St. Bonaventure Announces Athletics Strategic Plan

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ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – University officials Monday unveiled the school’s first-ever comprehensive strategic plan for Athletics that positions St.Bonaventure to repeat and surpass last year’s success – and not just on the basketball court. 

“Your Teams – Our Extraordinary Future” is the result of a two-year-long planning process, the outcomes of which represent the University’s commitment to strengthening its position in the Atlantic 10 Conference and NCAA Division I as a key strategy to support the global goals of the University.

“The success we achieved last year on the basketball court was definitely a shot in the arm for our planning effort, but it clearly wasn’t the reason we created the plan,” said Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., President of the University.

“Our University-wide efforts to create a best-practices planning and assessment paradigm presented the opportunity for us to fully align the vision and goals of Athletics with the goals in the University’s strategic plan, Becoming Extraordinary 2015. We’re creating a clear connection between success in Athletics and the success of the University as a whole.” 

Athletics Director Steve Watson said the plan positions the University to benefit from significantly enhanced national exposure. 

“Our vision is to be nationally recognized for the academic and athletic excellence of our student-athletes,” said Watson. “This, in addition to our students’ commitment to fair play and sportsmanship, will showcase the University’s Franciscan heritage to a growing national audience.” 

Watson said the plan provides the Bonnies with the tactical framework to meet these expectations.

“Your Teams – Our Extraordinary Future” includes eight areas of strategic focus:

1. NCAA and Atlantic 10 Rules Compliance
Achieving a compliance structure that reflects best practices and has a record of zero major NCAA violations; this is one of the cornerstones of NCAA and Conference membership.

2. Academic Performance
St. Bonaventure student-athletes will continue to succeed in the classroom while exceeding peer benchmarks and NCAA standards. Student-athletes will maintain a mean GPA of 3.0 or higher and a minimum APR score of 950 for each sports team.

3. Athletic Facilities and Academic Success
Improve Athletics facilities to advance our student-athletes’ academic, competitive and social development, and to meet or exceed A-10 Conference standards. The plan outlines $18.8 million in needed facilities construction or renovation projects. Fundraising has begun for two of these projects: 1) construction of a $300,000 women’s basketball locker room in the Reilly Center; and 2) construction of a $2.84 million athletic field complex, including artificial turf, seating, lighting and concession space for softball, lacrosse and soccer (which can also be used by club and intramural teams).

4. Annual Revenue
Attain significant increases in Athletics-generated revenues from ticket sales, corporate support and advertising sales.

5. Fundraising
Accomplish requisite growth in Bonaventure Athletic Fund and major gifts to support Athletics’ facilities enhancements and augment operating resources. 

6. Athletic Performance
Position all Bonaventure Athletics teams to consistently finish in the top half of the A-10.

7. Enrollment and Retention
Effectively support University’s enrollment management strategies by attracting and retaining the brightest and best student-athletes with an aggregate number of 240-250 student-athletes per year.

8. Staff Compensation
Consistent with the University’s compensation goals, align Athletics coach and staff compensation at peer medians. 

According to Watson, the University will continuously and systematically assess the outcomes of performance in these eight strategic areas, and adjust the course of the plan as necessary. 

“This plan is a roadmap that promises to take us on an amazing journey,” he said.  “We’ll be inviting our alumni, friends, sponsors and others to join with us as we create an extraordinary future for our teams that will create a rising tide for the entire campus, surrounding communities, and the world-wide Bonaventure family.”