Amanda Crouse
News Editor
On Thursday, Sept. 10, President Anne McCall held a meeting in the Allen Commons to discuss the College’s progress during the second year of its “Framing Our Future” strategic plan. Staff, faculty and students were invited to the event, which began at 11 a.m.
“Framing Our Future” is the College’s three-year strategic plan for campus-wide progress, based on principles from three main pillars. As quoted from wooster.edu, the plan’s three pillars are:
- Achieve financial vitality for extraordinary student experience
- Reignite our mission and vision
- Build our community for the future
McCall stated that the purpose of the open meeting was to update the campus community on progress made under the strategic plan during its second year.
Campus Projects and Marketing
The first development McCall cited was the creation of 23 working groups made up of over 100 staff and faculty members, with each group meeting to discuss a different campus-related topic and make recommendations to administration.
The working groups contributed to “projects that include generating new revenue from events, enriching our relationships with community organizations, strengthening community on our own campus and building back our enrollment,” McCall said.
McCall also celebrated recent changes to the College’s marketing identity: Hhow it presents itself to prospective students, parents and other interested parties.
“The early proof of this success is that we are currently generating three times as many inquiries as we had at this time last year…” McCall said.
So far this year, the College has received 25,000 inquiries –– a more than 400% increase from the 6,000 inquiries that had been received by the same time last year.
Partnerships
The College has entered a partnership with a local high school for streamlined admissions in what McCall hopes will expand into a broader network of affiliations. Through streamlined admissions, students’ college applications are partially managed by high school administrators and educators, rather than falling solely to the management of the student.
“Our approach is to work with key high schools who are partners or will become big partners with us,” McCall said. “And so this first agreement will serve as a model for others that will heighten our visibility in key markets.”
The College has also established and renewed partnerships with university graduate programs.
“These [partnerships] include new master’s degrees through the University of Rochester, New master’s degrees through Ohio State Fisher College of Business, the renewal of our partnership with Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing for a master of nursing degree and the renewal of our partnership with Duke University for our students to continue on to a master of forestry or master of environmental management,” McCall said, adding that the College is looking to form additional partnerships with law programs, medical programs and other liberal arts graduate paths.
Finances and Budget
In October 2025, the Board of Trustees approved a new campaign called Strengthen Every Thread, which seeks to gain investments in the interest of the College’s success. McCall added that contributions to the campaign have not led to a decrease in annual donations.
The Board of Trustees also mandated what McCall termed “our first five-year, long-range financial model … providing visibility into our financial outlook and enabling strategic decision-making.”
McCall shared that during the 2026 fiscal year (which ends on Sept. 30, 2026), the College has seen notable savings. A reduction in staff was one of the largest contributors to this change, resulting in a $4.2 million increase in annual savings. Changes to benefit programs saved the College an additional $1.2 million.
McCall admitted that such cost-saving actions “[raise] important questions about how we sustain and strengthen our work into the future with fewer employees.” She stated that, as a learning community, the College continues to create opportunities for professional development.
Alternative revenue generation is another strategy that has brought supplemental income to the College during the second year of its plan. One of the main sources of alternative revenue came from third-party events hosted on campus. McCall cited external camps like the Summer Science Camp of Wooster, high school athletic activities and conferences as some of the events that the College was paid to host over the past year. Overall, the College made $548,000 from summer events in 2026.
In closing, McCall encouraged students interested in getting involved in the final year of the strategic plan to reach out about joining the Build First Year and Transfer Enrollment working group or the Professional Skills Summer Institute working group.
Three tables were set up along the outer perimeter of the Allen Commons, with each table representing one of the three pillars of the strategic plan. Representatives from each pillar stood at the tables to speak with attendees and answer questions.
