University President Ronald J. Daniels released a progress report via email for his “Ten by Twenty” plan to the Hopkins community on Tuesday which included 30 “snapshots” of completed initiatives corresponding to the plan.
The Ten by Twenty plan has four focus categories. The “One University” category focuses on investing in academic achievement, strengthening interdisciplinary action and expanding the outreach of medical programs at Hopkins.
The “Individual Excellence” category focuses on undergraduate excellence, encouraging Ph.D. programs and attracting the best faculty.
The “Commitment to Our Communities” category aims to enhance the University’s outreach to the surrounding communities.
Finally, the “Institution Building” category focuses on strengthening existing frameworks and increasing the amount of federal and private funds for University research.
The progress report focused on 30 initiatives within the four categories that aim to improve the University’s engagement with the community, and it outlined how these are being implemented.
One of these initiatives is titled “Combating Sexual Assault with a priority in Institution Building.” In this area, the University has reviewed its policies, activated a 24/7 Sexual Assault Helpline and a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response website and hired a victim’s advocate.
“The University is committed to providing a safe and supportive campus environment and addressing forthrightly the pressing challenge of sexual assault on our campuses,” the report said.
The Strength in Neighbors initiative, also outlined in this report, underscored the Homewood Community Partners Initiative (HCPI), a partnership between the Homewood campus and the surrounding communities.
“The purpose of HCPI is to create and implement a comprehensive common agenda for the revitalization of the 10 neighborhoods around the Homewood campus,” the report stated.
Some of the goals of this program are to increase the local population by 3,000 households in 10 years, restore blighted properties and re-open a shuttered community center with support from the Baltimore City government.
The University is also pushing forward an initiative called “Sustaining Change,” which aims to create a more sustainable Hopkins community and decrease by 51 percent the University’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.
“To date, Johns Hopkins has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions nearly 35 percent —through our own efforts and steps taken by the regional power grid — even as the total size of our institution has grown by one million square feet,” the report states.
The University’s new sustainability efforts include more efficient windows and lighting, vegetated roofs, a real food pledge and solar power. The energy savings for the University have amounted to tens of millions of dollars.
Other changes discussed in the president’s email included fundraising initiatives, investment in the arts, promoting innovation and the continuing development of East Baltimore near the Medical Campus.
