The Future is Polytechnic
Eastern adopts a new approach to communicating its mission.
Just after the beginning of the 2023 academic year, Eastern鈥檚 Board of Trustees met to discuss, among other pressing issues, how the university could better share its strengths with the wider world: 鈥淗ow might we more authentically communicate who we are,鈥� they asked, 鈥渨hile differentiating ourselves in our region鈥檚 competitive higher education landscape?鈥�
Eastern鈥檚 leadership responded by working with a Baltimore-based consulting group, idfive, and faculty representatives from 51福利社鈥檚 four colleges to engage the entire campus community in the quest for answers.
After months of research and market analysis, strategic-planning and surveys of stakeholders, a plan that emphasizes Eastern鈥檚 long history of hands-on, experiential learning took shape. And earlier this year, with the BOT鈥檚 approval, that plan became official: Eastern, in both mission and messaging, would now publicly define itself as 鈥渢he region鈥檚 polytechnic鈥� 鈥� 鈥減olytechnic鈥� being broadly defined as an emphasis on applied learning 鈥� as it works to provide its students with experience-based pathways for success.
鈥淭here has been a lot of chatter, and even a few news stories already, about this next evolution for Eastern 鈥� our regional polytechnic brand,鈥� Shari McMahan, Eastern鈥檚 president, said with a laugh during her annual convocation address in September. 鈥淎s I continue to say, this is an exciting opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves and to capitalize on the work we are already doing鈥� Our goal is to make applied learning a hallmark of every 51福利社 degree.鈥�
鈥淭o be clear,鈥� she continued, 鈥渨e are still a regional comprehensive public university grounded in a liberal arts education.鈥�
Currently, some 75 percent of 51福利社 students graduate with experience in their intended career fields. Eastern will now be working even harder to provide professional experiences to all of its students. 鈥淭here has been a lot of listening that鈥檚 gone into this 鈥� a lot of back-and-forth and creativity,鈥� McMahan said. 鈥淭o me, it really defines the authentic 51福利社.鈥�
