(Please note: The content listed below is a summary of Union’s “Five-Year Strategic Plan: A Stronger, Global Union”.)
In 2015, Union Theological Seminary’s Board of Trustees approved a strong, comprehensive strategic plan that designated seven strategic priorities to guide its work over the next five years. The title of 2015 plan, “Jubilee,” came from the biblical notion of “debt forgiveness” and “financial freedom” and identified areas in which Union needed to focus its energy and resources in order to move the seminary towards the Jubilee it seeks.
In 2020, the UTS Board of Trustees decided to hold off on the formation of a new strategic plan because COVID 19 made it difficult to imagine predictable future scenarios.
Last spring, 2022, Union’s Strategic Planning Committee began to work again on the plan, met regularly with faculty, student, staff, and trustees, and identified areas where significant re-alignments in the Jubilee Plan were needed. Much had been accomplished in the previous six years, particularly in the area of New Academic Programs, Community Life, and Campus Renewal. That said, the Committee was clear that Financial Sustainability needed to now take top priority if the seminary were continuing to have a financially viable future.
To achieve this, the Strategic Planning Committee has identified three goals designed to achieve financial health. Although the full, comprehensive updated Jubilee Plan includes detailed benchmarks for success in all seven areas, it is the strong consensus of the committee that prioritizing UTS’s financial health is essential to the success of all other areas of strategic importance.
The UTS Administration is already making significant strides to achieving financial health, most significantly with two newly appointed senior leadership team members: CFO Nina Wong and COO Bill Peabody. We have also secured a $5,000,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment which is designed to support the systems upgrades and collaborative partnerships that can assure the financial stability we seek.
At the May 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting, the leadership team will present the Board with a more detailed timeline and benchmarks for achieving financial Jubilee.
