They might include: • Collaboration with world-class research institutions (dialogue and multifaceted collaboration with Princeton University will be encouraged at every level). • Collaboration with world institutions in the southern hemisphere (possibly Near East School of Theology; Trinity, Singapore; St Paul’s, Limuru; Bangalore) • Collaboration with a selection of American graduate and professional schools (law schools, medical schools, business schools) • Collaboration with local congregations both at home and abroad All faculty would be encouraged if possible to engage in at least two such exchanges during any 12-year period at Princeton Theological Seminary, thereby gaining cross-cultural experience, and enabling exchange partners to teach on our campus. In a similar way, we would seek to encourage at least four kinds of visitors: • Those with brilliant research records and reputations who will challenge us intellectually, and make specialist use of our libraries • Those from places where Christianity is either struggling or abundant in very different ways, who will challenge our parochialism and the narrowness of our plenitude • Those from sister professional schools who have greater wisdom and experience than we of contemporary secular culture and the world our students will enter. • Those who are on the cutting edge of truly effective ministry in this country. III. What is our strategy? 1. Curriculum The revision of our curriculum will focus on a series of very specific outcomes at course level (a street map), controlled by a series of overall outcomes agreed with the faculty at curriculum level and reflecting our expectation of what our students should know today and what they should be able to do upon graduation (a city map). Our goal for our students is to convey an awareness that wisdom is not an abstract possession, but a living discernment of the ways of God in each situation. Emphasis throughout is to move beyond the assimilation of fact-like information, and 6 encourage the acquisition of wisdom, growth, and maturity. This is to do with spiritual formation. Thus, our revision is ultimately constructed by a set of habitable values or applied competencies (a state map) for living in the 21st century. These virtues are indicated in the Seminary’s Mission Statement: • Faith • Integrity • Scholarship • Competence • Generosity • Precision • Awareness • Compassion • Joy • Modesty • Creativity There will always remain a need for the acquisition of hard skills, finely honed judgment, and detailed knowledge which may only be gained from immersion in a particular discipline. As a place of excellence, we will always continue to pursue such disciplines so that our students may gain such knowledge and skills. However, in revising our curriculum, we will find that many of the most significant and exciting possibilities for ministry and the needs of our congregations and the church-at-large require that we cross boundaries and become interdisciplinary. Curricular decisions made in 2006 will be reviewed in five years, so we are beginning a process of constant mission-related self-evaluation. 2. Governance Attention to better governance will become an institutional goal: • The effectiveness of faculty is diminished through lack of feedback, over-large classes, and inability to interact with colleagues. • During the planning period, regular faculty review will be reintroduced. Class sizes and faculty load will be monitored. • The faculty has asked repeatedly for the creation of focused opportunities for greater contact between the Board and the seminary community. This request should be honored to enable broader consultation in defined areas, but without eroding the prerogatives of either the Board or the Administration. • It is an aim to devolve a number of faculty-related budgets to subcommittees elected by the faculty. These will include research grants and additional travel. • Every effort will be made to encourage the semi-independent constituents of the Seminary fully to become members of a single institution sharing a common mission with a rational and transparent allocation of resource. • The Board is encouraged to explore the collaborative relationship to the Center of Theological Inquiry. 7 3. Integration of part-time education and full-time education Learning is a form of awakening. Life-long learning is not so much to do with the creation of an endless market (as it is often portrayed) as with responding to an awareness that all our knowing is limited, and that we grow only by being encouraged to venture ever further from our comfort zones. We live in a world that is more dynamic than ever: technology is propelling changes in every sphere of life at breakneck speed. One of the most important and fundamental survival skills in the 21st century is the ability to adapt, change, and grow. A planning priority will be to integrate part-time and full-time learning, providing ladders and pathways between them, access to transferable credits, and acquisition of seminary-awarded certificates as well as degrees. Under new direction and subsequently a new name, Continuing Education will engage in a series of partnerships and offer a range of short courses. There will be a variety of delivery systems. 