Bentley University strategic plan

The Strategic Planning Process 2019 was launched by President Alison Davis-Blake to develop a new and comprehensive strategic plan that will move Bentley to the next level of excellence in business education. It is a fully inclusive process that provides opportunities for faculty, staff, students, alumni, corporate partners and all members of the community to shape Bentley’s future.

Since its launch in September 2018, the Strategic Planning Process has included workshops in which hundreds of faculty, staff, students, trustees, donors, Global Alumni Board members, alumni and corporate recruiters brainstormed and identified key success factors for Bentley’s future. In April 2019, President Davis-Blake shared an update on the Strategic Plan during two open sessions, as well as at Faculty Senate and at the Bentley Staff Advisory Council. The final draft plan was presented to the General Faculty Meeting on May 1 and the General Staff Meeting on May 2.

The Strategic Planning Process to date has produced these items:

A clear and aspirational university mission statement.
A set of core values that will guide us as we strive to achieve that mission.
A set of strategic assets that are desirable to our key constituents, distinctive from our competitors and difficult to imitate.
A set of tactics, goals and metrics to develop each strategic asset.
A group of enabling features that will help us to develop the strategic assets.

Core Values

To help frame the Strategic Plan under a common set of values, a working group of staff and faculty conducted a survey of community members about the Bentley Beliefs, garnering 230 responses, and held two open focus groups and a community forum to incorporate that feedback into a revised set of Bentley Core Values.

Mission Statement

President Davis-Blake convened a cross-university group of faculty and staff to review the university's current mission statement, the new core values and data collected in the Strategic Planning Process to develop a new draft mission statement that reflects Bentley’s identity and values and provides a new, aspirational direction for the university as we begin our second century. The University Marketing and Communications Council drafted a revised mission statement that incorporated feedback from the Cabinet, deans, president and faculty leaders as well as data collected from faculty, staff, students, trustees, donors, Global Alumni Board members, alumni and corporate recruiters. President Davis-Blake previewed a draft of the mission statement at open sessions on-campus, and the University Marketing and Communications Council held two open forums on campus in April and May to invite comments. The mission statement was revised based on that feedback.

Strategic Assets

Based on feedback from the community, the Strategic Planning Process has so far identified four strategic assets that are desirable to our constituents, distinctive and difficult to imitate—all of which help create a competitive advantage for Bentley. Along with each asset, we have identified the university leaders responsible for developing the related tactical plans, goals and metrics over the coming months.

Image of the Strategic Plan. For further information please email strategicplanning@bentley.edu.