San Francisco Theological Seminary embraces the triune God’s mission of wholeness to the world through preparing whole leaders for the whole church. In fulfilling our institutional mission, we intend to continuously assess our educational effectiveness according to a pattern of threefold wholeness in which spiritual formation, critical theological reflection, and the skills and arts of ministry are intentionally cultivated, communicated, and integrated throughout our institutional educational ethos.

MISSION STATEMENT

San Francisco Theological Seminary prepares leaders for the church of Jesus Christ sent by the Holy Spirit in God’s mission to the world. We are scholars and servants of the church devoted to Biblical interpretation and theological education in the Reformed tradition within an ecumenical context. We are committed to the education of students in spiritual formation, critical theological reflection, and the skills and arts of ministry, to serve in congregations, the wider church, the classroom, and the public sphere.

San Francisco Theological Seminary is an institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a member of the Graduate Theological Union, with campuses in northern and southern California. This seminary is a community of women and men from diverse cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds that responds to the challenges facing theological education in different contexts, national and international, in the western United States and on the Pacific Rim.

We seek to integrate faith and learning through innovative teaching, creative scholarship, and the practical experience of ministry, as we respond to our changing societies and cultures and are shaped by the Christian vocations to which we have been called. San Francisco Theological Seminary educates leaders committed to Christ who, guided by the Holy Spirit, serve God’s transforming mission through the power of the gospel.

COLLABORATIVE PRIORITIZATION OF PLAN

The administration and Trustees have collaborated closely with faculty, staff, students, and other key constituencies in order to secure broad ownership in the accomplishment of this institutional mission through the following Strategic Plan, originally adopted and implemented in Spring 2004. The present revised document is based on mid-term assessment of the institution’s effectiveness in accomplishing the objectives of the original plan, and needed modifications that reflect changing institutional circumstances. Specific objectives necessary to accomplish each major strategic initiative adopted by the seminary are identified and articulated below. In accomplishing and communicating our mission, we commit to continuously refining an efficient, harmonious system of shared governance. We will maintain appropriate structures and processes of communication among administration, Trustees, Faculty, staff, and students that continue to promote the implementation of a unified vision and mission for the future of San Francisco Theological Seminary on both its San Anselmo and Southern California campuses.

IMPLEMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOMES

The President has overall responsibility for implementation of the Integrated Strategic Plan. Administrative assignments are indicated for each strategic initiative. Particularly important deadlines are indicated in the plan itself. Specific implementing steps (including financial implications and awareness of integration issues for other parts of the plan), timetables for accomplishment, measures of success, and methods of ongoing self-assessment, are the responsibility of the assigned administrator in consultation with the President, and in conversation with appropriate stakeholders. The Board of Trustees will annually assess the progress and success of each of the strategic initiatives set forth in the strategic plan by conferring through its designated committee with the President, and receiving a written and oral report from each of the assigned administrators with responsibility for the progress and success of implementation.

RELATIONSHIP OF STRATEGIC PLAN TO ACCREDITATION

In response to WASC/ATS guidelines, SFTS has committed itself to the “Strategic Planning” method of accreditation. In accomplishing the following strategic initiatives, our purpose is to strengthen a wide variety of institutional capacities in order to fortify educational effectiveness.

1. Enroll and nurture diverse, intellectually capable, psychologically mature, and spiritually rooted students.

Administrative Assignment: Associate Dean for Student Enrollment, Associate Dean for Student Life.

1.1 Student Enrollment

	1.11	Increase student applicant pools for all degree programs.
	1.12	Implement admissions policies on both campuses that are aligned with both the seminary’s stated mission and its institutional capacity.
	1.13	Attain and annually maintain established numerical enrollment targets for both campuses in all Master’s degree programs by fall 2010.
	1.14	Achieve and maintain appropriate racial, cultural, and gender diversity in enrollment in dynamic responsiveness to the church’s leadership needs.

1.2 Student Nurture

	1.21	Ensure provision of essential student services: academic advising, counseling and spiritual direction, vocational development and placement services, community worship, and scholarships and need-based financial aid.
	1.22	Improve access to student support operations on both campuses by coordinating all functions relating to the co-curricular environment of student life on each campus.
	1.23	Establish a unified, secure system of financial and academic record-keeping for students in all programs.
	1.24	Distribute student scholarships and financial aid in alignment with both the seminary’s mission and financial resources.
	1.25	Ensure communication of all essential information relating to student life and academic progress (esp. re. finances, housing, insurance, tuition costs, satisfactory academic progress, transportation, community life) in an accurate, accessible, and timely manner.
	1.26	Ensure that students from various Christian perspectives consistent with the SFTS Mission Statement are welcomed and affirmed in the community life and learning environments of SFTS, Northern California and Southern California.
	1.27	Support ministry preparation by pursuing appropriate consultations to accomplish closer collaboration between the seminary and ordaining bodies.

