Strategic plan, the first at Rutgers since 1995, will outline ‘ambitious but realistic vision’ for the entire university

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers President Robert L. Barchi today formally launched the university’s first strategic planning initiative in more than 15 years.

This initiative, which will seek input from all Rutgers stakeholders, will lead to a plan that “clearly outlines an ambitious but realistic vision and a strategy” to enhance the university’s standing as a top research university, said President Barchi, who began emphasizing the need for strategic planning even before he took office on Sept. 1.

“The time is right to begin that process,” Barchi said. “In the past month, we have achieved several major milestones: approval of Rutgers’ integration with UMDNJ by our governing boards, voter approval of a long-awaited bond act for higher education construction, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights’ entry into the Big Ten Conference, and the university’s admission to the prestigious Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the academic consortium of Big Ten schools. Let’s capitalize on this momentum.”

The strategic planning process will include:

    • Gathering input from all corners of the Rutgers community through interviews, surveys, focus groups and other methods.
    • Assessing the university’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges.
    • Reviewing trends in higher education and benchmarking academic peers.
    • Identifying key areas of academic excellence to prioritize.

President Barchi will present an interim report to the university’s governing boards in June and a final strategic plan in fall 2013. The university’s last strategic plan was adopted in 1995.

After a competitive search, the university has selected The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) – a world-renowned adviser on strategy, operational effectiveness, and organizational change and transformation – to partner with Rutgers. BCG has worked with many of the nation’s top 20 universities and academic medical centers.

 “The firm will help us ensure that different voices and perspectives within the broader Rutgers community are heard in our planning process,” President Barchi said. “Over the coming months, BCG will be reaching out to various stakeholder groups to solicit their ideas and opinions on the future of Rutgers.

” Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation’s premier public research universities. Serving nearly 60,000 students on campuses in Camden, Newark and New Brunswick, Rutgers is one of only two New Jersey institutions represented in the prestigious Association of American Universities.

Media Contact: Greg Trevor
732-932-7084, ext. 623
E-mail: gtrevor@ur.rutgers.edu