Strategic Plan

Overview 

Universities and Student Affairs offices across the country are actively redefining the value of a college education. One lesson the pandemic taught was how valuable, and irreplaceable, residential student life truly is. It also taught us how great the demand and need for health and wellness services is among students, especially mental health services.

The Dean of Students Office has a transformational opportunity to reset its offering, culture, and role at Tufts. We will shift away from solely being a service provider, often giving high-touch service to students and parents and shift to also being responsible and accountable for the “whole student.”

Initiative #1: Essential Life Skills Planning

Map out what life skills are needed when and by whom to develop student goals, outcomes, and an educational framework. 

Initiative #2: Redefine Health and Well-Being

Meet high demand for health and mental health services by redefining the offering and delivery systems. Having a strong student culture of participation, engagement, and kindness will be the foundation for our health and well-being goals.

Initiative #3: Elevate Career Services

Meet increasing demand for career services to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for work and life after Tufts.

Initiative #4: Staff Development, Motivation, and Recognition

Create or augment a professional development program so Student Life staff are informed, inspired, and equipped to deliver on our mission and strategic plan.

Initiative #5: Educate and Enlist Parents and Families Early

Engage parents and families early, preparing them for the transition in their relationship with their now adult students and enlisting them as collaborators in their students’ development of core life skills.

Overview 

Students and campus partners found the Student Life organization confusing, not knowing if “DOSA, or the Dean of Student Affairs” referred to the whole organization, the dean’s office, or a select group of DOSA leadership. Research also indicated many students and campus partners lack basic knowledge about Student Life and its resources.  

Initiative #1: Student Life Identity

Leverage the “post-COVID” pivot point with a reframing of Student Life, presenting a team motivated by highly professional, productive, and personalized standards.

Initiative #2. Scope Refinement

Redefine student services and resources provided by Student Life to reset support expectations. 

Initiative #3: Student Life Communication Campaign

Reset the Tufts community’s expectations of students and Student Life with the launch and introduction to Life Skills education and a new Student Affairs role and voice. Continue to build reputation and value throughout the five-year plan.

Overview 

Students and institutions alike benefit from belonging to a community. Community is so much more than living and learning together under one roof. It’s how we relate to one another. It can build connection, character, skills, and loyalty. For Tufts, an institution that promotes active citizenship and diversity, community experience is arguably more important than at other institutions. 

Emerging from COVID, students and the Tufts Community yearn for connection and integration. They want to come together and belong to something bigger. This is our moment to move towards being One Tufts. 

For Tufts to create an overarching community and integrated experience, we ought to promote and deepen the shared values that attracted students to Tufts in the first place. Creating shared community experiences, whether for personal growth or simply for fun and socializing, will advance this goal for students, faculty, and staff alike. 

Initiative #1: “One Tufts” Community Values Program 

Leverage the good relationships and common ground among students, faculty, and staff to make more connections of Tufts’ “little communities” and university silos to build the larger Tufts community.

Initiative #2: Build Signature Civic Engagement and Restorative Practices Programs to Build Community Bonds

Elevate civic engagement and restorative practices to tap into Tufts’ core values, students’ passions, and the need to engage everyone in building One Tufts. 

Initiative #3: Significantly Improve the Residential Experience 

Improve the residential experience through increased programming aiming to become an industry leader.

Initiative #4: Revitalize the Student Social Experience 

Improve the student social experience through increased programming of community-wide events promoting a culture of inclusion and providing a wide array of ways to come together and socialize. 

Initiative #5: Come Together to Support “the Teams”

Improve integration of Athletics into the student experience for fun and pride and bring people together to celebrate talent throughout the Tufts community.

Overview 

To serve students well, you must know students well. That is more challenging today because there is no “mass” student—everyone is intersectional. The challenge is even higher at Tufts, as one of the most diverse universities, with eight separate identity centers and a first-year class that is majority people of color. 

There is a great opportunity to foster a closer, more structured working relationship with Campus Partners (e.g., Institutional Research, the Identity Centers, StAAR, etc. to establish research initiatives and to develop insightful solutions for this important shared goal. 

Initiative #1: Build on-going student knowledge

Build base of knowledge to help shape all initiatives and build professional reputations.

Initiative #2: Map the student journeys of emerging, under-represented and influential segments

Build new knowledge of the needs of under-represented and emerging groups at Tufts.

Initiative #3: Partner with DSDI to identify and address diverse needs

Collaborate with the Identity Centers to create and interpret targeted research better and develop insightful solutions within both organizations.

Initiative #4: Track, leverage, and share “the pulse of students” via heavy engagement and collaboration with students

Understand immediate issues impacting students and pre-empt future problems.

Overview 

Building One Tufts Community requires space that we currently do not have. Lack of space has driven many students and parts of the culture off-campus, notably, coming together for fun off-campus. Defining and securing the space required to enable this strategic plan’s implementation is critical for its success. 

Initiative #1: Space to Come Together 

Advocate to bring the community together by identifying and repurposing existing facilities and building new facilities. 

Initiative #2: Improve Navigation, Efficiency, and Accountability

Build out an improved “traffic” system, both digital and human, to ensure that inbound requests are acknowledged and handled in a timely and responsive manner.

Initiative #3: Staff to Plan

Realign the staffing and reporting structure of Student Life to ensure it is operating at peak efficiency with limited, but sufficient, staff.