Canisius University President Steve Stoute spent much of his first year on the job “listening” – to students, alumni, industry and community members about their views on Canisius and its role for the future.
At the same time, Stoute was leading work on a strategic plan for Canisius that also reflects his perspective as a first-generation college student, an international student and an immigrant whose pursuit of American higher education led him from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago to the helm of a U.S. university.
It’s experiences like Stoute’s that form the foundation of Canisius’ new plan, one that includes attracting more international students hoping for an American education.
The six-year plan, titled “Answer the Call,” contains the broad “pillars” of most such documents, but also sets forth specific goals, including:
• Offer more career-oriented and shorter-term certificate programs to students who might not need or want a traditional four-year degree program to enter the workforce or advance in an existing job.
• Target Canisius’ emphasis on undergraduate leadership, diversity and its Jesuit mission to international and out-of-state markets to reach students seeking those qualities in their college experience.
• Provide at least three “high-impact experiences” to every undergraduate student to prepare them for “a life of leadership” and build a mentorship program “that connects students to a diverse community of faculty, staff and alumni locally and globally.”
• Continue to add to its portfolio of master’s degrees, such as two new ones offered as of this semester in clinical mental health counseling and anthrozoology.
• Work harder to include its surrounding community of East Buffalo in its growth, development and outreach efforts.
Stoute said an overall goal is to position Canisius as the school that serves, prepares and treats all students as future leaders, a key message of…
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