Strategic Plan

Planning Process

The Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology enjoys a robust ongoing strategic planning process.

Building upon the 2004-2011 FIT Strategic Plan, in the fall of 2012, the Dean convened six working groups to begin to address school-wide planning. These planning committees re-examined the mission, vision, curriculum, organizational structure, hiring practices, service and support, and interdisciplinary opportunities of the School of Business and Technology in line with FIT’s Strategic Plan; these working groups established the five key resource areas on which the School must continually focus. When FIT’s 2020 Strategic plan was launched, the School of Business and Technology refined its strategic planning to ensure alignment with the College plan and its three major goals.

Planning and goal setting in the School of Business and Technology remains a collaborative process, and comprises a top-down and bottom-up approach inclusive of all stakeholders. Administrative leadership comes from the Dean and Assistant Dean, the Academic Departments (the Programs) of the School of Business and Technology, the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA), the Budgeting Office of the VP for Finance and Operations, the Chief Diversity Officer, and the Office of the President. Faculty contributions are incorporated through input from the Academic Department Chairs, as well as in various committees.

The strategic planning process is designed to drive academic innovations, goal setting, and the assessment of all initiatives as it incorporates the college-wide annual budgeting process and all programmatic and faculty needs based on enrollment, curricular changes, infrastructure, and technology needs.

The core committee members for the School of Business and Technology 2016-2021 strategic planning process include:

Dean
Assistant Dean
Co-Chairs of the ACBSP Accreditation process
Department Chairs (representation from at least three of the ten departments)
Assistant Dean of Institutional Research and Effectiveness

Additionally, through the recent ACBSP accreditation preparation process, over 75 School of Business and Technology faculty members have contributed to refining our strategic planning, goals, objectives, and action plans for achieving and measuring successes.

As plans are developed, the core committee, Department Chairs, faculty, and relevant staff place a high level of focus on:

The college-wide FIT 2020 Strategic Plan
The three college-wide overarching goals
The six School of Business and Technology learning goals
Five key resource areas, including faculty staffing, classroom technology, faculty support technology, student and classroom instructional needs, and new infrastructure

FIT Mission Statement

FIT prepares students for professional excellence in design and business through rigorous and adaptable academic programs, experiential learning, and innovative partnerships. A premier public institution in New York City, FIT fosters creativity, career focus, and a global perspective, and it educates its students to embrace inclusiveness, sustainability, and a sense of community. (For details visit About FIT.)

FIT Vision Statement

FIT will be globally celebrated as the institution where students, scholars, and teachers cross traditional disciplinary boundaries to stimulate innovation, partner with creative industries worldwide, and develop innovative design and business solutions. By focusing on the three major goals, FIT will become stronger by conscious design and be known as a strategic organization—one that applies available resources to greatest effect to achieve its vision.

Goal #1 Academic and Creative Excellence: FIT will provide a rigorous learning experience built on the highest standards of academic and scholarly excellence, in an environment that promotes creativity and experimentation, and diverse experiential learning with a variety of industry partners.

Goal #2 An Innovation Center: The College will work with industries worldwide to help address key challenges, build an even stronger culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at FIT, and establish collaborations that translate creative ideas into action.

Goal #3 An Empowering Student Community: FIT will build an inclusive community in which students engage with, learn from, and inspire each other—discovering how their differences and similarities promote creativity, intellectual and personal growth, and understanding.

(For details visit About FIT.)

School of Business and Technology Mission Statement

An education with FIT’s Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology (School of Business and Technology) prepares students for careers in the fashion industry and related creative fields. The curriculum and faculty integrate industry and academic expertise in markets serving the fashion industry, business environments ranging from local to global contexts, and contemporary and future-focused industry technologies. The School of Business and Technology educates students that become graduates with skill sets and industry knowledge that are immediately valuable to employers, empowering our alumni to forge successful, satisfying careers as rising professionals in the fashion and related creative fields.

School of Business and Technology Vision Statement

The School of Business and Technology (Business and Technology) is the nexus of business education for fashion and related creative industries, where businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations seek alliances with our students, alumni, and faculty to build innovative solutions.

