Love School of Business 2020-2025 Strategic Plan

Unanimously approved by the LSB faculty April 24, 2020

Mission

To be leaders in the design and delivery of transformational educational experiences through engaged learning, excellence in teaching, mission-driven applied and pedagogical scholarship, and service, with a rigorous program of study that produces graduates able to provide principled leadership in the global community.

Vision

We will prepare our graduates to lead extraordinary lives with the skills and aspiration to make the future better for the organizations and communities in which they serve.

Values

Excellence

We believe in the value of intellectual curiosity, rigor, critical thinking, and a shared commitment to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service that makes a difference in the lives of our students and our community.

Community

We believe in the value of an inclusive community and respect the importance and contribution of all. We believe in a culture of service and collaboration and value stewardship, honesty and fairness, and we strive to ensure that these values guide our words and actions.

Transformation

We believe in the transformative value of the liberal arts combined with a cutting edge business education in providing the skills, values, and the vision that will enable our graduates to become leaders in the global community.

Goals

I. Academic Innovation

Develop curricular and extra-curricular experiences that prepare graduates to become life-long learners able to make informed decisions in a business environment defined by technology, data intensive analysis, sustainability, and unpredictable change.

Objective 1: Design an agile and rigorous business curriculum that meets changing market demands and enhances student skills necessary to identify business opportunities and solve complex problems.

Action Items:

  1. Develop and support learning experiences that focus on advanced technologies, data generation and evaluation, and well-informed, data-driven strategic decision-making.
  2. Create and support learning experiences that develop learning agility by emphasizing critical and creative thinking, teamwork, and communication skills in the physical and digital environment.
  3. Integrate and support learning experiences that promote sustainability, positive societal impact, and socially responsible decision-making.

Objective 2: Further distinguish the LSB student through increased integration of high impact engaged learning experiences.

Action Items:

  1. Leverage capabilities within and across business disciplines, the Liberal Arts, Communications, and Elon initiatives in STEM, nursing, engineering, and innovation.
  2. Increase the number of LSB students involved with high impact practices, such as undergraduate research, signature projects, case competitions, global experiences, and industry certifications.

Objective 3: Evaluate graduate business degrees and curriculum to ensure that Elon is meeting market demands for post-graduate education.

Action Items:

  1. Explore delivering course content using non-traditional methods, such as 3+1 programs, stacked certifications, badges, and other means to recognize learning beyond degree programs.
  2. Explore changes in the delivery of graduate programs that enhance student access in both Elon and our RTP locations while staying true to Elon’s model of engaged learning.

II. Partnerships

Strengthen partnerships with external stakeholders to maintain relevance and build our national reputation.

Objective 1: Identify and cultivate strategic partnerships with current and targeted companies to satisfy the future employment needs of LSB students’ over an expanding geographic footprint.

Action Items:

  1. Conduct annual surveys to determine ideal employer and employee characteristics to cultivate new and enrich existing employer relationships.
  2. Coordinate with SPDC to develop a premier pipeline of employers who recruit a cohort of students annually.
  3. Increase the engagement level of LSB students with the Porter Center.

Objective 2: Work with alumni relations to build life-long and meaningful connections with undergraduate and graduate LSB alumni to assist their continued development, improve networking and instill a culture of philanthropy.

Action Items:

  1. Invest in mentoring programs so that every LSB student leaves Elon well-connected to a network of mentors.
  2. Create and support programs that offer alumni professional development and opportunities to share their expertise with LSB faculty and students.
  3. Create and communicate opportunities for alumni to increase their financial support of LSB initiatives and student scholarships.

Objective 3: Dedicate resources to build partnerships with local communities to reinforce students’ understanding of civic responsibility.

Action Items:

  1. Increase the number of local internships/work-study/apprenticeships with local businesses incrementally each year.
  2. Increase support of service-learning projects incorporated into the coursework of the LSB curriculum.
  3. Create and support opportunities for faculty and students to engage with local businesses to drive conversations about economic and public policy challenges in the area.

Objective 4: Work with university communications to promote the LSB, its mission, and the successes of students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Action Items:

  1. Ensure consistent messaging on the LSB brand to communicate our unique strengths to stakeholders.
  2. Enhance capabilities in social, online and traditional media to attract high quality faculty, staff and students.

III. Top Destination for Faculty and Staff

Elevate the Love School of Business’ position as a top employment destination by enhancing our culture of collegiality and respect, supporting excellent teaching and scholarship, and furthering our contributions to Elon’s mission.

Objective 1: Demonstrate commitment to the continued well-being of faculty and staff colleagues by improving how we manage our growth, resources, and expectations.

Action Items:

  1. Review responsibilities of current faculty to clarify teaching, scholarship and service expectations to promote efficient performance.
  2. Review current staff workloads to anticipate future needs and assess the distribution of responsibilities.
  3. Enhance current recruitment and retention strategies to further Elon’s mission of supporting exceptional faculty and staff.

Objective 2: Invest in faculty who demonstrate excellence in teaching and mentorship and show commitment to business education innovation that supports changing demands of employers.

Action Items:

  1. Provide resources for faculty to engage in curricular innovation that includes new course development, curricular updates to existing courses, learning and integration of new technologies in the classroom, and introduction of new methods for content delivery.
  2. Work with Elon’s Center for Teaching and Learning to develop enhanced methods to measure, evaluate and develop effective teaching consistent with Elon’s emphasis on engaged learning.

Objective 3: Support faculty to promote excellence in diverse forms of scholarship, with a focus on applied, undergraduate, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Action Items:

  1. Develop additional sources of financial support for high quality scholarship.
  2. Create and support faculty efforts to engage in undergraduate research and establish clear communication systems for publicizing undergraduate research in the LSB.

IV. Diversity and Inclusion

Support our mission by cultivating a diverse, inclusive, and vibrant community of students, faculty, and staff that promotes representation, values differences, and reflects our multicultural business environment.

Objective 1: Develop an organizational culture that embraces and values diversity by increasing the student, faculty and staff experiences of inclusion, equity and respect.

Action items:

  1. Launch new and reward current initiatives that leverage our skills to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion to the LSB, Elon, and broader community.
  2. Create and support programs to celebrate differences in the LSB, such as undergraduate research or service that advances diversity, speaker series including guests with relevant expertise or background, and diversity training for the LSB community.

Objective 2: Support the University’s mission of inclusion by boosting diversity in our faculty, staff, and student body and leveraging the associated benefits.

Action items:

  1. Implement varied recruitment strategies to reach faculty, staff, and students from diverse backgrounds, ranging from engaging prospective undergraduates to attracting seasoned professionals to join the LSB community.
  2. Develop programs to increase the retention of students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds, such as enhancing mentorship and promoting success stories of diverse groups.

Objective 3: Integrate diversity and inclusion values into the LSB student experience by encouraging relevant curricular and co-curricular experiences.

Action items:

  1. Integrate diversity and inclusion content into the LSB curriculum to demonstrate the business case for diversity.
  2. Enhance proportion of LSB students engaged in diversity-related educational experiences, such as enrolling in courses and minors that expose them to more diverse beliefs, ideas, and worldview that will enrich their learning within the LSB.
  3. Increase depth and diversity of our students’ global experiences to ensure all LSB students graduate with a multicultural business perspective.

Learn more about the LSB diversity initiatives