Meet Ever-Changing Needs of Students, Alumni and Employers
In order to respond to the needs and expectations of future students, alumni and community members, St. Thomas will develop flexible and stackable degrees and programs, including credentials that can lead to a degree.
We will creatively redesign programs and their pricing and shorten time to some degrees. We will build an integrated digital platform that meets the needs of students and reflects how they learn best. We will adapt educational content and pedagogy to be relevant to future students and their employers by co-creating curricula with employers (businesses, school districts, community partners, government). We will break down organizational barriers to foster more collaboration and integration, enabling more interdisciplinary programs.
St. Thomas will adapt to offer continuous learning for alumni and the broader workforce by becoming a sought-after partner for professional development, skills-based education, and executive education. Our Continuous and Professional Education (CAPE) online platform will leverage our expertise and knowledge alongside our key partners for greater impact through St. Thomas.
Related Themes
| 2025 Strategic Plan | Ever Press Forward through Innovation | Ensure Access, Achievement and Outcomes for All | Widen the Circle of Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meet Ever-Changing Needs of Students, Alumni and Employers | Priority | Priority | Priority |
See how the Themes and Priorities of the 2025 Strategic Plan interweave.
Measuring Progress
Success Metrics and Milestones
- ASSESS our offerings against needs in the region’s employer market, measured by U.S. labor market reports and state and federal workforce data.
- Innovate in our DELIVERY of programming and degrees. Increase development of alternative formats, creative course designs and different modes of delivery that meet the needs of current and prospective students and attract new students.
- INNOVATE PROGRAMS
- In all schools and colleges, innovate programs and develop new relevant offerings.
- Through CAPE, expand executive education to a post-COVID world from a program management model to a program development model to serve the specific workforce needs of the Twin Cities, including expanding program offerings and delivery modes to better meet needs of mid-level professionals as well as executive participants.
- Create credentials that stack to degrees.
- IMPROVE REPUTATION AS PARTNER OF CHOICE
- Track and increase satisfaction of students and alumni in meeting their lifelong career needs, measured how alumni view St. Thomas a viable choice for them as they think about continuing their education and upskilling.
- As we create programs and credentials, measure their success by carefully track participants’ satisfaction in meeting career goals. Increase satisfaction of our employer partners, measured through surveys of our colleges and schools’ advisory boards and/or University Advancement (UA) corporate relations surveys.
- As measured by the annual awareness perception tracking survey, increase the percentage who agree that St. Thomas produces employer desired graduates and offers real-world opportunities to learn.
- Grow graduate programs, including stackable credentials, and corresponding revenue.
- Grow Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE) offerings and corresponding revenue.
Progress Update, February 2022
The St. Thomas 2025 Strategic Plan debuted in February 2021. We continually track and report on our progress; here are key developments from the past year, as of February 2024:
Dr. Eddy Rojas, Executive Vice President and Provost has led our efforts to develop flexible degrees and programs, redesigning our offerings for relevance and affordability, and fostering collaboration across disciplines. By reimagining traditional degree structures, we have introduced a novel business model that emphasizes variable costs, enabling us to offer lower tuition rates without sacrificing quality and better aligns with the demands of the future workforce.
The creation of the multidisciplinary SPEED (Strategic Program Evaluation, Execution, and Development) Team has reduced the time to market for new graduate degrees by half. Our team has facilitated the development of programs that are not only timely but also deeply connected to the needs of our community and the wider workforce.
Key achievements include:
- Expansion of our program offerings, including St. Thomas Online for distance education, and new graduate programs in Nursing, Special Education, Artificial Intelligence, and Management.
- The launch of the Master of Arts in Diversity Leadership (MADL) program, offering a dynamic and flexible learning environment that caters to part-time students through an online, asynchronous delivery model.
- Collaboration among eight departments from three different colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, Education) to deliver the MADL program, showcasing our ability to break down organizational barriers and foster interdisciplinary integration.
- Co-development of curricula with industry partners, ensuring our programs remain relevant and responsive to employer needs.
As we move forward, our goal is to continue to innovate and adapt our educational offerings to meet the needs of our students and the demands of the evolving job market. We are committed to becoming a leading institution for values-based graduate education and a sought-after partner for professional development.
Key Leaders
- Eddy Rojas, Executive Vice President and Provost
- Karyn McCoy, Associate Vice President for Alumni, Corporate and Careers
- Academic Deans
Success Metrics and Milestones
Success Metrics and Milestones
- ASSESS our offerings against needs in the region’s employer market, measured by U.S. labor market reports and state and federal workforce data.
- Innovate in our DELIVERY of programming and degrees. Increase development of alternative formats, creative course designs and different modes of delivery that meet the needs of current and prospective students and attract new students.
- INNOVATE PROGRAMS
- In all schools and colleges, innovate programs and develop new relevant offerings.
- Through CAPE, expand executive education to a post-COVID world from a program management model to a program development model to serve the specific workforce needs of the Twin Cities, including expanding program offerings and delivery modes to better meet needs of mid-level professionals as well as executive participants.
- Create credentials that stack to degrees.
- IMPROVE REPUTATION AS PARTNER OF CHOICE
- Track and increase satisfaction of students and alumni in meeting their lifelong career needs, measured how alumni view St. Thomas a viable choice for them as they think about continuing their education and upskilling.
- As we create programs and credentials, measure their success by carefully track participants’ satisfaction in meeting career goals. Increase satisfaction of our employer partners, measured through surveys of our colleges and schools’ advisory boards and/or University Advancement (UA) corporate relations surveys.
- As measured by the annual awareness perception tracking survey, increase the percentage who agree that St. Thomas produces employer desired graduates and offers real-world opportunities to learn.
- Grow graduate programs, including stackable credentials, and corresponding revenue.
- Grow Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE) offerings and corresponding revenue.
Progress Update
Progress Update, February 2022
The St. Thomas 2025 Strategic Plan debuted in February 2021. We continually track and report on our progress; here are key developments from the past year, as of February 2024:
Dr. Eddy Rojas, Executive Vice President and Provost has led our efforts to develop flexible degrees and programs, redesigning our offerings for relevance and affordability, and fostering collaboration across disciplines. By reimagining traditional degree structures, we have introduced a novel business model that emphasizes variable costs, enabling us to offer lower tuition rates without sacrificing quality and better aligns with the demands of the future workforce.
The creation of the multidisciplinary SPEED (Strategic Program Evaluation, Execution, and Development) Team has reduced the time to market for new graduate degrees by half. Our team has facilitated the development of programs that are not only timely but also deeply connected to the needs of our community and the wider workforce.
Key achievements include:
- Expansion of our program offerings, including St. Thomas Online for distance education, and new graduate programs in Nursing, Special Education, Artificial Intelligence, and Management.
- The launch of the Master of Arts in Diversity Leadership (MADL) program, offering a dynamic and flexible learning environment that caters to part-time students through an online, asynchronous delivery model.
- Collaboration among eight departments from three different colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, Education) to deliver the MADL program, showcasing our ability to break down organizational barriers and foster interdisciplinary integration.
- Co-development of curricula with industry partners, ensuring our programs remain relevant and responsive to employer needs.
As we move forward, our goal is to continue to innovate and adapt our educational offerings to meet the needs of our students and the demands of the evolving job market. We are committed to becoming a leading institution for values-based graduate education and a sought-after partner for professional development.
Key Leaders
Key Leaders
- Eddy Rojas, Executive Vice President and Provost
- Karyn McCoy, Associate Vice President for Alumni, Corporate and Careers
- Academic Deans