Catawba College’s Rise: The Blueprint for College Success.

At Catawba College, strategy drives action. This historic institution in Salisbury, North Carolina has redefined what it means to execute with focus, clarity, and purpose. With a bold five-year plan and a campus-wide commitment to results, Catawba partnered with Envisio to turn vision into measurable progress.

“We’re trying to stay really focused. One of the ways we do that is by asking: What does our mission say? What is our identity? What are our values? And what does our strategic plan say? That plan frames our direction—and we’re staying focused on it as we move forward. Envisio helps us execute that plan with clarity.” – Dr. Jared Tice, Chief Strategy Officer at Catawba College.

Impact at scale means every person on campus knows where the college is going, and how their contribution supports the journey. With 35 strategic priorities tracked in real-time on a public dashboard, Catawba has created a culture of accountability, transparency, and engagement.

Strategy is no longer siloed. It’s shared. It’s visible. It’s working.

One of only 13 colleges nationwide to achieve full carbon neutrality—seven years ahead of schedule—the college powers its campus with geothermal systems, solar shelters, and rooftop panels. They’ve earned their AASHE Gold STARS rating. Plus, placement on both The Princeton Review’s Best Colleges list and their Green Colleges list confirms its national leadership in excellence and sustainability. Recognition extends across the board, including:

• Ranked #5 Best College in the South by U.S. News & World Report. 
• Given an “A” in Forbes Financial Grades.
• Honored as a College of Distinction for career development, affordability, and student success.

Catawba blends 170 years of tradition with excellence. They’ve got sharp, future-focused strategy. With Envisio, they are building a campus—and a model—where great planning becomes real progress.

From Manual to Mission-Driven

Before adopting Envisio, much of Catawba College’s strategic coordination was handled manually through Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. This included not only tracking the college’s primary strategic priorities but also managing over 20 cascading plans aligned with the institution’s broader vision, A College of Our Own.

“Reporting was a very manual process,” says Jared. “We were spending considerable time producing materials and updates that Envisio now generates automatically.”

Before implementing Envisio, they faced challenges in effectively communicating the college’s strategic priorities, both internally and externally and managing performance measurement across departments was a time-consuming process.

“Envisio has been a really handy tool for us—helping us to engage the full campus in our strategic planning, keeping everyone up to date from a communications and transparency standpoint, and creating efficiencies.”

Jared acknowledged the natural learning curve that comes with any new technology, particularly in a higher education environment where comfort levels can vary. Onboarding a new technology can be daunting for this reason, and Tice knew how important it was to get buy-in.

Getting everyone comfortable and excited about a new solution increases engagement with the solution. As adoption grows, Catawba continues to see success in how its community interacts with – and implements its strategic plan through Envisio.

“The team that Envisio put in front of us felt like the right choice—and that’s proven true time and time again. And the ongoing customer service has been exceptional. The responsiveness from the Envisio team continues to be outstanding.”

“I can’t say this without mentioning the entire team at Envisio—from the sales team to the onboarding experience. At some point, you vet a product and realize it’s high quality. Then you vet other products, and okay, they’re high quality too. What makes the difference is: Who do you feel comfortable reaching out to if there’s an issue? Who’s going to be there when you need support? The team that Envisio put in front of us felt like the right choice—and that’s proven true time and time again. And the ongoing customer service has been exceptional. The responsiveness from the Envisio team continues to be outstanding.”

Turning Strategy Into a Public Story

“We’re very happy with Envisio,” says Dr. Jared Tice, Chief Strategy Officer. “It’s helped us tell our strategic story clearly and effectively—better than many colleges we benchmarked against.”

Two key outcomes stand out:

Real-Time Reporting:

Catawba makes it a priority to share regular, quarterly updates with its community. “We keep updates timely and scheduled. People won’t land on a page with updates from last October—they’ll see where we are right now. That visibility builds trust.”

Transparent Benchmarking:

As part of its strategic planning process, Catawba reviewed plans from 25 peer and aspirant institutions across the Southeast. The standout finding?

“We were the only one with a live, public dashboard—and that’s because of Envisio,” Tice says. “Most schools publish a static webpage or PDF. We wanted something more.”

Now, anyone—from students to alumni to donors—can visit Catawba’s strategic plan dashboard and see real-time progress on all 35 institutional priorities.

“We’ve tried to create the best organization we can through Envisio—both for our internal stakeholders and for everyone who cares about what’s happening at Catawba.”

The Next Great American Success Story

Catawba College is on an unprecedented trajectory. In just three years, the institution has secured over $450 million in philanthropic support, skyrocketing its endowment from $100 million to over $600 million. While many small colleges are bracing for uncertainty, Catawba is charting a clear path forward—powered by strategic clarity, sustainability leadership, and transformational investment.

“Our sustainability work, combined with the strength of our strategic plan, has put us in a unique position,” explains Jared.

“I know it sounds bold—but I truly believe Catawba could be the next great American success story of small colleges in the 21st century.”

At a time when peer institutions are scrambling to define their future, Catawba is already building it—deliberately, confidently, and with the momentum to lead.

Higher Education’s Five Strategic Planning Challenges

Strategic plans often begin with bold ideas—but in higher education, turning those ideas into action is where many institutions stall. There are specific challenges higher education institutions might face. Catawba College confronted those challenges head-on, building a structure and system that empowers its people to move from planning to doing.

