It’s a new day in higher education. Like many universities, La Salle must work harder and market smarter to drive enrollment. With 102 colleges and universities within 50 miles of Philadelphia—12 of them Catholic—competition is steep.

As a result, La Salle must attract more students from a wider range of academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, while expanding its geographic reach. And those students and their families have increased expectations for student experiences and outcomes. They seek enhanced facilities, beautified grounds, cutting-edge academics, and proof that meaningful employment will be their return on investment for tuition bills that continue to spiral upward nationwide.

Some colleges have faltered. Others have embraced change, created opportunities, and blazed a path forward. La Salle is one of them. Our University has entered into a historic renaissance supported by:

• a compelling national brand campaign;
• an array of campus enhancements;
• 15 new strategic initiatives;
• and a bold tuition reset.

Step on campus, and you’ll feel it: La Salle is buzzing with the energy of renewal and transformation.

La Salle’s 21st-century renaissance will ensure our magnificent University and the transformational work it has done since 1863 continues to thrive and change lives, one student at a time. Read on for details.

 

 A BRAND REFRESH: EXPLORERS ARE NEVER LOST

For the past 153 years, amazing stories of exceptional alumni, legendary student athletes and teams, inspiring faculty and administrators, Fulbright Scholars, and devoted Christian Brothers have been a source of pride, and bound us as a community. Each of us has a La Salle story to tell about how our experience here made us who we are today.

It’s been said that La Salle was perhaps too humble to tell its remarkable story. However, with relentless competition for undergraduate and graduate students, La Salle must differentiate itself and tell its story in a consistent, compelling, and authentic way that will resonate with prospective students as well as the entire Explorer community.

A comprehensive brand study was launched in February in partnership with Allen & Gerritsen (A&G)—a top 50 independent marketing firm and the creator of the memorable and successful “Temple Made” campaign— and task force consisting of La Salle staff, faculty, students, and alumni.

The A&G team immersed themselves in all things La Salle: They spent five days on campus interviewing students, professors, alumni, Christian Brothers, University administrators, and Trustees. They attended Mass with the Brothers and had dinner in their residence. They studied the University’s competitors and marketplace, evaluated our marketing materials, and went incognito on campus tours with prospective students. They lived and breathed La Salle.

The resulting new brand platform,  “Explorers are Never Lost” is a game changer for La Salle. Its graphic design includes breathtaking photography, topographical backgrounds, calligraphic fonts, and variations on our iconic chevron to underscore that our Catholic and Lasallian values, and the La Salle community are with us regardless of where our personal journey takes us.

Key brand assets include a stunning new view book for prospective students and a manifesto video that follows La Salle students and faculty sunrise to sunset with the following narrative: “Wake each morning and get lost in the adventure, knowing that you will be ready for wherever the day takes you. As young men and women of La Salle, we invest in you the guidance to blaze your own path. These adventures are yours. And you are ready for them. Explorers are Never Lost.” (View the video at neverlost.lasalle.edu).

“The La Salle brand has not changed and will never change. What has changed is the way we now tell our magnificent story,” said Jaine Lucas, La Salle’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. “You’ll see a gorgeous new ‘look and feel,’ and compelling key messages spoken in a voice that is bold but thoughtful, all unified with our new tagline.”

The brand platform and campaign officially kicked off at a launch party on September 20 attended by 2,000 students, faculty, staff, and alumni in Tom Gola Arena. The premiere of the moving manifesto video was met with loud cheers and applause.

Early results indicate the brand campaign is greatly outperforming what is typical for higher ed, and applications are up.

“We worked with A&G to create a highly-targeted campaign designed to reach 16–18 year olds where they are most— on mobile and social media,” explained Lucas. “Additionally, the campaign includes traditional and digital radio, television, and billboards. Our 30-second commercial is airing in 19 movie theaters in key recruiting geographies. It’s all very exciting for La Salle.”

CHEVRON COMPASS

While the University’s logo remains unchanged, La Salle’s new brand campaign features some fresh graphic elements, including the Chevron Compass.

The solid chevron in the center of the compass stands for our core Lasallian values: faith, justice,

respect for all, inclusive community, and quality education. The outlined chevrons around the circumference of the compass symbolize the journey beyond La Salle. No matter what direction life takes you, your La Salle community and what you’ve learned and experienced here will remain with you always, much like the guiding North Star.

 

CAMPUS ENHANCEMENTS

When most people envision an urban Philadelphia university, La Salle’s campus is not what first comes to mind. With buildings spread throughout the 133-acre campus, La Salle is an often serene oasis in a bustling Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood.

As part of the University’s renaissance, La Salle has undergone several projects to enhance the campus experience for students. Following the opening of Founders’ Hall in January 2016, much of College Hall was left vacant. The decision was made to move many of McShain Hall’s residents—the Religion Department and the Honors Program—to College Hall.

The President’s Office, formerly located in The Peale House, also relocated to College Hall.

McShain Hall, in need of many expensive upgrades and maintenance, was torn down in the summer. As a result, the University’s center of campus became one cohesive and expansive quad. The first phase of the quad renovation took place throughout the summer and early fall.

