Strategic Planning Progress Updates

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you again for attending the Community Conversation and Luncheon as part of the strategic planning process. We very much appreciate your presence and your great feedback.

A summary note that may be helpful as we all move forward together:
As you saw, four strategic pillars have emerged as the current framework for RISD’s future strategic plan. These pillars reflect a synthesis of more than 3,000 ideas, recommendations, and areas of focus from nearly 1,000 voices across the institution and broader external communities, gathered through surveys, interviews, focus groups, engagement sessions, alum and family outreach, and trustee and industry conversations, alongside feedback gathered through recent institutional initiatives (i.e., the “Bridge” mentioned in the presentation: Campus Climate Assessment, Holistic Student Wellness, Preparedness for Life After RISD, and Financial Optimization).

The strategic pillars (at least how they are named for now) are:

• We Are RISD, in which we will serve a common vision as we respect our pluralities and idiosyncrasies.
• Art and Design Futures, in which we will champion art and design education with ambition, excellence, and integrity.
• RISD for Life, in which we will equip students to lead fulfilling lives on campus and long after they leave.
• A Strong RISD, in which we will achieve financial fortitude to embolden our institution through its people, their ideas, and our impact.

We are grateful for the thoughtfulness, energy, and ideas you shared as we dive more deeply into defining our strategic direction, synthesize findings from ongoing community input, and draft a list of actionable, measurable, and KPI-aligned initiatives to support the plan’s implementation.

In the fall, we will host additional Community Conversations for students and employees to pursue our engagement around the Strategic Plan and emerging priorities. Input and feedback from these conversations will inform the plan presented to the Board of Trustees. We will continue to share updates via email and strategicplanning.risd.edu.

Your feedback has been and continues to be at the core of RISD’s future.

Sincerely,

Touba,
on behalf of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee

Community Conversation and Luncheon: RISD’s Strategic Plan

The Strategic Planning Steering Committee welcomes you to a luncheon conversation about RISD’s strategic planning process. We invite all current RISD employees to engage with updates from the Committee and RISD leadership about themes and priorities that have emerged through surveys, input, and feedback sessions throughout the year.

We hope you will take a moment out of your busy schedule to gather with colleagues and talk about RISD’s strategic plan.

Please note that we have rescheduled this conversation to THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 in order to align more seamlessly with the work hours that many of you have during summer.

Food will be provided.

Thursday, August 20, 2026
12–2 pm
20 Washington Place Auditorium (Room 143)

Please RSVP to confirm your attendance by August 13, 2026. We look forward to seeing you.

RSVP

PORTUGUÊS

Conversa e Almoço com a Comunidade: Plano Estratégico da RISD

O Comité de Direção de Planeamento Estratégico convida-o para um almoço com conversa sobre o processo de planeamento estratégico da RISD. Convidamos todos os colaboradores da RISD a participar e a ouvir as atualizações do Comité e da liderança da RISD sobre os temas e prioridades que surgiram através de inquéritos, contribuições e sessões de feedback ao longo do ano.

Esperamos que reserve um momento na sua agenda para se reunir com os seus colegas e conversar sobre o plano estratégico da RISD.

Informamos que remarcamos esta conversa para QUINTA-FEIRA, 20 DE AGOSTO, para melhor alinhá-la com o horário de trabalho que muitos de vocês têm durante o verão.

Será servido almoço.

Quinta-feira, dia 20 de agosto de 2026
12h às 14h
20 Washington Place Auditório (Sala 143)

Confirme a sua presença até 13 de agosto de 2026. Aguardamos por si.

RSVP

ESPAÑOL

Encuentro comunitario y almuerzo: Plan estratégico de RISD

El Comité Directivo de Planificación Estratégica le invita a un almuerzo y diálogo sobre el proceso de planificación estratégica de RISD. Invitamos a todos los empleados de RISD a conocer las actualizaciones del Comité y de la dirección de RISD sobre los temas y prioridades que han surgido a partir de encuestas, sesiones de diálogo y comentarios compartidos por nuestra comunidad a lo largo del año.

Esperamos que puedan reservar un espacio en su agenda para compartir un almuerzo con sus colegas, intercambiar ideas y participar en esta importante conversación sobre el futuro de RISD.

