Strategic Plan Midpoint Addendum: Town Hall Recap and Next Steps

Dear Baruch Community,

On September 23, we held a virtual college-wide town hall to discuss our Strategic Plan Midpoint Addendum and the four initiatives that will guide our next phase of work. Thank you to everyone who joined and contributed to the conversation. Whether or not you were able to attend, I want to share the main themes, explain what these initiatives mean for our community, and outline what comes next.

At the midpoint of our Strategic Plan 2023–28, Together, We Are Unstoppable, we have much to be proud of—and important work ahead. Over the past few months, we have taken an honest look at our progress, the challenges ahead, and where we need to adjust. Through surveys, focus groups, and campus-wide meetings, you shared what is working, where you encounter barriers, and what would make your experience at Baruch better.

Your insights, together with research and planning, informed the Addendum. Its four initiatives build on our mission, vision, values, and existing strategic priorities. Below is a brief recap of each, with more detail available in the Addendum.

Next Level Student Success
Students should be able to find the support they need and navigate Baruch with confidence. This initiative will strengthen student support, simplify complex systems, increase advising staff, and remove barriers that too often make the college experience harder than it needs to be.

It also recognizes that students’ needs change as they move through college. Four phases—Engage, Discover, Practice, and Launch—will help students build confidence, deepen their knowledge, apply what they learn, and prepare for careers or graduate study.

Baruch AI Leadership Initiative
Our purpose is to help the Baruch community understand AI, use it thoughtfully, and help shape its role in how we learn, teach, and work. That requires opportunities to experiment, ask questions, and develop sound judgment about its possibilities and limitations.

Every member of our community will have access to tools, resources, and learning opportunities that support responsible and ethical AI use. The forthcoming AI Learning Commons and Applied Intelligence Lab will connect learning with practice: what we learn through applied projects will, in turn, improve our curricula, resources, and ways of working.

Campus Facilities Master Plan
Our physical environment shapes daily life at Baruch. The Campus Facilities Master Plan addresses our space constraints and identifies better ways to support learning, work, and connection. Community input and the expertise of our planning partners have been essential to finalizing the plan.

Priorities include expanding student spaces, updating campus technology, bringing related departments and teams closer together, and adjusting class schedules to ease elevator congestion. Please look for an invitation to an upcoming Open House, where you can learn more about the plan.

One Baruch
One Baruch, still in the planning stage, asks how we can better reflect our shared values in our systems, communication, decisions, and accountability.

In the coming weeks, we will invite your input to help define its scope, refine its design, and establish practical measures for implementation. Your everyday experiences will help us identify where changes can make the greatest difference.

Turning Priorities into Action
The annual College Focused Goals (CFG) process remains our main means of translating strategy into action. In the coming days, you will receive more information about the 2026–27 CFGs. Please review them and share your ideas through upcoming surveys, focus groups, and campus-wide meetings.

Our progress depends on the work we do together and on our willingness to learn and adjust along the way. Thank you for helping make Baruch a place where our students and our entire community can thrive. I look forward to continuing this work with you.

Sincerely,

S. David Wu
President, Baruch College