Where McShain Hall stood for 76 years is now an open green space with café tables for students, faculty, and staff to work, eat, or meet. More than 20,000 square feet of pavement was removed. An outdoor living room with colorful Adirondack chairs, oversized hammocks, tables, and lawn games provide a beautiful space for students to relax. The second phase of the quad renovation will include a labyrinth and Amphitheatre for classes and events.

“The quad is one of the highlights of my day. When I walk by and see the bright chairs and hammocks filled with students, it makes me smile,” said senior nursing student Jennifer Chominski. “Whenever I give campus tours to prospective students, they always compliment how amazing the quad looks!”

Additionally, some upgrades were made to the exterior and interior of the Union Building, including a new glass encasement on the front of the building, updated balconies, and new benches, tables and chairs for the Union Patio. Aramark funded a complete renovation of the Union’s Faculty Dining Room, now called the Compass Club.

The next project on the agenda is a new learning commons. The existing 120,000 square foot Connelly Library will be completely re-imagined. The bottom floor will be transformed into a 12,000 square foot fitness center and a campus store.The first floor will feature high-tech learning and collaboration spaces, including a makerspace, and an indoor-outdoor café. The second and third floors will remain a research space, housing books, videos, and archives. The learning commons project is slated to begin in 2017, contingent on funding.

Another exciting campus project on the horizon is a new student housing development, which is slated for completion in 2019—the University’s first new housing project since 2005. Located next to the Tom Gola Arena, the new residence hall will house approximately 1,000 upperclassmen.

 

STRATEGIC PROGRAM PRIORITIZATION

In late 17th century France, St. John Baptist de La Salle and his followers started a revolution in education. Since 1863, La Salle has upheld its founders’ vision through its unwavering commitment to a student-centered, community-driven, and transformative education that embraces all.

Strategic Program Prioritization (SPP) is a key mission-aligned initiative that will lead to La Salle’s strong future.

So, what exactly will SPP achieve? It will refine several programs while expanding others; adopt institutional learning out- comes; create a multi-day orientation and freshman academic seminar; reshape the core curriculum; embrace cutting-edge technologies; re-imagine Connelly Library; and advance interdisciplinary centersof excellence in teaching, research, and service, among many other pivotal developments.

As President Colleen Hanycz said, Strategic Program Prioritization is “an effort to promote alignment between programs, resources, and University mission” to help ensure that La Salle has a sustainable future. SPP involved a wide-ranging review of La Salle’s 300 academic and operational programs. In July 2015, La Salle’s Board of Trustees mandated this complex, in-depth undertaking throughout the 2015–16 academic year. It evolved as a highly collaborative process, engaging staff and faculty across the University. Analyses of each program culminated in the development of a comprehensive Program Information Report for every program.

Faculty and staff were tasked with asking critical questions about academic and operational programs:

• What programs are poised for excel- lence, given some additional invest- ment?
• What programs have the capacity to further support our strategic aspira- tions?
• What programs can be reshaped to better support our commitment to our students?
• What programs require reshaping to return to a state of mission alignment and financial sustainability?

The strengths, challenges and opportunities of over 300 programs were identified, resulting in the creation of 15 strategic initiatives, organized around four themes.

 

15 STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

 

THEME 1: Confirming our Core Mission and Distinct Learning  Outcomes

• Adopt a Platform of Institutional Learning Outcomes The University will identify key critical skills that every La Salle graduate will master, regardless of academic
• Reorient the La Salle Freshman Experience

The University’s existing Day One and Freshman Year Odyssey will be replaced with a more comprehensive Orientation Week and Freshman Academic Seminar designed to help Explorers succeed in the critical freshman year.

• Reshape La Salle’s General Education Core

Based on the new institutional learning outcomes, a new core curriculum will be developed and implemented to ensure students’ ability to master the established outcomes.

• Launch a Program of Endowed Chairs and Professorship of Excellence

The University will identify “spires of excellence” based on academic excellence, mission alignment, and the ability to provide excellent outcomes. Subsequently, a fundraising campaign will be launched to establish Endowed Chair/Professorships in support of each of the spires.

• Embrace Distinction and Sustainability in Academic Programming

Based on a number of factors including low enrollment, the recommendation was made to eliminate several undergraduate majors and minors, some master’s programs, and a doctoral program. Fewer than 80 students will be impacted by these program cuts.

 

THEME 2:   Seeding Innovation in Teaching and Learning

• Create Interdisciplinary Centers of Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service

La Salle will focus more explicitly on interdisciplinary projects, drawing from the University’s strengths to make more meaningful contributions. Five Interdisciplinary Centers of Excellence will be created.

• Reimagine Connelly Library and Learning Commons

La Salle will commit to renovating parts of Connelly Library to better suit the needs of a 21st-century college student.

• Establish the De La Salle Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning

The Institute’s primary work will support excellence in teaching by providing workshops and seminars to promote and share pedagogical best practices and innovation.

• Embrace Technology in the Delivery of Academic Programs The University will explore additional ways technology can be used to enhance and expand academic offerings while maintaining a student-centered approach to education.