Les informamos que hemos reprogramado esta conversación para el JUEVES 20 DE AGOSTO con el fin de ajustarla mejor al horario de trabajo que muchas y muchos de ustedes tienen durante el verano.

Habrá almuerzo para los asistentes. 

Jueves, 20 de agosto de 2026
12–2 pm
20 Washington Place Auditorio (Sala 143)

Por favor, confirme su asistencia antes del 13 de agosto de 2026. Esperamos verle allí.

RSVP

Dear RISD Community,

As we look forward to a rejuvenating and restful summer, we write to share that the Strategic Planning Steering Committee met on May 12 to reflect on next steps in the strategic planning process. 

Throughout the process, RISD community members and stakeholders have helped RISD surface more than 3,000 comments, ideas, and recommendations to begin refining key areas of focus through surveys, interviews, focus groups, engagement sessions, alumni and family outreach, trustee and industry conversations, and recent institutional initiatives to help inform the new strategic plan. 

Having read each suggestion and through much discussion, several themes and areas of convergence have emerged, including: 

• The holistic health and well-being of our community
• Creative research and innovation
• Successful student and alumni outcomes
• Interdisciplinary collaboration
• Deepening engagement and partnerships beyond campus
• Finances, shared facilities, and spaces

We will update the Board of Trustees on these themes and ideas at the May board meeting, as the Strategic Planning Steering Committee continues to evolve them through ongoing engagement, synthesis, and refinement over the summer. In early Fall, we will partake in additional discussions with RISD leadership about feasibility, resourcing, and plan implementation. The entire RISD community will have opportunities to participate and provide feedback in the early Fall. We plan to present to the Board of Trustees in October 2026. In the meantime, you can find planning process updates at strategicplanning.risd.edu. 

Thank you again for your ongoing involvement and collective thinking as we plan for RISD’s future. We look forward to continued engagement this fall.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she / her)
President

Touba Ghadessi (she / her)
Provost

Dear RISD Community,

Thank you again to those who attended the Community Input and Feedback sessions as part of the strategic planning process. Dozens of community members joined us across seven sessions, and we were grateful for the thoughtfulness, energy, and ideas you brought in service of RISD's future.

As a reminder, RISD is developing a three-to-five-year strategic plan through a consultative process that began in Fall 2025. To date, this process has drawn on input from nearly 800 community voices, including students, staff, full- and part-time faculty, deans and other academic leaders, alums, families, trustees, and industry stakeholders. The current set of ideas reflects a synthesis of more than 400 recommendations, alongside feedback gathered through recent institutional initiatives (including the Campus Climate Assessment, Holistic Student Wellness, Preparedness for Life After RISD, and Financial Optimization) and various other forms of community engagement such as focus groups, facilitated discussions, surveys, and the recent input and feedback sessions. This phase of the process calls on us to refine priorities by analyzing what we are hearing and making adjustments based on ongoing community input.

To ensure we hear from a broad cross-section of the community and give every contribution careful consideration, we have adjusted and extended the planning timeline. Over the summer, we will conduct additional data analysis and refinement. In the fall, we will host a session for students, staff, and faculty to engage with the emerging priorities before we bring a proposed plan to the Board of Trustees in October for consideration and ratification. 

We will continue to update the community via email and strategicplanning.risd.edu. 

Thank you again for your continued engagement and collective thinking as we plan for RISD’s future.
 

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)                       Touba Ghadessi (she/her)
President                                                       Provost

ENGLISH

Dear RISD Community,

We invite you to sign up for upcoming in-person Community Feedback Sessions. These sessions are an opportunity to share your input and help shape RISD’s next strategic plan. Please click the button below to RSVP by April 3.

If you have not yet completed the community feedback survey, we encourage you to take 5 minutes to share your perspective by April 1.

Thank you for your time and participation. For more information, please visit strategicplanning.risd.edu or contact strategy@risd.edu.

PORTUGUÊS

Prezada Comunidade RISD,

Convidamos você a se inscrever nas próximas Sessões de Feedback da Comunidade presenciais. Essas sessões são uma oportunidade para compartilhar sua opinião e ajudar a orientar o próximo plano estratégico da RISD. Por favor, clique no botão abaixo para confirmar sua participação até 3 de abril.

Se você ainda não respondeu à pesquisa de feedback da comunidade, incentivamos que reserve 5 minutos para compartilhar sua opinião até 1º de abril.

