Elon University / Boldly Elon / Connect

Lifelong Partnerships Near and Far

In the decade ahead, we will invest in connections near and far by:

Engaging in lifelong partnerships with our talented alumni
Partnering with communities to transform the future
Celebrating Phoenix athletics on and off the field

Lifelong Partnerships With Elon’s Talented Alumni

The next chapter of Elon’s story will be told through the accomplishments of more than 35,000 alumni who are making a difference around the world. Building on our commitment to alumni, we will foster lifelong partnerships through professional development, networks, and learning opportunities and lasting connections between alumni and the university.

Objectives and Progress

Last updated: March 2023

Objectives

Design a national model for alumni professional development, including workshops, short courses, certificates and continuing education to support lifelong alumni connections and learning.
Increase staffing focused on alumni professional networking and career advancement, ensuring that through all stages of their lives and careers, Elon graduates remain connected with fellow alumni, parents, faculty and staff.
Establish Elon learning centers in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. and other strategic locations as hubs for alumni (professional development and networking), students (internships and StudyUSA), prospective families (admissions headquarters) and lifelong learning and professional education.

Progress Report

University Advancement and Alumni Engagement are currently developing an alumni strategic plan following a community-wide effort that included an alumni survey with 2,270 responses; alumni interviews; the Charleston, South Carolina, Alumni Leadership Retreat; a Campus Conversation; discussions with campus partners/academic deans/leadership boards; and reviews of and visits to peer and aspirant institutions. The plan will outline opportunities for alumni professional learning and networks.
Alumni Engagement, Student Professional Development Center, and the Regional Learning Centers Committee are designing pilots for alumni professional learning and networking for Summer 2022 in New York City and Los Angeles.
The Regional Learning Centers planning team (comprised of representatives from Admissions, Alumni Engagement, Academic Affairs, multiple schools and colleges, Advancement, Bringing Theory to Practice, Elon in LA, Elon NEXT, Global Education Center, and Student Professional Development Center) was charged with developing a plan for embedding admissions recruitment, Study USA, and alumni engagement in strategic domestic locations. An initial report will be completed in Summer 2022.
Jack Rodenfels ’12 was hired as the Director of Professional Advancement and Continuing Education to lead Elon NEXT, which offered more than 30 courses and certificates in data visualization, leadership, digital marketing, project management, cybersecurity, financial planning, and more for Summer 2022.

Metrics

Bar chart showing the number of students studying in regional learning centers

Partner With Communities To Transform the Future

In building a “college for the world,” Elon’s founders envisioned the power of education to lift communities. During this decade we will develop partnerships to advance healthy, prosperous and socially just communities in Alamance and Guilford Counties and around the world. We will advance literacy and degree attainment in our local communities; connect graduate student expertise with needs in entrepreneurship, culture and the arts, education and health sciences; and fulfill our mission to prepare students to be global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good.

Objectives and Progress

Last updated: March 2023

Objectives

Prepare every student to participate in community and civic engagement, gaining essential skills and an understanding of their civic responsibilities.
Through deepened partnerships with the Alamance-Burlington School System and led by the School of Education, further support literacy, college preparation, degree attainment, certification programs, and teacher licensure programs that address the need for highly trained teachers from underrepresented groups.
Endow the nationally recognized Elon Academy college access and success program and the It Takes a Village literacy initiatives.
Double the number of graduates in service-year positions in our local communities.
Advance the School of Law’s experiential legal education model through partnerships in Guilford County, North Carolina, across the country, and with international legal communities.
Create a business incubator and solutions hub to spur regional growth and respond to challenges of health, hunger, poverty and climate change through collaborations led by the Love School of Business.
Serve as a partner in regional health, responding to health professional shortages and the needs of the underserved through the provision of outstanding healthcare providers, targeted clinics and community outreach by the School of Health Sciences.

Progress Report

During the 2022-2023 academic year, the Council on Civic Engagement will take up the cross-departmental coordination of preparing every student to participate in community and civic engagement.
Elon created the Alamance Scholars 2+2 teacher pipeline program in partnership with Alamance Community College and Alamance Burlington School System to provide local students (those who have financial need and come from a variety of backgrounds) with a pathway from high school to a college degree and training to become teachers within the local community. The first cohort of ABSS graduates will begin studies at Alamance Community College in Fall 2022.
Fundraising for the Elon Academy and the It Takes a Village Project continues as part of the Elon LEADS Campaign. As of April 15, 2022, several endowed funds supporting the Elon Academy help fund nearly 70 percent of the Academy’s annual budget, and the goal is to fully fund the budget during Boldly Elon. The Village Project is an ongoing fundraising priority and has drawn particular interest from the foundation community.
The Year of Service Fellows Program added its eighth cohort with six 2022 graduates spending the year working full-time at Alamance Achieves, the City of Burlington Economic Development Department, Alamance Regional Medical Center, Alamance County Health Department, Healthy Alamance, and Impact Alamance.
The Student Professional Development Center and Kernodle Center for Civic Life developed the Campus Alamance summer internship program (funded by the university) that included 14 students serving as paid interns in Alamance County non-profits, government agencies, and businesses and participating in professional development and networking in Summer 2021. For Summer 2022, the program was expanded to 40 student interns and 28 employers.

