Dear Campus Community,
As we begin a new academic year, I want to welcome our newest students and welcome back our returning students, faculty, and staff. This is an exciting time for our community. Over the past year, I have had the privilege of listening, learning, and working alongside many of you. Those conversations, together with the thoughtful work of our Strategic Planning Team, shaped Excellence Reimagined: Honors at the Helm, our Strategic Plan for the next three years. As we begin implementing that plan, we also begin an important new chapter for St. Mary's College of Maryland.
The Strategic Plan is available on the College's website, and I encourage you to take a few moments to read it. The plan outlines our institutional priorities and the direction that will guide our work in the years ahead. You can view it here:
https://www.smcm.edu/president/strategic-plan-2026-2029/
Our work is organized around five priorities:
Identity and Communications
Infrastructure and Technology
Enrollment Growth and Student Experience
Community and Culture
Resources and Institutional Capacity
Together, these priorities provide a shared direction for our work and reflect our commitment to strengthening the student experience while advancing St. Mary's College of Maryland as the National Public Honors College.
More than a document, our Strategic Plan provides a shared framework for the decisions we make and the priorities we pursue. It helps align our efforts and serves as a guide for the work we will undertake together over the next three years.
Throughout the year, I will share updates on our progress and the outcomes that reflect our work together. By recognizing our accomplishments and sharing what we are learning along the way, we will continue building momentum and advancing the priorities outlined in our Strategic Plan.
As we begin this academic year together, I look forward to the work ahead and to the progress we will make together as we bring our Strategic Plan to life.
Thank you for your commitment to advancing the mission of St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Best wishes,
Rhonda Phillips, Ph.D., FAICP
President
St. Mary's College of Maryland
