Build Bridges

Bucknell will pursue a more progressive and multi-faceted interaction with local and regional constituencies and the outside world. The University will establish bridges to bring the world to Bucknell — and bring Bucknell to the world.

Bucknell student using the wireless network

Rationale

Bucknell is and must be fully engaged with the events of our times in any part of the world as they are happening. Bucknell’s location is a distinctive asset — it is a place of stunning beauty, a place to think, to grow, and to develop. It is also a place with a vibrant flow of information and ideas in and out of the institution. From its historic location in Lewisburg, Bucknell’s engagement begins with the local and regional communities and extends outward with its role as a leader in global higher education.

The strategy to Build Bridges reflects the interest of Bucknell and its students in developing broad connections with the world at many levels. It suggests reaching out across space through collaborations and consortia, strategic partnerships, and community development efforts; it also provides for a wide variety of opportunities for off-campus study and sponsored student and faculty research around the globe. It encourages reaching out across time to successive generations of Bucknell alumni, building deeper and more profound lifetime relationships with the University’s graduates through new alumni programming, enhanced communications, and career networks.

Rooke Chapel

A commitment to Build Bridges is absolutely essential to the fulfillment of a key element of Bucknell’s Mission.

Bucknell must become a global portal — a place to which the world comes each day. Through visiting scholars, international students and alumni, guest speakers, international focus semesters and other special programs, and through myriad electronic connections, students and faculty will collectively seek a disciplined understanding of our global culture and the forces that shape the events of our time.

Initiatives

Enhance meaningful student programs for off-campus study and creative learning.
Provide diverse opportunities for students to promote social change through their interactions in the broader community.
Establish distinctive curricular and cocurricular opportunities for students, alumni, parents, and friends to maintain ongoing and meaningful relationships with Bucknell.
Engage Lewisburg and the region in supportive and critically reflective partnerships and enhance productive relationships with governmental agencies at all levels.
Enhance opportunities for students and alumni to make thoughtful and informed career decisions and integrate career goals with their varied academic and life experiences.
Advance Bucknell’s strength as an employer of choice locally, regionally, and nationally.
Establish a marketing and communications plan that supports all strategies of The Plan for Bucknell, including efforts to become an internationally respected and recognized leader in higher education.