4. Student Life An implication for all of the above will be a strategic bringing together of the implicit curriculum of growth, maturity, wisdom, integrity, confidence, and practical skills with the overt curriculum of academic studies. This will become a priority for the newly appointed Dean of Student Life, who will take a leadership role in planning strategies for the spiritual and character development of students in their lives here. Issues to be addressed include: • Need for better orientation and transition into theological study • Cross-cultural component of seminary experience and need to prepare students to fill ministerial posts in multicultural situations (eg. teaching Spanish) • Need for emphasis on placing students upon graduation, whether in congregations or in other contexts • Need for community building across the ‘4-mile divide’ between the main campus and CRW, and the gap between single and married students • Holistic student development concerns—beyond the classroom, including food service, physical wellness, childcare, etc. • Academic advisement • Re-think pedagogical practices and student assessment; collaboration instead of competition • Online registration; course schedules made available well in advance • Spiritual formation and faith development Another important issue is the question of student indebtedness and financial aid: • A bicentennial goal has been to reduce student debt levels. • Lately we have decreased the amount of aid offered to our M.Div. students, and the percentage of M.Div. and M.A. students borrowing federal loans increased from 42% in 2000–01 to 58% in 2004–5. Average debt per student increased by 32% over that period. 8 Relating to the financial aid question is the issue of PCUSA student enrollment: • We are committed to the board-mandated goal of enrolling a significant majority of PCUSA students into the M.Div. class each year. • Recently, we have noted a substantial decline in the number of PCUSA applicants to the M.Div. program. • Should we fund PCUSA students at 100% of need and non-PCUSA students at 90%? • Should we expand the PTS Presbyterian Loan Program to include junior year instead of only middler and senior years, and increase the maximum per student per year from $2,500 to $3,000? • Should we expand the EFN (Exceptional Financial Need) Grant program to include junior year instead of only middler and senior years and increase maximums per year? 5. Information Technology The Seminary’s IT has been the subject of an external review. The review is positive and constructive and points the way toward a harmonization of the Seminary’s IT systems and practices. The recommendations of the IT review will become a strategic priority, together with moving the IT hub and offices from the Templeton Hall basement where they are at risk from water ingress. 6. The Seminary Libraries The seminary libraries constitute one of the most distinctive and valuable assets of the institution as a whole. Part of the present curriculum renewal will be to devise and implement ways in which independent research and other forms of library use can be increased and integrated with teaching. The mechanical systems in Speer Library are exhausted, and future storage capacity is limited. The firm of Einhorn, Yaffee, and Prescott was hired to produce preliminary conceptual studies on a new library. In 2008 the board approved a project to provide space for traditional and new library services, growing paper and digital collections, and the Seminary’s Department of Information Technology. The libraries are of significance for the worldwide Christian communities. Library plans are being developed to maximize collaboration with libraries here and abroad. The long-term goal is to enhance and enlarge the Seminary’s libraries, granting ever greater access and being able to provide hospitality to and collaboration with as wide a community as possible. Cataloguing of material in the Reformed special collections will be seen as a strategic priority. 9 7. Master Planning All of the above relates to the campus master planning project. Campus master planning goes hand in hand with curriculum renewal and the sense of purpose and vitality we want to bring to the Seminary, yet master planning is a consequence of a vision for the Seminary rather than the independent driver of one. The Board has already agreed to two initial stages of the campus master plan: • To permit requests for plans and costs for new library facilities • To pursue plans for a collaborative rebuilding of the student accommodation at CRW We understand our provision of accommodation as being one of our greatest gifts. At its best, residence fosters community and life-long friendships. However, other questions remain which are harder to resolve: • To what extent should we plan to remain exclusively residential for the medium-term future? • What kinds of students will we serve? (Will we see more second-career students, who will prefer not to live in dorms?) • To what extent should we continue to provide housing for employees? • What should be the proportion between M.Div. students, Ph.D. students, and visiting scholars? • How and where are faculty offices best provided? 8. The Bicentennial Campaign • The Seminary’s donor base is too low to embark on a campaign without a great deal of preparation. • Physical decisions about library and rebuilding of CRW will need to be confirmed and begun. • A successful campaign will depend on support from everyone, and faculty involvement will be crucial. The faculty needs to share in the selection and planning for funded projects. • A successful campaign is guided and energized by a vision and a shared sense of mission. Projects which become part of the campaign should reflect the outward-looking perspective of this document as a whole. 9. Financial Affairs The Seminary’s business practices will model principles of Christian stewardship for the seminary community and for those with whom business is conducted. The Business Office will continue to uphold the highest standards of financial, resource and risk management, probity and accountability, by complying proactively with statutory and regulatory requirements, and by ensuring effective, transparent and accountable governance in line with best practice. 