Setting the Stage for Our Next Era

Today, higher education is at a crossroads. Particularly across the Northeast, the demographic cliff coupled with an overall decline in the number of students going to college has presented headwinds for enrolling traditionally aged, first-time undergraduate students. Some, including students themselves, their parents, employers, elected officials, and members of the media, question the value of higher education and whether it is “worth it” to pursue a college degree, leading to additional enrollment challenges. For St. John’s, the answer is clear: standing still is not an option. We must act boldly and urgently because the Catholic and Vincentian education that St. John’s provides is not only “worth it,” but is necessary to future generations.

In response, St. John’s now embarks upon an updated, three-year strategic plan focused on three critical areas that define our next chapter:

• Priority 1: Student success, which is core to St. John’s mission of supporting students from all backgrounds, requires that barriers do not stand in the way of aspirations. We will ensure that every student regardless of background or modality has the resources, support, and opportunities to graduate and thrive in life, career, and community.
   

• Priority 2: Financial Health, which will allow St. John’s to invest more funds in support of our students, faculty, administrators, and staff, and in our physical plant, technology, and systems. We will strengthen the University’s financial foundation through disciplined management, new and enhanced revenue streams, and strategic investments that empower institutional growth and student success.
   

• Priority 3: Operational Efficiency and Innovation, which will enable St. John’s to streamline academic and administrative processes through digital transformation and process redesign. We will streamline and modernize how we work to enhance and improve our agility, responsiveness, and service by embracing digital transformation and process redesign. 

These commitments demand urgency, discipline, and unity. Our current levels of performance must improve if St. John’s graduates are to continue shaping the world with the type of confidence, compassion, and conviction that define our alumni. Over the next three years, progress will be measured, resources will be aligned, and success will be defined by the lives transformed through a St. John’s education. 

Measured in the need we meet, the lives we set into motion, and the range of in-demand professions that benefit from our strategic growth, St. John’s is a vital part of the higher education ecosystem in New York City with an impact felt around the world. We are the keepers of a unique flame.

Now is the time to write the next chapter together. Every member of our community has a role to play. Whether you teach, advise, support, or learn, your voice and your actions matter. Let us move forward with urgency, unity, and conviction. The future of St. John’s and the futures we help create depend on it.