Agradecemos seu tempo e sua participação. Para mais informações, visite strategicplanning.risd.edu ou entre em contato pelo e-mail strategy@risd.edu.

ESPAÑOL

Estimada comunidad de RISD, Le invitamos a inscribirse en las próximas Sesiones de Comentarios de la Comunidad en persona. Estas sesiones son una oportunidad para compartir su opinión y ayudar a dar forma al próximo plan estratégico de RISD. Por favor, haga clic en el botón a continuación para confirmar su asistencia antes del 3 de abril.

Si aún no ha completado la encuesta de opinión de la comunidad, le invitamos a tomar 5 minutos para compartir su perspectiva antes del 1 de abril.

Gracias por su tiempo y participación. Para más información, visite strategicplanning.risd.edu o comuníquese con strategy@risd.edu.

ENGLISH

Dear RISD Community,

As part of RISD’s strategic planning process, the Steering Committee invites you to share your perspective through a short community feedback survey. Your input will help shape the priorities and direction of the next strategic plan and inform upcoming community discussions this spring. The survey takes 5 minutes to complete, and we would be grateful for your participation. Please complete the survey by April 1. We will send information to sign-up for live Community Feedback Sessions in the coming weeks.

For more information, please visit strategicplanning.risd.edu or contact strategy@risd.edu. 

PORTUGUÊS

Prezada Comunidade RISD,

Como parte do processo de planejamento estratégico da RISD, o Comitê Diretor convida a comunidade a dar a sua opinião por meio de uma breve pesquisa. As respostas ajudarão a orientar as prioridades e a direção do próximo plano estratégico, além de informar as próximas conversas com a comunidade neste semestre.

A pesquisa leva cerca de 5 minutos para ser respondida e agradecemos desde já a sua participação. Pedimos que a pesquisa seja preenchida até 1º de abril. Enviaremos informações nas próximas semanas sobre como se inscrever para as Sessões de Feedback da Comunidade ao vivo.

Para mais informações, acesse strategicplanning.risd.edu ou entre em contato pelo e-mail strategy@risd.edu.

ESPAÑOL

Estimada comunidad de RISD,

Como parte del proceso de planificación estratégica de RISD, el Comité Directivo le invita a compartir su perspectiva a través de una breve encuesta de opinión de la comunidad. Sus aportes ayudarán a dar forma a las prioridades y la dirección del próximo plan estratégico, además de informar las próximas conversaciones con la comunidad durante esta primavera.

La encuesta toma aproximadamente 5 minutos en completarse, y agradeceríamos mucho su participación. Por favor, complete la encuesta antes del 1 de abril. Enviaremos información en las próximas semanas sobre cómo inscribirse en las Sesiones de Comentarios de la Comunidad en vivo.

Para más información, visite strategicplanning.risd.edu o comuníquese con strategy@risd.edu.

Dear RISD Community,

When I arrived at RISD nearly four years ago, I proposed five key ways that we might approach co-creating a thriving community: by amplifying the voices of talented artists and designers; evolving our thinking, teaching, and learning; cultivating our people and their capacities; engaging with the diversity of the world’s people and traditions to expand possibilities; and connecting by forming and deepening our relationships with one another, key stakeholders, and the wider world. These are more than aspirations; they are our shared commitments to embodying our values. Today, I’m excited to share an important step in bringing this charge to life: the implementation of RISD’s Presidential Initiatives.

The recommendations identified by the Holistic Student Wellness, Preparedness for Life After RISD, and Financial Optimization committee members are pragmatic and actionable. I am deeply thankful for all the work and analysis that went into generating them. Combined, these recommendations reflect deep collaboration and innovative thinking among students, faculty, staff, trustees, and alums. They represent the best of our collective thinking and action as we look toward RISD’s future, focusing on three essential questions:

• How can we better support and prepare our graduates for the complex and evolving world that awaits them?

• How can we ensure that faculty and staff are supported to best accomplish their work at RISD?

• How can we steward our resources strategically to sustain RISD’s mission for generations to come?

The committees, having broadly consulted with many campus stakeholders, produced recommendations that now have clear cabinet-level leadership and cross-divisional collaboration to guide their implementation. Some efforts are already underway. Others will unfold over time in connection to our Strategic Planning process, evolving through continued listening, innovation, and the shared expertise within our community.