School of Business and Technology Student Population and Academic Programs

The School of Business and Technology is the largest FIT school in terms of degree-seeking student enrollments (55% of all FIT enrollments or 4,505 students in Fall 2017). While the school draws students nationally and globally, the majority hail from the local New York community and the Greater New York City area (including New Jersey and Connecticut). International students constitute the third largest segment of the student population, with a concentration of students from Japan, South Korea, China, and Turkey.

The “two plus two” system, developed during FIT’s early years as a community college, requiring that students first apply to and complete an AAS degree before moving on to a BS degree, embodies many positives. The curricula are designed so that students are career ready at the completion of their AAS degree. The pathways allow students to deeply explore more specialized subject matter compared to what a typical four-year degree could offer from a major and minor (i.e., students essentially complete one major in their AAS and another in their BS, sometimes but not necessarily in the same subject area).

The School of Business and Technology offers ten majors that align with the industries that we serve:

Advertising and Marketing Communications
Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing
Direct and Interactive Marketing
Entrepreneurship
Fashion Business Management
Home Product Development
International Trade and Marketing
Production Management
Technical Design
Textile Development and Marketing

Learn more about School of Business and Technology programs.

School of Business and Technology Core Identity, Values, and Guiding Principles

Curriculum Serving Industry Needs: FIT was founded to directly support industry needs and to ensure the vitality of the fashion and apparel trades; this core characteristic remains true today. The School of Business and Technology carefully balances what is addressed in the curriculum with enrollments and industry-related employment opportunities, with the intent to ensure that students land in strong professional roles upon graduation. Curriculum is created and developed by faculty possessing content expertise in each of the degree programs, in response to the school’s strategic plan, and incorporating industry and stakeholder feedback. The School of Business and Technology departments hold regular meetings with their industry advisory boards to review course content and discuss additions, adjustments, and updates to the curriculum, based on changes in the industry. The school also regularly consults with industry advisors about new ideas on the purpose, role, and contributions of the board members.

Majors for Specialized Teaching and Learning: With a curriculum that provides a blend of hands-on, practical experience and classroom study, FIT offers a wide range of outstanding programs that are relevant to today’s rapidly changing industries. The ten majors in the School of Business and Technology can be seen as the business and related segments of the design and fashion components of the industries we serve. Each major provides a professional, industry-ready education with a global perspective, complemented by solid liberal arts programming.

Access, Support, and Retention: As a part of a SUNY college, the School of Business and Technology values making education accessible, affordable, and attainable. FIT is a “2+2 path” SUNY college, meaning students complete an AAS degree before choosing from the many program options for their bachelor’s degree. Students completing an AAS degree from the School of Business and Technology can move seamlessly into upper-division School of Business and Technology programs; students coming from SUNY as well as other state’s community colleges can also apply to BS programs in the School of Business and Technology. To help facilitate retention and degree completion, Academic Department and faculty support outside the classroom includes advising on careers, clubs, and organizations, as well as mentoring any students seeking support to enhance their academic or professional skills. The School of Business and Technology also draws on FIT support systems such as the Writing & Speaking Studio, the Academic Advisement Center, the Career and Internship Services unit, and a host of social and emotional support services through the Division of Enrollment and Student Success to encourage students to achieve a successful completion of four years of study.

Use of Industry Technology in Classrooms: The School of Business and Technology is in a global leadership position in regard to incorporating technology and equipment used by industry – from long-time standards to those that are emerging – into the classroom and the curriculum. A few illustrative examples include: 3D body scanning (used for sizing) and i-styling (a retail tool) techniques; a highly advanced loom (weaving machine) for the study of fiber, grain, and fabric structure; one-of-a-kind cosmetic and fragrance product development lab, similar to those used by biopharmaceutical researchers at large cosmetics companies; predictive analysis software for data-driven business management analytics practices that enhance the soft goods supply chain for the fashion industry; and a sound and video studio developed in partnership with major professional video industry providers that replicates media production studios in the broadcast, cable, and streaming industries.