 

 

THEME 3:   Optimizing Strategic Collaborations

• Reorganize La Salle’s Academic Structure

Several programs formerly under the School of Arts and Sciences will now fall under the Provost’s Office. Additionally, International Education will also be part of the Provost’s Office. The School of Arts and Sciences will house the new Colleges of Leadership and Global Understanding; Education and Behavioral Sciences; Humanities, Arts, and Design; and Natural and Applied Sciences.

• Engage Strategic Partners in Education

The University will create policies and procedures to allow students who already have earned college credits a more seamless and trans- parent enrollment process, while building stronger partnerships with feeder schools.

• Reshape La Salle’s Community and Streamline Operations In the past two years, La Salle has been able to significantly reduce expenses through a variety of The University will continue to identify opportunities for operational efficiencies.
• Implement a Robust Career Services Program

The University’s Career Services Program will be restructured to position La Salle as regional leader in career services preparation.

 

 

THEME 4: Embracing a Culture of Evidence-Based Planning and Assessment

• Commit to a Framework of Continuous Assessment of Learning Outcomes

The University recognizes that in addition to establishing institutional learning outcomes it is necessary to accurately measure and assess those outcomes.

• Establish a Platform of Key Performance Indicators Across La Salle’s Divisions

University leadership will develop institutional key performance indicators that will measure La Salle’s performance across a variety of strategic activities.

 

LA SALLE: A NATIONAL LEADER IN COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY

La Salle has a long history of bold initiatives that support its mission, and one of its latest addresses a critical issue in higher ed today: escalating tuition. An Affordable Path For All will reset undergraduate tuition from $40,400 to $28,800 beginning Fall 2017, a 29 percent reduction that returns tuition close to 2008 levels.

“In this country, tuition is broken,” said President Colleen Hanycz. “A college education is becoming less accessible now than it was even 20 years ago.” In addition, the list price for tuition is paid by very few, and “sticker shock” chases away prospective students and their families. She added, “We have to become part of the solution and stop being the problem.”

An Affordable Path For All evolved from conversations among La Salle’s leader- ship, and took into account the financial health of La Salle students, about 40 percent of whom received Pell Grants for the past several years. Once Hanycz arrived, those conversations turned into plans: first to responsibly freeze tuition, and second to frame out a tuition reset to increase access to a transformational La Salle education, one recognized for value and excellence by U.S. News and World Report and Forbes, among others.

The process involved six months of preliminary work, and a full year of engagement in actual pricing studies and reviews, market research, and data analy- sis, as well as reviewing 15 years’ worth of internal financial data and assessing the savings for every single returning La Salle student.

Tom Delahunt, Vice President for Enrollment, remarked: “We believe that La Salle is going to be more attractive to prospective students and their families who had walked away from the table before, thinking that a La Salle education experience—as much as they wanted it—wasn’t attainable.” He stressed that students will continue to qualify for their state and federal aid, as well as institutional and donor-funded scholarships. Students and their families will also continue to save during every year of attendance because any future tuition increase would be made from a lower base tuition.

An Affordable Path For All positions La Salle as a leader in addressing skyrocketing tuition.

“It shows the University is trying really hard to be different and more affordable,” said Alyssa McFadden, ’18. “I feel like they’ve taken the opinions that the students have and actually listened.” The communication major added: “I have two younger brothers, so my parents have to go through the process of paying for their schooling after me. This price cut for me will impact my family in the future.”

La Salle’s news is truly a cause for celebration, especially in light of reports released by the College Board in October noting that national college costs are still rising faster than the family income and financial aid needed to cover them. From 1982 to 2012, the cost increased by a staggering 1,120 percent—four times the consumer price index.

What’s more, the average bachelor’s degree takes 21 years to pay off which means the squeeze graduates feel just lingers on and on, causing them to delay milestones. An Affordable Path For All ensures that all undergraduate students, both new and returning, will save on their education.

And it should help retain more students so they can complete their degrees and become successful professionals.

Reactions to An Affordable Path For  All have been positive. “I think it’s a big deal,” said Ryan Wall, ’18, who is majoring in communication. “It’s better to be more straightforward and more honest and upfront with how much it’s actually going to cost.”

“It means a lot,” said Dominic D’Agostino, ’18, a finance major. “For me in the future, that’s about $1,000 to $1,500 dollars I’m not taking out in student loans. That’s like a thousand more dollars for pizza!”

Alumna Molly Mahon, ’16, a registered nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Phil- adelphia, said she is proud of La Salle for its bold move. “The tuition reset aligns with our Lasallian mission. It supports education and opportunity for more students, while setting an example for surrounding colleges and universities.”

Based on data from 2014, La Salle students had significantly lower average debt ($20,726) compared to the national average ($28,110) and the average for Pennsylvania ($33,264). The default rate among La Salle grads is also considerably lower than average, which means alums are better able to pay back their loans.

“We are blazing a trail where education will once again become accessible, afford- able, authentic, and real,” said Hanycz.

To view a short video and learn more, please visit lasalle.edu/tuitionreset.