President Jay Bernhardt unveiled Emerson College’s strategic plan earlier this week, a list of priorities meant to serve as a “roadmap” to guide the college’s mission over the next five years as the institution reaches its 150th anniversary in 2030.
The plan, titled “Extraordinary Emerson 2030,” is designed to “shape a brighter, more innovative, and more inclusive future in an ever-evolving world” according to an email sent to the Emerson community Monday morning, and identifies several areas of improvement—including enrollment, graduation rates, and fundraising—the college will prioritize over the next five years.
“Extraordinary Emerson 2030 … positions Emerson College as a global communication and arts leader in education and scholarship,” Bernhardt said in a video announcing the plan. “By leveraging our strengths and focusing on innovation and inclusion, we have a tremendous opportunity to reach our goals together, to identify and build on initiatives that will shape our blueprint for an extraordinary future.”
The plan, laid out in three concurrent phases, identifies four pillar priorities: academic innovation, collaborative connections, community engagement, and operational excellence. Emerson will pursue “performance targets” associated with each initiative relating to domestic educational opportunities, alumni relations, international networking, EmersonTogether, admissions and enrollment, sustainability, and marketing and branding.
Over the course of the next academic year, the plan outlines a vision for the college to begin discussions with community members about creating a physical alumni center on campus, develop and launch updated branding, and strengthen community relations on domestic and international campuses.
In the longer term, Bernhardt’s administration intends to steer Emerson into a future of fundraising and increased faculty recruitment, retention, and research; the plans also pledges to integrate new interdisciplinary undergraduate majors and graduate programs into the curriculum by the fall of 2028, and reaffirms the commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030.
The strategic plan’s rollout is long anticipated, as data collection and community analysis for the plan began in December 2023—six months into Bernhardt’s presidency—and continued through the calendar year. The plan had over 4,500 points of community engagement through 47 interviews, 24 focus groups, and form, survey, and alumni responses (over 3,500 points of engagement came from alumni alone).
“This plan reflects a candid assessment of the complex challenges facing Emerson and higher education today and provides a realistic blueprint for strengthening our distinct offerings and ensuring our ongoing viability and future success,” Board of Trustees Chair Eric Alexander wrote in a statement. “On behalf of the entire Board of Trustees, I share our unequivocal approval and unanimous support for this plan.”
The plan also comes amidst political strife both inside and outside of the college. Since the April 2024 arrests of 118 pro-Palestine protesters in the 2 Boylston Place Alley, Bernhardt has faced criticism for his direction for the college. At the time, the Student Government Association unanimously voted no confidence in Bernhardt, and publicly called for his resignation. Faculty narrowly voted to censure the president in an emergency meeting in May.
Emerson is also among dozens of universities under federal investigation by the Department of Education for alleged Title IV violations related to “antisemitic harassment and discrimination” against Jewish students on campus. Despite this, Bernhardt emphasized coming together within the plan.
“Let’s all work together to envision an Emerson that is even more extraordinary,” he said in the address.
Below is a breakdown of each phase of the plan and its respective performance targets.
Phase One (actively underway)
Academic Review and Future Visioning: The college is evaluating its academic programs to ensure that all majors have at least 30 students and all minors have at least 20 students by Fall 2026. It is unclear what the effect of the goal would be on the health and social change major, which only has 10 enrolled students. The college is also planning to launch at least two new interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs by Fall 2028.
Alumni Relations: Emerson has reactivated its alumni relations department and board, and aims to increase alumni participation in philanthropy and other engagements by 20% by Fall 2027.
Student Success: The college has stated that it is committed to improving student outcomes by addressing financial barriers, curriculum gaps, and communication challenges. It has set performance targets which include raising the four-year undergraduate graduation rate, which is currently 73% to 80% by Spring 2027 and boosting first- and second-year retention, which is about 87%, to 90% by Fall 2028.
Faculty Research Hub: A new initiative that seeks to enhance collaboration among faculty researchers, increase internal funding, and elevate Emerson’s research profile. The target will be to include at least two interdisciplinary research initiatives by Fall 2026 and increase extramural research funding by 20% by Fall 2027.
Branding Initiative: A new rebranding effort will begin to ensure that Emerson’s market positioning reflects its values. A new brand identity will launch this semester, with awareness and support metrics measured by Fall 2027.
Community Initiative: EmersonTogether launched over the summer of 2024 with the goal of generating collaboration. The initiative aims to host at least two community-building events per month, and Emerson360 surveys, internal community surveys, will track if the events are successful in increasing a sense of belongingness within the community.
Phase Two (planning underway)
Career Readiness: The career readiness initiative is designed to review job placement, salaries, and internship success rates. The program’s main goal is to increase first-job placement and satisfaction to 90% by Fall 2027 and grow the number of students completing internships by 20% by Fall 2028.
Strategic Enrollment: The college is aiming to refine its recruitment and financial aid strategies to boost enrollment. The goal is to increase applications by 10%, decrease the admission rate by 5% (it currently sits at over 50%, the exact rate has not been released by the college), and grow undergraduate enrollment by 10% by Fall 2026.
Community Arts and Media expansion: Emerson plans to coordinate and strengthen its professional arts and media initiatives. By Fall 2026, the college aims for all students who complete an internship in arts and media to have formal academic linkages.
Campus Alumni Center: A new physical alumni center will be established on the Boston campus to feature exhibits on Emerson’s history and an alumni hall of honor. The center is set to open by Spring 2026.
Communications overhaul: A new internal communication plan will launch by Fall 2025 and will aim to increase annual satisfaction with communications by at least 10%.
Institutional Research and data initiative: A new research leader will be recruited by this upcoming summer to track student outcomes and support institutional decision-making.
Phase Three (planning to begin by Fall 2025)
LGBTQ+ Arts and Media Initiative: Currently, a group is working on developing a dedicated center for LGBTQ community members, with recommendations expected by next fall and a national launch by next spring.
Technology Integration Plan: Emerson will be focusing on integrating extended reality, artificial intelligence, and other technologies into its academic framework. Full implementation is expected by Fall 2026.
Strategic Cities Initiative: There are currently efforts to expand programs and student recruitment in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia, with new initiatives set to launch by Fall 2027.
Global Engagement Expansion: The college is hoping to increase international student enrollment by 25% by Fall 2027 and expand participation and satisfaction in the Kasteel Well program by Spring 2026.
Philanthropic Capital Campaign: A quiet, but major, fundraising effort will begin in Fall 2025 for a philanthropic campaign which will then lead to a public campaign launch by 2030.
Emerson Experience Initiative: A new initiative that aims to enhance campus life by promoting creativity and positivity will launch. Annual well-being and satisfaction metrics will be tracked beginning next spring to mark the effectiveness of the initiative.
Campus and Facility Master Planning: The strategic plan states that Emerson will remain committed to sustainability and infrastructure efficiency. As such, a comprehensive facilities plan will be in place by Spring 2026, and the plan reaffirmed Emerson’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030..
Executive Education Initiative: Several new programs targeting post-baccalaureate professionals will be proposed and piloted in Los Angeles, Boston, and online by next spring.
Leadership and Management Development: A professional development program will launch next fall to enhance leadership skills among faculty and staff, with a goal of increasing faculty retention by 5% by Fall 2026.
