The Board of Visitors Committee on Strategic Initiatives and New Ventures met on Feb. 8 to discuss the current outlined strategic plan and updates on the potential collaborative partnership between the College of William and Mary and Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Provost Michael Halleran and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives James Golden presented an outlined strategic plan for the College to implement over the course of the next five years. The list outlined 15 goals the College would like to work toward in the upcoming years, including expanding students’ global experiences and research partnerships, remodeling the Campus Center, and investigating new housing opportunities close to campus in partnership with the Real Estate Foundation.
Members of the BOV commented that improving efforts to find students jobs after graduation should also be included on the list. The strategic plan will be finalized during the BOV meetings in April.
“We know that we need to look out over the next five years and be really accurate,” Chair of the Committee on Strategic Initiatives and New Ventures Michael Tang said. “What are things that we can actually do over the next five years that would build our competitive advantage and distinguish us from other universities? These are things that emerged from our discussion.”
The committee also discussed updates on the continued efforts to establish a partnership between EVMS and the College. While a bill has been passed in Virginia’s Senate to allocate up to $200,000 to the partnership, another bill has been passed in the House of Delegates suggesting $50,000 in supportive funds. A deal has yet to be reached. Professor of economics Jenn Millar was appointed as the coordinator on behalf of the College.
Mason School of Business Dean Lawrence Pulley presented a new initiative from the Business School that will create a blended MBA program, allowing students to commute and complete a graduate program at the College. The program would include a few face-to-face visits per semester, combined with a heavy online component.
“We think with a blended or hybrid MBA program [that] combines coming to campus periodically with heavy online elements that we could attract students from as far away as a six-hour drive from Williamsburg,” Pulley said. “We believe this is the logical next step for [the business school].”