From the President
NJIT has set the standard for ambitious strategic planning with the innovative and comprehensive 2020 Vision plan launched in 2015. Now, at the mid-point of 2020 Vision, I am pleased to issue a strategic plan report showing NJIT’s
accomplishments and its ambitions for the future.
This report reflects what we have learned from 2.5 years of focused implementation. The report stands as a tribute to our success in many areas, including enrollment, research, and faculty hiring. Freshman applications have exceeded targets by more than 20 percent. Externally funded research nearly achieved the full five-year targets within the first two years. New faculty hiring in the past six years has exceeded that of the previous 15 years combined. The graduation rate, a historically static number, has nearly achieved the ambitious goals we set for 2020. We accomplished these goals through effort and investment. Since the inception of 2020 Vision, we have invested nearly $75 million in strategic planning guided-activities and over the period from 2014 to 2020 we have spent or will spend, $435 million on new capital facilities and campus renewal. This will increase facilities by nearly 1 million square feet.
The original 2020 Vision, developed by more than 200 members of the NJIT community and in consultation with the Board of Trustees and senior administrators, was built upon five core strategic priorities. They reflect the key goals of this university: excellence in student performance, a curriculum meeting the highest professional standards, nationally and internationally recognized scholarly research, a community rich in diversity, and investments in a spectrum of assets. This report contains the original objectives, strategies, and tactics designed by the planning committees that guided our resource investments, as well as revisions that reflect the experience of the implementation. The revisions follow closely along the priorities and objectives of the original plan. It seeks to build on what we have learned by highlighting successes and recommitting the university to meeting our ongoing challenges.
I thank our Provost and Senior Executive Vice President, Fadi Deek, for his tireless leadership of 2020 Vision and the many members of the university community, including faculty, students, administrators, staff, alumni and board members who have worked together on implementation over the past 2.5 years. Their vast knowledge of NJIT and compelling wisdom about achieving excellence has guided us in ways that will propel our university to further remarkable outcomes.
This 2020 Vision Mid-Cycle Report shows the original plan’s accomplishments and stands as a testament to our success while confronting challenges with innovation. We have engaged in rigorous, comprehensive assessment throughout 2020 Vision, and this helps us to refine tactics and guide investment. This dynamic process underscores our commitment to continuous improvement in making a brighter future for the NJIT community.
Joel S. Bloom