Moving Together Beyond Boundaries
A Strategic Plan for Hood College
2017-2022
Dear Friends of Hood,
Hood College recently celebrated its 125th year. The Woman’s College of Frederick was chartered with the purpose of creating a college for the promotion and advancement of women and the cultivation and diffusion of literature, science and art.
Our progress in the past 125 years has been remarkable. What once started in one building in Downtown Frederick with 83 students is now more than 30 academic, residential and administrative buildings on 50 acres, with a co-ed student body of more than 2,000 and a plethora of academic programs.
As we launched a year of honoring this history, we looked to our future by building the College’s next strategic plan, which is securely grounded in both the mission and vision for Hood. Our multi-year strategic planning process involved widespread input from the Hood community who worked together to develop this exciting and bold plan. Foremost, it is our students who serve as the guiding compass of the plan.
Through this plan, we will strengthen and renew our stellar academic offerings, embrace collaboration as a way to expand and fortify our students’ learning opportunities, and empower each member of our community to be an educator and mentor.
I invite all friends of Hood to join me; together, we can move beyond boundaries to create the very best version of Hood for today’s and tomorrow’s students.
Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D.
President
Hood College has rightfully earned a strong academic reputation in its sphere of higher education institutions. Investment in our core mission must continue to be our highest priority, with an unwavering focus on the quality of our students’ education. We will remain steadfast in our commitment to the liberal arts as the cornerstone of academic excellence and realize our vision for an integrated, holistic and individualized education for each Hood student.
We will improve and strengthen academic curricular offerings and services by:
- Creating new academic programs
- Fostering innovative teaching strategies to enrich student learning
- Launching the Hood Plan – a roadmap for the student’s full academic, co-curricular and experiential opportunities
- Ensuring that all students have at least one high-impact experiential learning opportunity to foster student achievement.
We recognize that in today’s environment, collaborating with other organizations is vital to sustained innovation and economic growth. Expanded partnerships will facilitate students’ pathways to and from Hood College and contribute to improved graduation rates. Through partnerships, we will expand applied learning opportunities for our students.
We will seek partnerships to:
- attract students and foster their ongoing success
- engage our students in community-based learning activities
- enrich and serve Hood College and the Frederick community
Hood has been characterized as a community that cares for and respects each individual member. We are known for the stellar support we provide to our students. We will affirm and strengthen that culture to provide a vibrant, inclusive and rewarding learning environment. We will hold ourselves accountable for meeting high standards and will increase investment in the College’s most important asset – those who teach, support and mentor our students.
We will strengthen the Hood community by:
- investing in our employees' professional development and workplace satisfaction
- ensuring a culture of continuous growth, improvement and assessment
- strengthening diversity and inclusivity
- expanding branding and marketing in collaboration with community organizations
Members of the Hood College community introduce the College's strategic plan.
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