Superior Faculty of Practitioners and Scholars: With close ties to industry, FIT draws faculty from art, business, and design elite, as well as academic experts. The college continually seeks creative faculty members who are passionate about their fields and demonstrate exceptional professional capability in the core competencies of instructional design, learning enrichment, globalism, and use of technology, as well as mastery of established and emerging industry practices. The School of Business and Technology has earned a reputation of excellence in the industries which we serve. To continually deliver on the promise of preparing students and new graduates with skill sets that align with industry demands, the school has cultivated a faculty with academic credentials and industry expertise that is both deep and wide in nature. Faculty are expected to continue to be lifelong learners as well as remain aware of market demands in order to address the skill sets graduating students need for career success.

School of Business and Technology Strategic Goals and Objectives

The ultimate goal of the School of Business and Technology is preparing students for success in careers in the business of fashion and other related creative professions. In pursuit of this goal, we draw inspiration and direction from the three pillars of the FIT plan.

Pillars of the FIT Strategic Plan

Building academic and creative excellence
Driving innovation for the creative industries
Empowering students and our community

Priority Resource Areas for Planning for the School of Business and Technology

Five key resource areas are focal points for planning:

Faculty staffing
Classroom technology
Faculty support technology
Student and classroom instructional needs
New infrastructure

Goals and Learning Outcomes for the School of Business and Technology

The goals of the school articulate the content to be delivered in the curriculum, and align with the mission and vision statements of the college, school, and our programs. These goals are used by faculty to develop learning outcomes, which describe the most important things students will know and be able to do when they graduate from a program.

Globalism: Graduating students will demonstrate an understanding of the global dimensions of business, including social, cultural, ethical and technological components, and the ability to implement that understanding in all global industry challenges.

Technology: Graduating students will have developed skills in the appropriate technologies necessary to compete in the varied business areas associated with the creative business industries.

Leadership/Interpersonal skills: Graduating students will have sound interpersonal skills and demonstrate the ability to use those skills in determining, selecting and implementing effective leadership approaches and practices within the business arena.

Professionalism/Ethics: Graduating students will demonstrate the ability to make reasoned ethical judgments and apply these judgments to meet and exceed the professional standards of the fashion business and related creative industries.

Business Foundation: Graduating students will demonstrate the ability to solve business problems and frame business opportunities through the application of sound business skills, techniques, and practices associated with the fashion business and related creative industries.

Critical Thinking: Graduating students will be able to define, analyze, and devise solutions for structured and unstructured business problems.

Learn more about School of Business and Technology Goals and Learning Outcomes.

School of Business and Technology Strategic Objectives: Short Term (2017-2018)

Goal #1 Academic and Creative Excellence

Accreditation: To receive ACBSP accreditation by meeting or exceeding all ACBSP Standards, Spring 2018.

ACBSP Accreditation: To seamlessly incorporate ACBSP accreditation maintenance reporting into ongoing practices and planning timeline.

Curriculum Development: To promote, develop, and support curricular changes that enhance teaching and learning across all programs, providing students with the latest knowledge and skills for the global marketplace.

Curriculum Revision: To build a three-year plan for reviewing and revising curriculum across programs, ensuring that updates are developed and executed based on SLO assessment outcomes. These plans are to be refreshed annually as needed, and act as complements to and support material in FIT‘s Academic Program Review Process in which each Department participates (currently every seven years, and previously every five years prior to 2016).

Program Electives: To collaborate with the Academic Advisement Center and other supporting areas (e.g., Library staff, Industry Advisory Boards, faculty in the schools of Art and Design and Liberal Arts) to support students’ selection of minors and electives in faculty in the schools of Art and Design and Liberal Arts as supplements to their major-area classes.

Build on a Strong Faculty in the School of Business and Technology: To continue to enhance and execute a faculty-hiring plan in keeping with the already developed “Faculty of the Future” College-wide initiative; to attract and retain candidates in the School of Business and Technology that meet and exceed the School’s goals for new faculty profiles; to increase the depth and breadth of candidate pool for searches; and to require a minimum of a master’s degree and, preferably, a doctoral degree for all candidates hired.

