Goal 1: RECRUIT, RETAIN, AND GRADUATE OLES: Drive the value of a St. Olaf education by elevating the student experience and supporting their ability to persist and graduate in six years.
Outcome:
- Enroll a class of 810 new first-year students, increasing net comprehensive fee revenue per student to (~2%).
- 94% retention for rising second-year students and 90% retention for rising third-year students, Fall 2027. Long-term goal of 85% four-year graduation rate.
Action Steps:
- Elevate the importance of retention and graduation rates among the campus community by setting expected goals (October 1, 2026), sharing Fall 2026 results for retention and graduation rates (October 15, 2026), and reporting our progress at all-staff and faculty meetings
- Ensure all FGLI students are connected via a formal support program (SSS, SSD, Posse, Engage, etc)
- Launch a pilot FGLI pre-orientation program for Fall 2027 to support 20-25 new students
- Engage with Community Implementation team to identify opportunities (see below)
Goal 2: ADVANCE THE CAMPAIGN: Carry forward a successful leadership phase.
Outcome:
Preparing for the next comprehensive campaign by strategically expanding alumni engagement.
Inputs: Campaign Working Group, Campaign Plan, Alumni & Family Board, Strategic Plan for Alumni Engagement, Strategic Consults, and Board of Regents
Action Steps:
- Launch Campaign Working Group to work with Advancement Team
- Execute FY27 fundraising goals:
a. Raise $40M in new commitments
b. Raise $6.6M for the Annual Fund - Begin implementation of The Strategic Plan for Alumni Engagement
a. Execute a series of events to engage alumni in the key themes of the campaign
b. Enhance volunteer management programs and establish reporting that connects engagement activity to pipeline movement and future giving. - Implement the Slate database as the new Advancement CRM system with “Go Live” in February
- Promote test campaign case initiatives
Goal 3: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION: Successfully launch a second phase of strategic plan implementation that progresses and/or achieves budget-aligned strategic priorities while fostering campus collaboration.
Outcome:
The college is better positioned and equipped to engage challenges and opportunities facing higher education, and more attractive to prospective students.
Inputs: Inputs: PLT-led Strategic Plan Implementation Teams, PLT Coordination Team, Board of Regents, Art and Science recommendations, Budget Framework
Action Steps:
VOCATION: Integrate liberal arts education with meaningful vocational discernment through academic, co-curricular, and work-based experiences, supported by faculty, staff, and alumni.
Innovation: Advance a whole-student learning experience that develops creative thinking and adaptability for a changing world.
- Repurpose space in Rolvaag by fall 2027 as a design studio
- Hire an interim Director of Innovation Hub
- Advance curricular innovations including meetings with consultants to further develop Business concentration, work with the Micro-Credential and Work-Integrated Learning (MCWIL) Advisory Committee, and hire a second Finance professor
- Support the enhancement of the Engineering program, including capital improvements in Regents and hire an Engineering professor by fall 2027
- St Olaf Pathway development
a. Develop the St Olaf Pathway description and initial Industry Guides
b. Launch the Ole Map app. This innovative digital mapping tool rollout with testing in fall and “Go Live” in the spring - Character and Leadership development
a. Character Co-op, bringing together students, faculty, and staff working hand-in-hand to shape leaders of character who advance the common good (grant through the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University)
b. Ole Leadership Academy Expansion (Athletics)
c. Refine summer leadership program - Enhance experiential education
a. Expand work-integrated learning and microcredentials through the Ole Career Launcher
b. Expand undergraduate research opportunities - c. Expand International Study for January-term courses and explore summer courses
d. Make study abroad and study away more affordable - Enhance student employment by aligning NACE competencies and expanding mentorship and professional development for students
Community: Foster an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable campus community where every person can belong, thrive, and contribute.
- Further integration of the Athletics and Community and Belonging Strategic Threads into the Comprehensive Campaign
- Support and expand the second iteration of the Sophomore Symposium
a. Grow participation in the sophomore symposium by 33% from the February 2026 pilot program, from 159 to 211 participants - Deepen partnership with the American Talent Initiative (ATI)
a. Participate in a comparison analysis of resource allocation for middle-income students
b. Increase recognition of St. Olaf’s distinctive financial aid model - Strengthen strategic alignment of St. Olaf Religious, Spiritual, & Vocational LIfe (campus ministry & The Lutheran Center)
- Advance work related to Indigenous Relations, including local Tribal relations and launching the St. Olaf Indigenous Advisory Committee
Goal 4: YEAR OF COLLABORATION WITH A FOCUS ON GOVERNANCE: Catalyze stronger shared governance through a year of collaboration among the Board, faculty, and PLT.
Outcome:
Strengthened governance, stronger positioning, and increased agility in decision-making in an era of rapid changes and uncertainties in higher education.
Inputs: AGB and AGB Consultant Steven Bahls, campus-wide survey data, Board, faculty governance, PLT, Leadership Council
Action Steps:
- With support from the AGB consultant, engage a year of focused work on shared governance with and among the faculty, PLT, and Board:
a. Launch a task force on shared governance to develop an AGB-administered campus-wide survey
b. Provide continuing education on shared governance, including through the National Conference on Trusteeship
c. Use survey results to build an action plan toward greater collaboration, including laying the groundwork to revise the faculty manual next year
d. Develop a shared document on principles of shared governance - Support the pilot of a Faculty Leadership Council to strengthen faculty governance
- Invest in a Leadership Council for PLT direct reports with management responsibility to enhance professional development while fostering collaboration
Goal 5: CREATE AN AI FRAMEWORK: Establish a responsible, human-centered framework for artificial intelligence that enhances teaching and learning and prepares Oles to lead in an AI-enabled future.
Outcome:
A campus AI masterplan and strategy that prepares graduates to enter the psycho-social and professional worlds responsibly and capably engaged with generative and agentic intelligence.
Inputs: Campus stakeholders, Regents/AI Board Committee, Futuring Technologies Committee, faculty, best practices of other institutions
Action Steps:
- Launch campus-wide Futuring Technologies Committee, convened by Academic Affairs; link with Regent expertise
- Implement work with the Lilly planning grant, “Student Engagement in the Age of Artifice”
- If full grant is awarded (fall 2026), continue and expand the work of the planning grant
Approved by the St. Olaf College Board of Regents, October 2026