“Most folks in higher ed are brilliant subject matter experts, but they’re not trained specifically in strategic management. You’ve got a PhD in medieval literature, and suddenly you’re also running a department. You’ve got great ideas, but operationalizing them is a whole different skill set,” explained Jared.

Catawba tackled five common roadblocks to execution—and used Envisio to build a scalable, transparent, and community-driven approach to strategy.

1. Ideas Without Infrastructure

Many institutions set goals, but don’t provide a system for how those goals are managed, measured, or shared.

Catawba’s Solution:
The college created a tiered planning structure that connects every activity back to its five institutional aims and 35 priorities. Annual goals are now tracked through their own embedded plan in Envisio, with linked updates rolling up from across campus.

“We didn’t design the plan around Envisio—but it fits perfectly. It allows us to track institutional priorities, cascading plans, and now our annual goals in one ecosystem. Every update tells a story about where we are and where we’re headed.”

2. Disconnected Data and Manual Reporting

Before Envisio, reporting was labor-intensive and fragmented. Updates lived in Word docs, Excel files, and email threads.

Catawba’s Solution:

The college digitized everything. Now, updates happen in real time—and every completed activity is visible on a public dashboard.

“We used to spend more time generating reports than actually implementing strategy. Now all of our office’s work is on full display—goals, progress, completed actions, and timelines. That was a choice we made and it’s helped us build confidence and trust.”

3. Lack of Transparency and Engagement.

Strategic work often disappears behind closed doors. Catawba took the opposite approach.

Catawba’s Solution:

On the same day the board approved the strategic plan, the college launched a live public dashboard. Anyone—from a trustee to a parent—can track progress across all 35 priorities.

“We wanted a living document. We wanted the community to see, too. Where we’re winning. Where there’s disruption. Where we’re behind. Transparency is key to building agency and momentum.”

4. Resistance to Change and Technology Adoption

Faculty and staff are stretched. Strategic execution takes time—time many don’t feel they have.

Catawba’s Solution:

Jared encourages leaders to treat strategic planning like anything else that matters—by blocking time for it.

“I tell people: If you don’t carve out time in your week for strategic work, I’m not surprised you’re struggling. You have to protect time to think long-term.”

The team also uses Envisio’s AI Assist feature to help users save time in providing progress updates and drafting meaningful plans—especially those less familiar with strategic execution.

5. Measuring the Right Outcomes

In higher education, success can’t always be boiled down to a number. This means higher education success might not always be reflected in traditional Key Performance Indicators. Outcomes like reputation, community engagement, and alumni or student perception are critically important to track, but can be harder to quantify.

Catawba’s Solution:

“We’re tracking not just KPIs, but also KRIs,” said Tice. “Some things can’t be measured with hard numbers—but we know they matter.”

The college uses both Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Result Indicators (KRIs) to measure strategic success. While KPIs focus on quantifiable metrics like retention rates or graduation percentages, KRIs capture outcomes that are qualitative, milestone-based, or reputational in nature. For example, when Catawba fell off The Princeton Review’s Best Colleges list, getting back on it became a strategic goal.

“We applied, completed surveys, engaged in the process—and we got back on. That’s a KRI. It’s a clear result, even if it’s not a metric with a specific number.”

KRIs help Catawba stay focused on high-impact achievements—especially those tied to brand reputation, academic recognition, and long-term institutional growth.

“We’re tracking nine macro indicators in total—things like student retention, graduation, sustainability, academic and athletic achievement, curriculum revitalization, and more. We’re trending positively across all of them—and Envisio gives us the structure to keep moving forward.”

How Catawba Embeds a Culture of Strategy Campus-Wide

Jared brings a student-centered background to a role that’s anything but traditional. After seven years of leadership across Catawba College’s student affairs, enrollment, marketing, and financial aid departments, Jared stepped into a newly created position: Chief Strategy Officer.

“I focus on three main components,” Jared explains. “First, partnering with all areas of the college to imagine, operationalize, and implement aligned plans. Second, serving as an internal consultant—offering one-on-one support, webinars, workshops, and regular communications to keep our community informed. Third, ensuring execution with a high standard of quality across our five institutional aims and 35 strategic priorities—tracking performance and outcomes from the start.”

With five institutional aims and 35 strategic priorities, each supported by key performance indicators and measurable success outcomes, you’d think that would be enough to juggle. But the efforts don’t stop at campus borders. In addition to his on-campus leadership, Jared extends his expertise into the community. Currently, he’s helping a local independent school develop its own strategic plan as part of Catawba’s commitment to service.

“There aren’t many Chief Strategy Officers in higher ed. But this role lets me engage across the entire campus in a really meaningful way.”

A Model for Strategic Success in Higher Education

“Higher education is at a crossroads. Institutions that embrace transparency, strategic execution, and stakeholder engagement will thrive. At Catawba, we see ourselves as a model for how small colleges can not only survive—but excel,” says Jared.

In response to a trustee’s challenge—How do we ensure implementation quality?—Catawba developed a 43-page white paper outlining the systems, tools, and methods behind its five-year strategic plan. It details seven core approaches, from cascading planning and continuous training to strategic benchmarking, that together build what the college calls a “Culture of Quality.”

The document serves as an internal playbook and an external signal of accountability. It brings clarity to new staff, grounds leadership, and reinforces Catawba’s commitment to disciplined strategy and execution.

The college uses Envisio to power that execution—turning plans into visible, measurable progress. With planning rigor, transparency, sustainability leadership, and real-time reporting, Catawba has positioned itself as a national example of what strategic excellence looks like in higher education.