Marking a milestone – Augie celebrates 1st year of strategic plan

The Augustana College community gathered Friday afternoon, Feb. 14, to celebrate the first year of the school’s multi-phased strategic plan that touches almost every part of the college experience. It’s a plan that will help students “graduate confident and career-ready,” according to the college. That plan – called Augustana Bold & Boundless – has many […]

The Augustana College community gathered Friday afternoon, Feb. 14, to celebrate the first year of the school’s multi-phased strategic plan that touches almost every part of the college experience. It’s a plan that will help students “graduate confident and career-ready,” according to the college.

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That plan – called Augustana Bold & Boundless – has many goals. Some include improving the college campus, the student experience on campus, and graduation rates; bringing in more money for scholarships; improving the community by helping small businesses thrive; and much more. “We rolled out Bold & Boundless a year ago to our faculty and staff as a collaborative approach to creating change that impacts our people and our community,” Augustana College President Andrea Talentino said. “We’re investing resources and time into the ideas of our people who carry out the Augustana mission of serving students and our community every day. This celebration marks a milestone in this transformative work and looks ahead to continued progress.” The celebration, held in campus’ Gerber Center for Student Life, attracted about 200 people – most of them staff and faculty members. During most of the event, visitors enjoyed treats and champagne while going between four stations – or “zones” – to hear about different aspects and progress reports of the strategic plan. For instance, one of the zones showed visitors how the strategic plan was matching every student with a customized Success Team that prioritizes engaged learning, maximizing student potential and connecting through community partnerships. Under this plan, a Success Team for a first-year student includes a first-year advisor, a financial aid counselor, a career/vocation coach and a well-being coach. In addition to professional staff members, the Success Team includes student leaders by way of a peer mentor and a community advisor. Success Teams will change over time to reflect a student’s growth and vocational interests.  “From the very start, the Augustana community has been invited to bring their ideas for enriching the Augustana community today and shaping its future,” said Augustana Executive Vice President Kent Barnds. “From Success Teams to equip current students with all the support they need to embracing initiatives to contribute to the vitality of our Rock Island community, we’re incredibly proud of all we’ve achieved to date and all that is ahead for Bold & Boundless.” In addition, Friday’s celebration also featured a series of screens showing visitors updates on other aspects of the Bold & Boundless including: 

• Graduation rate: The plan’s goal is to raise the four-year graduation rate to 78% by 2029. The current rate is 67.8%
• Improve student retention: The goal is to improve the first-to-second year retention to 86% by 2025. The current retention rate is 81.9%.
• Endowment: The goal is to increase the endowment level to $310 million by 2030. The current endowment value is about $217 million.
• Design teams: A series of design teams have been established to improve the college experience for students. For instance, one team has been appointed to determine how Augustana can better award credit. Another team is looking at students' learning and career preparation.
• Gerber Grand Challenge: The goal is to raise $40 million by 2030 to fund Augustana Possible for student scholarships. So far, about $19.1 million has been raised. At one of the four zones Friday, Tyler Vens, associate director of finance, was busy telling about the work of Augustana Possible, which is a financial aid program that meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for qualifying newly enrolled students. “Students have been able to come here, get a degree that will help transform their families,” he said.

Ms. Talentino also told the crowd that the focus on all aspects of the strategic plan  is helping students to be successful. She added that in the past year, during her travels around the country, officials with other schools and organizations  have told her how impressed they are with Augustana’s plan and its grassroots nature. One of the main motives of the plan is: “Students want a college experience in which their well-being, confidence and trust in their college investment grow alongside their knowledge and skills. They want real-world experiences, consistently and often, and well before they apply for jobs or graduate school. They want to graduate confident and career-ready,” according to information from Augustana. In addition to helping students, part of Bold & Boundless also focuses on the community. Doug Tschopp, director of the college’s Entrepreneurial Center, told visitors his vision of using the strategic plan to help small businesses in the Quad Cities. Mr. Tschopp said that there are about 4,000 businesses in the Quad Cities, and only a small portion of those businesses are helped by area chambers of commerce. Many small businesses need expertise and guidance to survive and thrive. “People need help. They don’t know where to go," he added. He said he envisions a future program that will offer education, guidance and help from Augustana students for small businesses. Part of that program could feature student interns working at the businesses in order to get business experience and help the small business. That program – which might be called the Family Business Center – isn’t scheduled yet, but Mr. Tschopp said he hopes it can get the funding and quickly move forward.  “We are ready to go any day if they can find money for us,” he added. “In addition to reflecting on Bold & Boundless initiatives already launched, we’ll be looking ahead to projects that will shape the Augustana experience and impact the Quad-Cities community for years to come,” said Ms. Talentino.