10 Implementation of Strategic Plan 2008–2012 1. Curriculum • Implement the revised curriculum and academic curriculum for the Master’s of Divinity program. • Complete re-design of the Th.M., M.A., M.A.T.S., and Dual Degree programs in alignment with the revised M.Div. program. • Focus upon the “junior year experience,” stressing theological integration and formation of life-long learning skills • Continue to develop the Short Term Courses as opportunities to provide needed diversification and enrichment of course offerings and teaching personnel. • Initiate Blackboard program for course evaluations. Program Evaluations and Revisions • Implement decision to close the D.Min. program • Continue and complete review and revision of the Ph.D. program • Initiate, in cooperation with Center of Continuing Education, credit-bearing courses and programs to serve both ministerial leaders and congregations Administrative Goals • Review and revise the structure and staffing of the Office of Academic Affairs • Continue development of comprehensive academic plan, with focus upon reduction of faculty to 46 positions by 2010 • Enhance ethnic diversity through strategic focus of faculty searches 2. Improved governance the goal is to become members of a single institution sharing a common mission with a rational and transparent allocation of resources. • Steps are being taken to ensure that communication is more inclusive. • The Executive Council is the synoptic decision-making body in the Seminary. • Better use of focused opportunities are provided for dialogue between the Board and all Seminary constituents (faculty, administration, students). • Institution of regular meetings are provided between faculty and students. 3. Integration of Continuing Education and full-time education, probably with a change of title The goal is to broaden constituency by providing theological continuing education to leaders of the larger church serving in vocations in addition to ordained ministry. Complete review, assessment, and development plans of programs currently under the purview of Con Ed, including: • Con Ed Programming • Con Ed Operations • Con Ed Conference Services • Hispanic Leadership Program 11 • Hispanic Theological Initiative • Engle Institute Gradual incorporation of off-campus programs under a common vision of teaching and learning, including the Institute for Youth Ministry, which is now fully incorporated into Con Ed. 4. Student Life Student Wellness • Begin “Transition Groups” for new students that begin with orientation and continue through the first year with mentorship of Department of Student Life and various other administrators and volunteer faculty • Strategize and evaluate potential for growth in wholistic health initiatives, such as: ▪ New Wellness-Fitness Center at CRW ▪ Financial or services incentives for participation in wellness programs • Evaluate future needs and optimum staffing for student counseling and wholistic health initiatives • Work with West Windsor redevelopment team to optimize student services at CRW; ▪ Plan for social space for student gatherings ▪ Enhance on-campus facilities for commuting students Multicultural Relations • Begin programmatic initiatives in Office of Multicultural Relations, such as ▪ L.I.V.E. (Learning, Inclusion, Vitality and Exploration) Symposium; Making Room at the Table in cooperation with Office of Admissions and Financial Aid ▪ Intercultural Dialogue Forum ▪ Workshops on enhancing full participation of the diversity of voices in the classroom, beginning with student leaders, Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows • Continue to encourage and support full participation in Chapel worship that is reflective of the diversity of the community Admissions and Financial Aid • Begin to develop strategies for participation with PC(USA) presbyteries and congregations for raising up leaders from the church and for vocational discernment, especially to maintain Board of Trustees-mandated goal of an M.Div. student body of at least 50% Presbyterian students • Continue to seek rich diversity in the student body, especially through such programs as the “L.I.V.E.” Symposium in cooperation with the Office of Multicultural Relations • Begin to think strategically about maximum tolerance for student debt ▪ Is there a maximum debt load beyond which students ought not to be attending a residential seminary? ▪ More active interpretation to congregations and denominational judicatories about the need to support students financially • Implement new admissions procedures integrating Ph.D. electronic admissions application into the procedures of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid 12 Student Leadership Development (Student Government and Deacons) • Encourage student leadership service • Provide training and experiential opportunities • Invite student leaders into problem-solving processes Student Handbook • Implement new and revised Student Handbook with careful attention to: ▪ Higher minimum academic standards ▪ Clarification of expectations for academic integrity ▪ Clarification of expectations for life in community ▪ Clarification of procedures for rehabilitation at the occasion of breach of academic integrity Placement • Increase the number of PTS M.Div. graduates entering pastoral ministry in their first two years after graduation • Encourage longevity in ministry 5. Information Technology The information technology program can be divided into two overlapping areas: administrative and academic programs and projects. The primary administrative program is the Jenzabar software system, which integrates finance, development, admissions, alumni/ae, advising, and student/registration modules. The primary academic system is the Blackboard system, which contains individual course web sites and online community communication functions. The Blackboard system is a hybrid, which is a teaching tool, a mechanism for creating community, and an electronic reference library. It bridges the gap between the library building and classrooms. Management The Information Technology Department operates through a careful balancing act encompassing three types of management: • Facility management: Various campus locations where physical technology centers are maintained, including the Media Studio, three student computer labs, the Media Lab and Academic Services Center, as well as inter-building connectivity, including dorms and apartments. • Utility management: Somewhat like the telephone company, IT manages all network and telecommunications systems, including email, internet access, media streaming, cable and satellite support, etc. • Customer service support management: This includes hardware, software, printing, and network support for administration/staff and faculty, as well as network connectivity support for students. 