Metrics

Bar chart showing the annual number of students in Elon's Village Project

Bar chart showing Elon Academy's cumulative number of college graduates

Bar chart showing the cumulative number of service-year fellows

Bar chart showing the number of health sciences graduates

Outreach by the School of Health Sciences

Celebrate Phoenix Athletics on and off the Field

Phoenix athletics rallies our communities far and wide and raises our spirit as we celebrate human performance. BOLDLY ELON will advance our position of leadership on and off the field in the highly competitive arena of NCAA Division I athletics and provide a premier student-athlete experience.

Objectives and Progress

Last updated: March 2023

Objectives

Consistently win conference championships, make tournament appearances in all sports and lead the conference in academics and gender equity.
Continue to lead the conference in Academic Progress and Graduation Success metrics.
Enhance student-athletes’ personal, academic and professional growth, their mental and physical health and well-being, and their access to preventative services and faculty and staff mentors who further engagement in the Elon Experiences.
Provide new academic, practice and competition spaces for year-round success.

Progress Report

In 2020, Elon won Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships in women’s soccer and women’s cross country and had the CAA individual champion in women’s cross country. Women’s soccer was awarded a bid to the 2020 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.
In 2021, Elon won CAA Championships in women’s track and field and in women’s cross country and had the CAA individual champion in women’s cross country. In 2022 Elon won its second consecutive CAA championship in women’s track and field.
Across the 2020-21 season, Elon teams had a final season average rank of third among CAA members across the 17 conference sports.
Elon student athletes achieved a 2021 Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 98 percent, which continued to lead the CAA. Elon was one of only two schools in the CAA with all sports achieving a GSR of 85 percent or higher. The Elon football team led the CAA with a GSR of 98 percent, ranking sixth nationally in all schools at the FCS level. In 2021, nine Elon teams (men’s basketball, cross-country, and golf; and women’s basketball, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, and volleyball) were perfect in Academic Performance Rating, while all sports were 984 or higher.
During Summer 2021, Elon Athletics transitioned to Duke Medicine as the provider for sports medical assistance for student-athletes, including the athletics general doctor, orthopedic physician, and physical therapy assistance. Many teams now engage with sports psychologists and nutritionists.
All athletic trainers, coaches and staff have engaged in QPR training and are CPR-certified in an on-going attempt to maintain excellence as potential first responders.
Fundraising and construction were completed for Phase I of planned Latham Park enhancements – a new indoor performance facility.
Upgrades to the Worsley Golf Practice Facility were completed in 2022, including golf simulators, Trackman devices, insulated garage doors, carpet, and surfacing for the outside hitting areas.
Upgrades to the Alumni Field House weight room, Hunt Softball Park, and Rudd Field are being completed in summer 2022.

Metrics

The Academic Progress Rate (A.P.R.) is calculated as follows:
• Each student-athlete receiving athletics related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.
• A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate.

The Graduation Success Rate (G.S.R.) is the 6-year graduation rate for division I that accounts for transfers in/out.

A Vibrant College Town

In partnership with the Town of Elon, City of Burlington and surrounding communities, we will increase community engagement with the campus and explore public/private partnerships to develop a thriving college town environment. Investing in new and redeveloped housing and businesses will benefit local residents and Elon students, faculty and staff who want to live, shop and enjoy life in a safe and vibrant community.

Objectives and Progress

Last updated: March 2023

Objectives

Invest in new and redeveloped student housing and successful local businesses.
Raise $10 million in scholarships through profits from The Inn at Elon, which will attract visiting alumni, parents, prospective families, and host academic meetings.
Advance understanding of town and university history through the acknowledgment of untold stories, toward a deeper understanding of who we were, who we are and who we aspire to be.

Progress Report

During the 2020-2021 academic year, the Town of Elon and Elon University held meetings to enhance communications and partnerships. Six working groups were developed and began meeting: Senior Partner Leadership Group, Weekly Communications, Neighborhood Coalition (prior group had stopped meeting during pandemic), Safety and Security, Planning and Economic Development, Town Manager and CFO , and the existing Downtown Advisory Board meeting. The Town and University worked on enhancing seating on Lebanon Avenue and are now collaborating on the West College Plaza project and Williamson Avenue streetscape.
The Committee on Elon History & Memory created a dashboard for monitoring and updating progress on the recommendations from the Fall 2020 report. One Fall 2022 initiative is to re-establish a 2020 group focused on forging a stronger relationship with the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation tribe. In partnership with the tribal council, the group will explore creation of a land acknowledgment statement by the university.
An Elon faculty member participated in the Council on Independent Colleges’ Legacies of American Slavery Seminar in June 2022, engaging in scholarly discussions on the impacts of slavery in communities, particularly those where higher education institutions exist. The convening aimed to identify appropriate strategies for building partnerships with community organizations in understanding and reporting a complete history of slavery while promoting ideas for addressing these legacies through civic action.