Looking at Centenary’s Strategic Plan, Bold at the Bicentennial
No college or university is perfect. Every school has its metaphorical cracked sidewalk. It is the job of the university leaders—boards, presidents, deans, provosts, etc—to envision the kind of changes that will improve the overall atmosphere of their respective institution. Their visions are often gathered and neatly laid out in ‘Master Plans.’ Last year, Centenary concluded its work on the 2017-2021 Forward initiative and launched a new Strategic Plan: Bold at the Bicentennial. While the plan went into effect in 2023, there has already been significant positive movement towards completing the goals set by the college.
Bold at the Bicentennial follows four key goals:
Provide a Transformative Student Experience
Grow Enrollment
Be Shreveport-Bossier’s College
Be a Great Place to Work
Under each goal, there are several initiatives that are organized under a specific time frame. For example, the very first initiative under “Provide a Transformative Student Experience” is the “Student Success Initiative,” and the timeline is laid out as follows:
(Bullet point) “Year One: Utilize the new Learning Commons to provide integrated academic, co-curricular, advising, and career support. Ensure state of the art learning spaces. Update the library to meet campus needs for learning and gathering spaces.
(bullet point)Year Two: Provide timely and affordable access to textbooks and class materials through inclusive textbook programs. Implement an electronic, automated degree audit system.
(bullet point)Success (3-5 years): Student retention and persistence will increase to 80% or higher. The graduation rate will increase to 61% or higher.”
This initiative has already seen great follow-through by the year-two mark. The Learning Commons has grown quickly from its first year. This year, the number of students who have used the Learning Commons has far surpassed the number at the same time last year. Centenary has instituted a new textbook system for classes, and the Degree Works program, the “electronic, automated degree audit system” is in full working order.
Another initiative that’s seen tangible growth is the “Campus Athletic Initiative.” This initiative aims to support the student-athlete populating by increasing communication between students, coaches, faculty, administration, and fans. Under this initiative, the student-athlete handbook was updated, as explicitly stated in the goals, to foster better relationships for student-athletes on campus. Additionally, the Centenary “C” Club has been restarted to give student-athletes better resources for success.
Perhaps the most successful initiative is the “Community Athletic Initiative.” This initiative aims to “become a community destination for athletic events, complete football stadium renovations, including tailgate/fan zone, offer season tickets with launch varsity football, secure sponsors for tailgate zones, and increase community attendance and sponsorship of athletic events.” This initiative is planned to take three to five years, but many of these aims have already been completed. The varsity football season has begun, and with it, the stands have filled with community supporters, tents are popping up for tailgating, season tickets are selling, and each game is sponsored by community groups. The Shreveport-Bossier area has genuinely showed up and showed out for Centenary Football.
Many of the goals and their initiatives cannot be adequately evaluated at the present time by students. Typically, plans are given annual updates and evaluations on how successful each initiative has been. The former Forward plan has all four reports listed under the full plan on Centenary’s website. The Bold at the Bicentennial is relatively new, so hopefully the Centenary administration will be able to provide a detailed report at the end of the year, so students can see the full extent of progress that is happening at the college.