13 2005 Audit In 2005, an external audit of the organization and operations of campus technology was performed by Kaludis Consulting. The final report highlighted the strengths of the technical infrastructure and encouraged a more integrated approach to the organizational structure. Further, it noted the need for continued support and maintenance of the technical systems and staff, and confirmed that there has been appropriate budgeting and funding for technology projects on campus. The report also supported the use of outside consultants as presently used for evaluation, risk management, and project support. The main recommendations from the audit report included: • Ending the "silo mentality" at the Seminary by integrating systems where possible, improving interdepartmental communications, and creating three campus groups to encourage community involvement in decision-making about technology throughout the community. • The integration of the Seminary’s external content-based Internet and its internal administrative-based Intranet by implementing the Jenzabar web portal solution. 6. The Seminary Libraries • Support the “Working Library Committee” to refine conceptual drawings in light of faculty and student input and the evolving library vision document. • Support the ad hoc trustee Library Committee as it works with the Working Library Committee, the architects, and the Facilities and Seminary Relations committees of the board. • Complete pre-construction preparation: maximize space for collection growth until construction (15,000 books per year), process large manuscript collections, and provide detailed plans for interim library service. • Realign technical services areas (acquisitions, serials, and cataloging) with new models of acquisitions and access, relying on outsourcing where possible and feasible. • Develop library-wide infrastructure requirements, policies, and procedures and bring together current digital projects in a consolidated digital library initiative. • Lift up the role of the library in the current curriculum review process. • Invigorate Seminary bicentennial publication projects with publicity and author support. 7. Campus Master Plan In our facilities master planning work, we currently address the following issues: • Given the institution’s mission, what is the appropriate physical plant required to support it? • How can the Seminary’s existing physical resources be most efficiently used (including changes in use) to support the school’s mission? • What existing facilities need to be replaced or renovated? • What additional facilities need to be constructed or purchased, and what is the timing? • How will provision of the ideal physical plant be funded? • Can we join in partnership with others to provide most economically appropriate physical resources? 14 While we currently are focused on redevelopment of the West Windsor campus and expansion/renovation of the library, we are also attuned to how best to provide residential housing for single students, studies for faculty, student recreational and other services, and a host of other issues. 8. Seminary Relations In preparation for a Capital Campaign and Bicentennial Celebration • • • • • Adhere to campaign timeline and campaign assignments Establish major donor prospect portfolio for each development officer Schedule and plan presidential briefings Implement new staffing plan for department Continued planning for Bicentennial Development Goals • • • • • • Strengthen the Annual Fund for Princeton Seminary: Stepping Forward in Faith Create a culture of pro-active and intentional fundraising in alignment with strategic plan Improve access to and leverage available data Alumni/ae Annual Giving: Increase by 5% Class Steward Program: Expand role, integrate with reunion, reduce expenses Strengthen church relations program Communications Goals • Increase electronic communication • Develop online magazine version of inSpire • Blogs and other social media to discuss issues in theology and culture and share resources • Continued development of the website Alumni/ae Relations Goals • Reunion 2008 ▪ Increase attendance 25% ▪ Create reunion week, 2009, in collaboration with Continuing Education ▪ Increase use of technology for career reports and communication • AAEC: Increase leadership role for: ▪ Reunion programming ▪ Alumni/ae gatherings ▪ Communications with constituents and seminary community 9. Financial management In order for the Seminary to be able to fulfill its mission, in this generation and in those to come, it is critical that adequate financial resources be available. In addition to prioritizing the appropriate practices for both raising funds and investing existing financial resources, the following financial goals will be emphasized: • Conduct the Seminary’s annual operations on an efficient and balanced budget basis • Adhere to a fiscally responsible endowment spending policy as set by the Board, in order to protect the future purchasing power of the fund 15 • Maintain appropriate systems, controls, policies and procedures such that the Seminary’s financial transactions are accurately and efficiently recorded • Keep in force adequate policies of insurance in order to protect assets of the institution 16