Berklee Beat: The V2.0 Vision: Berklee 2005

For the past year, there has been much discussion about the future of the college. Alumni, faculty, staff, and students have suggested thousands of ideas. Over the summer, a representative planning group, with input from the Berklee community, worked with all of these ideas to draft a new vision statement for the college, helping to set a direction for the future.

During the fall semester, the planning group will consider comments and firm up the vision statement for board approval. When this new vision is finalized, college leadership will draft a strategic plan that reflects the leading ideas from the planning process for review by the Berklee community in the spring of 2000. Here is the first draft of the new vision for Berklee College of Music.

Berklee College of Music helps those with a passion for contemporary music prepare themselves for a life in music that fits their unique talents, interests, sensibilities, and career aspirations.

We foster career resiliency in our students, to help them succeed in an industry that is changing at unprecedented rates and that increasingly rewards entrepreneurial skills. There is much we can strengthen in what we already do. We will provide better and more varied learning experiences, improve the quality of our day-to-day lives, communicate with each other more openly and effectively, better appreciate and support the diversity of our community, and attract more women to our faculty, administration, and student body.

There are also new directions we should pursue. We see the possibility to expand music education opportunities beyond the scope of the campusexperience, pursuing the use of existing and new methods, media, and technologies.

We also see an opportunity to increase the appreciation for contemporary music by helping society develop a keener appreciation for its quality, social value, and cultural relevance. In so doing, we believe we can help deepen and broaden respect for both contemporary music and the mission of our college.

A description of the process that has been followed for the past year is available for your review at <www.berklee.edu/berklee2005> or in the alumni section of <www.berklee.edu>, which includes hundreds of suggestions from alumni. If you would like to comment on this draft vision statement, or receive more information, please send e-mail to <triley@berklee.edu>.