Initiatives

  • 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% and increase overall undergraduate enrollment by at least 10% over Fall 2025 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

  • Campus Alumni Center

    Emerson has identified the need for a physical Alumni Center on the Boston campus. The Center will house the Alumni Board meetings and the Alumni Relations staff and be an essential stop on campus tours for prospective students. The Hall of Honor will showcase alumni accomplishments from across industries, demonstrating the power of an Emerson education. 

    Performance Targets Include

    • Launch an Alumni Center on the Boston campus by Spring 2026 featuring exhibits on the history of Emerson, an alumni hall of honor, and event space
    • Capture the number of alumni visiting the Boston campus, measured year-over-year by Alumni Center visits beginning in Fall 2027

    Goals Supported

    • Goal C.3 : Cultivate and strengthen robust alumni relations and engagement and increase campus involvement

  • Internal Communication

    This initiative focuses on how the College fosters communication with and among members of the Emerson community. By developing people, processes, and products to support these efforts, the College will communicate administrative and academic priorities and goals more clearly and foster multidirectional communication with people across our campuses. These efforts will promote organizational alignment and bridge-building, supporting both the elimination of redundancies and the force-multiplication of efforts through shared intelligence. More effective internal communications will empower community members to feel engaged with and champion the Emerson College brand.

    Performance Targets Include

    • Develop a comprehensive plan for campus internal communication leveraging multiple communication channels by Fall 2025 with plans of implementation for Winter 2026
    • Expand internal communication satisfaction by at least 10% annually from Fall 2026 to Fall 2028 as measured by internal satisfaction surveys

    Goals Supported

    • Goal C.2 : Strengthen internal communication, engagement, and collaboration among students, faculty, staff, and administrators

  • Institutional Research and Data Initiative

    This initiative will evolve the College’s institutional research capacity to holistically track the student journey from admissions to job placement to drive opportunities that improve yield, retention, engagement, and outcomes. It will also assess performance against the strategic plan by measuring outcomes of strategic initiatives, identifying risks or new opportunities based on trends, and performing continuous peer benchmarking and environment scanning to perform mid-term adjustments to the plan. This initiative will perform targeted market analysis to identify opportunities and workforce needs to inform the launch of new programs and identify strategic partners in industry for institutional leaders to pursue. Finally, the goal is to build a team that will serve as the central hub for ongoing analysis of program effectiveness and institutional efficiency, lead accreditation processes and compliance reporting, and reduce the administrative burden of departments College-wide. 

    Performance Targets Include

    • Launch a comprehensive plan for campus-wide Institutional Research and recruit a new leader for IR by Fall 2025
    • Establish and maintain a prototype dashboard for assessing strategic plan progress by Spring 2026

    Goals Supported

    • Goal D.2 : Develop coordinated enterprise data systems, analyses, and infrastructure to inform strategic decisions and direction

  • LGBTQIA+ Arts and Media Initiative

    This new initiative brings together faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners who focus on research, creativity, service, and teaching in the arts and media, featuring and focusing on LGBTQIA+ people, concerns, and community. A working group will explore potential focus areas for a new Center, and Institutional Advancement will explore potential partners and supporters for this initiative. We will develop recommendations for the scope, focus, and goals of a new Center, Institute, or program that can bring together Emersonians from across academic units to work together in this vital domain of research, practice, creative works, and instruction. 

    Performance Targets Include

    • Develop recommendations from faculty, staff, students, and alumni for a new Center, Institute, or program by Fall 2025 
    • Plan, fundraise, develop, and nationally launch the new Center, Institute, or program by Spring 2026

    Goals Supported

    • Goal A.1 : Increase innovation, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration throughout the academic enterprise

  • Emerging Technology Initiative

    This new initiative will help the College rethink how emerging technology interacts with students, faculty, and staff in a forward-thinking manner. It will focus on expanding support for teaching that goes beyond traditional models. This effort will also establish an ongoing assessment process to ensure cutting-edge technologies remain embedded in current facilities, curricula, and organizational structures. This approach will facilitate the seamless integration of emerging technologies such as XR and AI into academic and co-curricular activities, ensuring the continuous strategic and creative use of facilities in Emerson’s unique context.

    Performance Targets Include

    • Increase the role of academic preparation and competencies in emerging media and technology into the curricula beginning in Spring 2026
    • Invest in media and technological infrastructure upgrades on all campuses informed by industry best practices and employment trends and opportunities beginning in Fall 2026

    Goals Supported

    • Goal A.2 : Enhance student education and institutional capacity in emerging media and technologies
    • Goal A.4 : Recruit, develop, and support an innovative and inclusive faculty
    • Goal B.3 : Develop and diversify industry, organizational, and community collaborations and partnerships

  • Strategic Cities Initiative

    This new initiative, based on the successes and opportunities from Emerson Los Angeles (ELA), will focus on New York City; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA, and/or other cities in the US. The initiative will provide opportunities to think imaginatively about Emerson’s next level of success in terms of partnerships, internships, career and job placement, alumni engagement, student recruitment and retention, innovative degree models, and capacity-building initiatives. 

    Performance Targets Include

    • Strengthen the Emerson Los Angeles program with new comprehensive operational plans by Spring 2026
    • Explore the creation of new Emerson programs and increased student recruitment in cities with significant alumni presences and increased employment opportunities for graduates, such as New York City; Washington, DC; and/or Atlanta, GA, by Fall 2027

    Goals Supported

    • Goal B.1 : Enhance Emerson Los Angeles and increase engagement and recruitment in targeted US cities and regions

  • Global Engagement Initiative

    The new Global Engagement Initiative reimagines Emerson College’s approach to internationalization, setting the stage for transformative global impact. This initiative focuses on expanding global partnerships and pathway programs, creating innovative dual-degree models that enhance cross-cultural learning, and attracting an inclusive and talented international student body. By fostering more substantial connections with international alumni, Emerson will build a vibrant global network that supports lifelong engagement. Additionally, the initiative emphasizes institutional capacity building through global collaborations, positioning Emerson as a leader in arts and communication education on the world stage. 

    Performance Targets Include

    • Expand student participation and student satisfaction with the Kasteel Well program by Spring 2026
    • Increase international student enrollment by 25% with an emphasis on students from targeted regions by Fall 2027

    Goals Supported

    • Goal B.2 : Enhance Kasteel Well, global programs and partnerships, and increase international student recruitment from targeted regions