Faculty Development: To create and implement a faculty development plan to ensure the successful launch and delivery of the new curriculum, and foster communication, collaboration, and innovation in the teaching of global and other perspectives by having lead teachers share information and experiences with their peers as they develop and update courses.

Classroom and Lab Space Re-Allocation: To review programmatic and school needs for future classroom, lab, office and storage spaces and plan for the School of Business and Technology as it relates to the newly proposed academic building on 28th Street.

Goal #3 An Empowering Student Community

Student Learning Objectives: To continue to assess student learning objectives (SLOs) and related outcomes assessment tools, to set and measure achievement of SLOs and enhance the process for ongoing capture and analysis of SLO assessment within and across all programs.

Support of Global Perspectives within Courses: To collaborate with the Academic Advisement Center and other supporting areas (e.g., Library staff, Industry Advisory Boards, faculty in the schools of Art and Design and Liberal Arts) to ensure that coursework featuring application of global perspectives is included in student selection of liberal arts electives to supplement required classes.

Expand and Enhance Liberal Arts Offerings Specific to the School of Business and Technology Business Programs: To encourage School of Business and Technology faculty to collaborate with liberal arts faculty in the development, updating, and delivery of courses that teach global perspectives, communication skills, law and ethics for business purposes, globalism, leadership-interpersonal skills, professionalism-ethics, and critical thinking, and to encourage students to consider pursuing a minor in a Liberal Arts area.

School of Business and Technology Strategic Objectives: Long Term (2019-2021)

Goal #1 Academic and Creative Excellence

Global Connections: To expand opportunities for faculty and students to participate in international conferences, competitions, and presentations such as the World Retail Congress, the YMA’s Fashion Scholarship Fund (a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the fashion industry through scholarships, mentoring and internship programs, in support of emerging talent and future leaders), the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI), and others.

Visiting Faculty / Distinguished-Practitioner Program: To develop a program for subject areas such as 3-D Printing, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, Globalism, Professionalism/Ethics, Data Analytics, and others, that can fuel research opportunities to support and enhance cross-disciplinary curricular content.

Continue to Build on Strong Faculty in the School of Business and Technology: To continue to enhance and execute a faculty-hiring plan in keeping with the already developed “Faculty of the Future” College-wide initiative; attract and retain candidates in the School of Business and Technology that meet and exceed goals for new faculty profiles; increase the depth and breadth of candidate pool for searches; and require a minimum of a master’s degree and, preferably, a doctoral degree for all candidates hired.

Expand on Faculty Development: To create and implement a faculty development plan to ensure the successful launch and delivery of new curriculum, and foster communication, collaboration, and innovation in the teaching of global and other perspectives by having lead teachers share information and experiences with their peers as they develop and update courses.

Goal #2 An Innovation Center

Technology: To improve, to the highest, industry and institutional competitive standards, all programmatic hardware and software technology for “teaching and learning spaces,” curricular advancements, and “administrative functions” in collaboration with the Office of Information Technology.

Industry Outreach: To increase industry outreach and build partnerships to help identify needs for hiring FIT graduates; expand industry site visits to support curricular and co-curricular activities; strengthen Department advisory boards and establish a school-wide advisory board; allow for a guest speaker program for courses; and increase connections for career opportunities for graduates.

Goal #3 An Empowering Student Community

Engage Students: To develop methods to engage students with the development and creation of activities and events within the School of Business and Technology and have students take an active role, not only at the Departmental level, but also at the school-wide level.

Increase Student Engagement within the School of Business and Technology: To develop, plan, and execute annual or bi-annual social events coordinated by the Dean’s Office to serve as career-networking events and to provide curricular feedback opportunities for the School of Business and Technology alumni, current students, and faculty.

Enhance Alumni Connections: To have each major area Department host an annual industry and alumni event.

Third-year Experience Course or Project: To work with appropriate faculty in each Department to establish a third-year experience.

Enrollment Management: To build and execute an enrollment management plan in conjunction with the division of Enrollment Management and Student Success to rebalance and “right size” the program portfolio to better match market demands (ensuring strong placements in internships and full-time career paths for students and graduates), while leveraging FIT’s unique intellectual capital and faculty talent.