More Than a Cathedral

This building of a cathedral has become the graphic depiction of Vanguard University’s strategic planning process. The cathedral represents vision, history, beauty, perseverance, Christ-centeredness, and future, each of which has become the purpose and drive behind Vanguard’s planning process for the next five years and the years to come.

The strategic planning committee has come together to fulfill the mission of Vanguard University for the coming generation. This process will come together to articulate the priorities and strategies for the next five years. The entire process will be centered around the Vanguard mission statement:“To equip each student for a Spirit-empowered life of Christ-centered leadership and service.”

The strategic planning process is the means to improve the overall institutional health and financial sustainability for the next five years and beyond. The process has two dimensions, discerning the call and fulfilling the call.

Within “discerning the call” there are eight workgroups, chaired by faculty members, that focus on a specific theme that is central to the identity and distinct ethos of Vanguard University. The eight key themes are pentecostal experience and the liberal arts, teaching, learning, and scholarship, international engagement, healing, compassion, justice and reconciliation, next generation church leaders, the arts, community, and the spiritual formation for Spirit-empowered life. Each workgroup is designed to address key questions that relate to the individual theme.

“Fulfilling the call” consists of the President’s Council, whose main focus is to put vision into action. The President’s Council looks at four support structures, which include investing in people, transforming the campus, funding the vision, and operational stewardship.

The committee knows that what it is preparing and planning for the future may not be fulfilled in the members’ lifetimes, but the committee members believe in what they are doing. The Vanguard University Strategic Planning Committee believes in Vanguard and everything it stands for. In addition, it is their hope to get students’ input. Students can visit president.vanguard.edu/strategic-planning to gain more information on the strategic planning process and give the committee their feedback.