Our action plan includes these recommendations as well as structural interventions to help catalyze, organize, and launch endeavors that are key to RISD's success going forward. They include:

• Support faculty in expanding students’ learning with care, through inclusive pedagogy; for example, by expanding the Teaching & Learning Lab.

• Continue to strengthen student advising.

• Reduce barriers across departments.

• Provide skill-building for working effectively and thoughtfully with neurodivergent and diverse populations.

• Deepen our commitments to ensuring that, upon graduation, students leave with not only exemplary technical skills and artistic sophistication, but also optimal preparation and support to successfully pursue their desired professional path.

• Amplify engagement, communications, and data that support the value of a RISD degree.

• Examine and optimize our current use of space, one of our largest assets.

More information is available on the updated Strategic Planning website, which will serve as our communications hub for progress updates on the implementation of the Presidential Initiatives, as well as the broader Strategic Planning process, currently underway.

At RISD, we are guided by a belief that art and design are not peripheral to society. They are central to imagining and building a more just and equitable future. The Presidential Initiatives are one way we act on that belief, bolstering conditions that allow creativity to thrive and expanding the reach and relevance of a RISD education. They reflect our shared commitment to bold thinking, meaningful change, and a future shaped by our collective vision.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership, creativity, and care as we take this next step together. I look forward to continuing this work with you and to seeing the many ways it will transform our students and alums, our institution, and the world.

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her)
President

Dear RISD Community,

As you may be aware, RISD is preparing to craft its next strategic plan. As we approach our 150th anniversary, we are called to envision our highest collective aspirations, aligned with our mission, vision, and values. The strategic planning process allows us to reflect, both in celebration and contemplation, and to consider what we wish RISD’s future to be. 

For nonprofit institutions, strategic planning is a layered and iterative process. It takes into account the realities of an organization while looking at the opportunities its future could hold. The strategic planning process serves both internal and external purposes and will help RISD to identify and streamline its priorities by answering five core questions:

• What are our priorities in the current environment?

• What resources—financial, human, and institutional—do we require to achieve our goals?

• Based on our strengths and expertise, how will we continue to make an impact as an institution?

• For what and to whom do we wish to hold ourselves accountable?

• How will we know we are making progress? 

We have convened a Strategic Planning Steering Committee that will consult with a broad range of constituents (e.g., faculty, staff, students, alums, and industry leaders) as we co-create a visionary and achievable plan, moored in our mission and values, shaped by our insight, oriented toward equitable and sustainable impact, and reflective of the extraordinary work already occurring across the institution. The new plan will be shaped by a process that is rigorous, bold, and inclusive of recommendations gained from the Holistic Student Wellness, Financial Optimization, and Preparedness for Life After RISD initiatives, as well as ongoing accreditation efforts. To support the Steering Committee’s work, we have engaged the consulting firm Credo-Carnegie, which will help us not only develop a sound strategic plan, but also create a framework for its implementation.
 

Timeline

• FALL 2025 | Launch & Listening: Initial framing, stakeholder engagement, discovery, and alignment

• SPRING 2026 | Drafting & Refinement: Developing goals, metrics, and action pathways

• SUMMER 2026 | Validation & Finalization: Institutional review and final adjustments

• FALL 2026 | Public Release: Launch and dissemination of the final strategic plan

In the coming weeks, we will share more information about listening sessions and how all of you will be invited to be involved. Your support of RISD’s strategic planning process and its importance for our future is very meaningful, and we are grateful for it. 
 

Sincerely,

Crystal Williams (she/her) 
President

Touba Ghadessi (she/her) 
Provost

Strategic Planning Steering Committee Members

Yukti Agarwal, BRDD 24 TX

Ashleigh Axios 08 GD, Trustee

Roger Brooks P 09, Trustee

Tyanna Buie, associate professor, Printmaking

John Caserta, dean, Architecture & Design

Touba Ghadessi (co-chair), provost

Adela Goldbard, associate professor, Experimental and Foundation Studies

Jess Harris, student support & CARE Network program manager, Student Life

David Rosati, senior vice president, Finance & Administration

Lisa Sacco MFA 23 FD

Eric Telfort 05 IL, dean, Fine Arts

Crystal Williams (co-chair), president