2. Strengthen support for teaching and student learning

Administrative Assignment: Dean and Faculty

2.1 Assessment of student learning

	2.11	Continue regular review of the new M.Div. curriculum.
	2.12	Review and refine the use of assessment tools for learning outcomes in all degree programs, to gather direct evidence of student learning.
	2.13	Provide structures to ensure closing the evidence loop by critically using evidence of student learning to improve curriculum and pedagogy.
	2.14	Increase the efficiency of placement data collection, analysis, and use in improving educational effectiveness and enhancing learning outcomes.
	2.15	Complete a comprehensive review of the DMin program, focusing on educational effectiveness criteria.

2.2 Faculty resources

	2.21	Develop and implement a plan for faculty hiring, deployment, and compensation on both campuses (2008-2018) that reflects the seminary’s mission and available financial resources.
	2.22	Formulate and implement a professional development plan for Faculty that brings together teaching, mentoring, research, and publication in service to the church and the academy.
	2.23	Intentionally increase the Faculty’s racial, cultural and theological diversity and achieve gender balance.
	2.24	In cooperation with the President and Vice-President for Seminary and Church Relations, refine procedures for securing, defining, and filling existing and new endowed faculty chairs.

3. Build a durable financial foundation.

Administrative Assignment: Vice-President for Administration and Finance, Vice-President for Seminary and Church Relations.

3.1 Financial Resources

	3.11	Accomplish necessary reallocation of the seminary’s property, investment assets, and personnel resources to ensure funding of the seminary’s mission through the year 2020, through a Resource Allocation Task Force (2008-09) convened by the President.
	3.12	Develop and live within balanced annual operating and capital budgets.
	3.13	Provide periodic reports that accurately represent the seminary’s financial position and results of operations.
	3.14	Develop and annually revise 5 year operating and capital budget projections as an ongoing basis for long-range financial planning.
	3.15	Reduce the endowment draw for operations from 6% (in 2008) to a sustainable rate of 5% over a 5 year period.
	3.16	Determine and implement a financially prudent strategy for repayment and/or refinancing the $6 million bank loan.

3.2 Human Resources

	3.21	Refine policies and procedures for hiring and retaining a quality staff.
	3.22	Review and adjust staffing levels and job responsibilities by function.
	3.23	Create and sustain organizational structures that enhance effective communication among staff, faculty, and administration.

3.3 Donor Resources

	3.31	Strengthen the Seminary’s fundraising partnerships with its key individual and church constituents, to increase annual unrestricted and restricted support.
	3.32	Aggressively grow the Seminary’s endowment through investments and new gifts until an annual draw of 5% will fund 60% of the Seminary’s annual operating budget.
	3.33	Enhance and successfully implement current strategies for increasing designated gifts (direct and endowed) for student scholarships, faculty chairs, program funds, and ongoing care and renovation of the seminary’s facilities.
	3.34	Conduct a major capital campaign (2009-2012) with appropriate goals that address the seminary’s needs for significant campus renovations, endowment growth, and the stability and permanence of the Southern California campus.

4. Continuously engage with the greater church and strengthen theological education partnerships

Administrative Assignment: Vice-President for Seminary and Church Relations, Vice-President for Southern California

	4.1	Prioritize relationships with Western PCUSA presbyteries and congregations, devoting particular attention to the Southern California region in developing expanded seminary and church relations networks.
	4.2	Strengthen a mutually enriching network of alumni relations, in close cooperation with the Alumni Council and other appropriate advisory groups.
	4.3	Broaden and deepen the seminary’s partnerships with congregations and umbrella organizations representing the full variety of ecumenical and cultural expressions of the church throughout the Western United States and around the Pacific Rim.
	4.4	Together with appropriate church partners, collaboratively resource the lifelong theological education needs of laity, ordained church officers, commissioned lay pastors, and ministers.
	4.5	Strengthen, and sustain appropriate consortial and collaborative relationships with the Graduate Theological Union, as well as institutional partners in Southern California, consistent with the seminary’s mission.

5. Adequately maintain and creatively utilize facilities

Administrative Assignment: Vice President for Administration and Finance, Vice-President for Southern California

	5.1	Maintain long-term agreement(s) for adequate office, classroom, and library resources in Southern California, to support a student body of up to 120 students.
	5.2	Revise and implement the facilities master plan for the San Anselmo campus, in response to the resource allocation review (3.11) and the planned capital campaign (3.34).
	5.3	Assess and address needs for technological support and expansion.
	5.4	Identify and prioritize facilities uses that extend hospitality to the seminary and the wider community, balancing the need to maximize income with the space needs of the seminary’s educational mission.




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