In December 2022, the Board of Trustees approved Samford University’s new strategic plan, which is named Fidelitas: Faith and Future. The plan boasts of eight themes by which it will accomplish its goal of improving the experience of Samford students while maintaining a Christ-centered mission.
Since his inauguration in November 2021, President Beck Taylor has worked hard to develop the strategic plan, with the help of Vice President for Finance, Business Affairs and Strategy Colin Coyne and the University Council. Since the first announcement of the planning effort in spring 2022, they have spent countless hours conducting 17 town hall meetings and interviews, 15 city visits and virtual sessions and surveys with over 3,000 responses in order to formulate a plan that best serves the entire Samford community. The University Council, a group comprised of over 50 students and faculty representing all areas of campus, was instrumental in the evolution of the Fidelitas plan. According to Coyne, the council’s slogan on which they based their meetings and decisions, stated: Respect for all. Love toward all. Grace to all.
“I’m excited about the new strategic plan because it addresses every corner of campus, and its focus is to continue to improve the student experience,” Taylor said.
As aforementioned, the plan centers around eight themes: academic distinction, student engagement, employee elevation, faith formation, community celebration, athletic success, financial stewardship and global influence. Each of these themes boasts of four specific goals to measure the plan’s progress. These 32 goals can be found online on Samford’s Strategy and Planning website. Taylor explained that the ultimate goal of all eight strategic themes is to reflect Samford’s mission as a Christ-centered school.
“From enhancing academic distinction, to elevating student engagement and strengthening opportunities for faith formation, among other priorities, the plan focuses our efforts and resources to elevate Samford as the finest Christ-centered university in the country,” Taylor said.
Taylor continued to identify the practical objectives of the strategic plan.
“Students are choosing Samford in record numbers, and the plan envisions new and relevant academic programs, improvements to on-campus facilities and the capacity to host record numbers of students in the future,” Taylor said.
Taylor, along with the rest of the university administration, said he is excited to get started with the Fidelitas plan, now that it has been officially approved by the Board of Trustees.
“Samford has grown into a university that provides the best learning and professional opportunities for students, but the world is always changing, and future students will expect programs that prepare them for a world that doesn’t yet exist,” Taylor said. “Relevant academic programs that integrate Christian faith will prepare Samford’s graduates to change the world.”
Staff Writer
