“Make no little plans; they have no magic….”
--Daniel Burnham, architect and city planner
In mid-2023 Winthrop undertook a truly collaborative and inclusive strategic planning process with a wide variety of stakeholders and our consultant, Berkeley Research Group (BRG), resulting in Winthrop: United in Excellence. In spring 2024 we shared our updated mission, vision and values as part of that work and announced 12 Phase 1 initiatives in the fall. Phase 2 was launched the following year with 9 initiatives. Details on these initiatives can be found on the plan website under the implementation tab.
We took to heart Burnham’s words in what I like to call the first three-year sprint of the plan, accomplishing more than perhaps we thought we could. Academic excellence, community engagement, campus innovation, student experience, and financial sustainability were our guiding stars as we sought to expand our educational offerings, foster a vibrant campus life, and ensure long-term financial health.
We are now nearing the end of the first sprint, and I’m pleased to share with you today the seven initiatives we’ve outlined and the Winthrop Board of Trustees has approved for 2026-27. As I have said, no surprises here. We will continue our important work in curriculum development, tracking progress on advanced manufacturing engineering, aviation and business management, and business administration in the CBE modality. The instructional site in Fort Mill will continue to be a focus, as will our marketing and branding. Our students will be center stage as the new Career Center comes to life, both in programming and the physical space in the DiGs. We will also utilize new tools in donor outreach, keep professional development and employee satisfaction top of mind, and implement a new payroll software to bring Winthrop into the modern day.
For details on these Phase 3 initiatives, please check the website.
As we work through these, we also will level set our strategic plan goals and desired outcomes by bringing back BRG (and yes, Faisal Amin!) for an encore. Winthrop is a very different institution than three years ago, and we need to challenge ourselves to be more aspirational, bolder and push ourselves to initiate plans three years ago we could not even consider.
The tentative timeline for the next sprint is to soon start forming a strategic planning steering committee much like we did in 2023-24 and working with cabinet, faculty, staff, and SGA to make sure we have good representation from across the campus.
We are targeting the Board of Trustees retreat in spring 2027 for a meaningful workshop with BRG about the next sprint with the hope of presenting the plan at the first full Board of Trustees meeting after the retreat. The plan will then be shared with campus, and if everything goes as expected, on July 1 we will be ready to move into the second sprint.
It goes without saying that none of the “magic” our earlier plans envisioned would have been possible without the hard work of so many of you. What you have accomplished is nothing short of extraordinary, and the vision we all share for a stronger Winthrop is beginning to come into focus. I thank you for all you have done individually and we have done together, united in excellence!
Edward
Edward A. Serna
