In June 2016, more than 130 campus leaders, faculty and staff participated in a Vision 2020 Summit to celebrate 2015-2016 achievements and discuss opportunities to combine efforts in support of 7 strategy specific goals: Athletics, Diversity, Student Mentoring & Academic Advising, Student Leadership Development, Student Financial Literacy, Study Abroad & International Missions, and the We Believe Campaign. Over 90 more faculty and staff attended a second summit in August 2016 and two additional areas of focus were explored: Student Centeredness and Interdisciplinary/Cross-Functional Collaborations. Attendees of both summits were invited to join volunteer teams that will research and make recommendations on how to move these areas of focus forward.

To promote transparency and encourage collaboration, annual plans for all colleges and administrative units were collected and posted on MyBelmont in July 2015. Subsequently plans were entered into an assessment software program for ease of reporting and tracking progress. Collectively, campus constituents engaged in more than 2200 actions in support of the University’s Strategic Priorities.

Planning began in August, with a Board of Trustees meeting to outline the process. President Fisher presented the process to campus in a “State of the University” address during Opening Convocation.

With input from the Faculty Senate, University Staff Advisory Council and Student Government Association, we created a format for moving forward together.

Students, faculty, staff and alumni gathered in a series of focus groups to discuss what makes them proud about Belmont, what’d they’d like to see in a future Belmont and what Belmont can do to more fully live out its mission, vision and values.

The collaborative process engaged more than 1,000 members of the Belmont community in shaping the conversation on areas needing improvement and continued attention most.

Analyses of focus group responses revealed ten clusters of focus that became discussion points for trustees, faculty, staff and alumni at a January 2014 Board of Trust meeting.

Representatives from across the University worked in partnership with the trustees to identify emerging themes regarding Belmont’s future which were shared with campus in a February email.

Throughout the Spring of 2014, additional sessions were held that further clarified and articulated the themes of Vision 2020.

Discussed and refined, the Ten Guiding Principles were announced in April and officially approved by the Board of Trust in May.

Workshops brought together more than 50 key position leaders to discuss how they would utilize the Ten Guiding Principles.

Deans, directors and department heads met to discuss Belmont’s transformation over the past decade and consider the growth, efficiency and financial strategy of the University.

In August, the official Belmont Vision 2020 site was launched as a centralized location to document the strategy and implementation of the Vision 2020 plan.

A Board meeting was held to discuss the next steps which included challenging individual areas across campus to craft department-specific vision statements to support the broader Vision 2020 as well as tangible goals to uphold and deliver it.