Initiatives

Academic Review and Future Visioning

This initiative began in Fall 2024 to create a bold and future-focused academic infrastructure for Emerson’s future. The project involves mapping current educational programs and priorities and analyzing the future direction of arts and communication disciplines to provide recommendations for future growth and investments. This data-driven project engages faculty, staff, and students to review curricula, majors, minors, and interdisciplinary programs and consider programs to create, improve, change, or sunset. 

Performance Targets Include

  • Update undergraduate program offerings so all majors have at least 30 students and all minors have at least 20 students by Fall 2026
  • Develop and launch at least two new interdisciplinary undergraduate majors and two new interdisciplinary graduate programs by Fall 2028

Goals Supported

  • Goal A.1 : Increase innovation, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration throughout the academic enterprise
  • Goal D.1 : Increase financial strength through innovative academic and programmatic offerings, increased philanthropy, and operational efficiencies

Faculty Research Hub

Emerson faculty expands the boundaries of research in higher education, advancing knowledge, creating change in the world, investigating complex problems, and creatively bringing ideas to life. The Emerson College Faculty Research Hub initiative launched in Fall 2024 to improve synergies among faculty researchers, fund individual and collaborative research internally, and raise awareness of Emerson faculty research expertise externally.

Performance Targets Include

  • Launch at least two new interdisciplinary research initiatives, labs, or centers by Fall 2026
  • Increase overall extramural research funding by at least 20% by Fall 2027

Goals Supported

  • Goal A.4 : Recruit, develop, and support an innovative and inclusive faculty

Alumni Relations

The Alumni Relations department and the Alumni Board have re-engaged to rebuild alumni relationships through alumni events and improved communication and engagement. Building and strengthening alumni relationships is paramount to achieving many of the College’s strategic goals and is necessary for many other initiatives to succeed.

Performance Targets Include

  • Grow active participation of alumni in philanthropy and other areas of engagement by at least 20% by Fall 2027

Goals Supported

  • Goal C.1 : Support a vibrant community culture and experience that fosters creativity, curiosity, belonging, accessibility, and well-being

EmersonTogether

EmersonTogether was created in Fall 2024 to help the community come together around solutions and shared values to address institutional silos and tensions. EmersonTogether is a living initiative supporting a spectrum of involvement across the silos that can sometimes form in higher education communities. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni at all of Emerson’s sites can contribute.

Performance Targets Include

  • Conduct at least two community-building events or programs per month starting in Fall 2025
  • Develop Emersonians’ overall perceived sense of belonging as measured by Emerson360 starting in Fall 2025

Goals Supported

  • Goal C.1 : Support a vibrant community culture and experience that fosters creativity, curiosity, belonging, accessibility, and well-being

Student Success

The Student Success Initiative fosters a coherent and holistic approach to ensuring student retention, graduation, and overall success. This initiative builds on findings from the 2024 External Review and will create equitable, targeted student outcomes by addressing key barriers, such as financial challenges, curriculum limitations, and broad student concerns and needs, while improving communication and collaboration across campus. These efforts reflect a commitment to inclusion and belonging and developing a vibrant community where all students can be high-achieving scholars, creatives, and communicators.

Performance Targets Include

  • Increase undergraduate student 4-year graduation rate to at least 80% by Spring 2027 
  • Increase first- and second-year undergraduate student retention to at least 90% by Fall 2028

Goals Supported

  • Goal C.1 : Support a vibrant community culture and experience that fosters creativity, curiosity, belonging, accessibility, and well-being

Emerson Branding Initiative

Through external and internal research involving deep engagement with Emersonians, the Emerson Branding Initiative will allow the College to evaluate Emerson’s position in the marketplace and impact on cultural and prospective student conversations. This initiative will craft an updated expression of the Emerson College brand that authentically represents the College and effectively highlights the unique value of an Emerson education. The process will allow the College to refresh the key messaging and creative expression of the brand, inform all of the College’s communication platforms and materials, and provide clear guidelines and tools for Emersonians as brand ambassadors.

Performance Targets Include

  • Develop and launch the updated branding platform by Spring 2026
  • Build brand awareness and support among targeted audiences as measured against our baseline by Fall 2027

Goals Supported

  • Goal D.3 : Refine and elevate Emerson’s branding, positioning, marketing, media, and engagement with priority audiences

Emerson Career Readiness Initiative

The Emerson Career Readiness Initiative will gather, assess, review, and analyze current career development programs to improve and expand career initiatives at Emerson. This initiative will document current programs and resources, curate data on each program, and assess its effectiveness (job placement, salary, internships, etc.). It will also benchmark Emerson’s programs against peer institutions. This initiative will develop plans for potential investment, realignment, new programs, program integration, potential staffing, and targets for new comprehensive and coordinated career readiness programs, emphasizing increased alumni involvement and mentoring.

Performance Targets Include

  • Expand undergraduate first-job placement and satisfaction to at least 90% by Fall 2027
  • Grow the number of students completing an internship before graduation by at least 20% by Fall 2028

Goals Supported

  • Goal A.3 : Expand and strengthen career readiness for all students
  • Goal B.3 : Develop and diversify industry, organizational, and community collaborations and partnerships

Strategic Enrollment Initiative

This initiative involves developing a new comprehensive strategic enrollment plan for Emerson College focused on its mission, fostering growth, and ensuring excellence. It emphasizes strategic recruitment in key markets, utilizing data analytics to enhance enrollment, optimizing financial aid, and strengthening Emerson’s positioning. Key aspects include promoting inclusive access while boosting success through innovative programming, improved partnerships with high schools and communities, and retention strategies for undergraduate and graduate students. The strategic enrollment plan will attract, enroll, and retain an inclusive student population, supporting Emerson’s long-term goals and priorities.

Performance Targets Include

  • Expand the number of overall applications by 10%, decrease the admission rate by 5%, and increase overall undergraduate enrollment by at least 10% over Fall 2024 numbers by Fall 2026 
  • Expand graduate enrollment by at least 15% over Fall 2024 numbers by Fall 2027

Goals Supported

  • Goal B.1 : Enhance Emerson Los Angeles and increase engagement and recruitment in targeted US cities and regions
  • Goal B.2 : Enhance Kasteel Well, global programs and partnerships, and increase international student recruitment from targeted regions

Community Arts and Media

Emerson College is endeavoring to advance and shine a spotlight on the professional arts and media that serve, support, and advance our local and campus communities. Through the Community Arts and Media (CAM) Initiative, we will strengthen and coordinate all community-facing, professional arts and media initiatives across the College. While Emerson’s core teaching and learning mission is paramount, greater strategic and tactical alignment of the arts and media with that mission will also be a primary goal of CAM, along with increasing Emerson’s community visibility and impact while exploring opportunities to increase revenue. 

Performance Targets Include

  • Develop and implement a new organizational structure for CAM by Fall 2025
  • Ensure all student internships within the arts and media units have formal linkages to academic programs by Fall 2026

Goals Supported

  • Goal B.4 : Expand external engagement and integration with our local communities through arts, media, service, and civic engagement