Strategic Plan FY 2009 - FY 2012
Executive Summary

A Longstanding Commitment to Mission

Since its founding in 1980 by John Connell, Yestermorrow has taught architectural principles and construction skills using experiential learning techniques that demystify the design/build process and encourage students to express their values and lifestyle.
Over the years Yestermorrow has experienced steady growth. The School’s board of directors and its staff, with support from generous donors, have worked tirelessly to expand and improve the School’s campus facilities and curriculum. As a result, the School has:

  • Grown from offering summer-only classes to a 7 days per week, year-round institution.
  • Increased its instructors to more than 150 design/build professionals and artisans.
  • Grown student enrollment to more than 1100 annually.
  • Expanded its curriculum to include an array of new design, woodworking, and construction classes.
  • Created specialized programming for practicing professionals and offered continuing education credits through the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
  • Created three Certificate programs in Sustainable Building and Design, Woodworking and Natural Building.
  • Purchased land and a building, created a campus master plan, and begun phased development of the campus, including the creation of an energy-efficient, model environmental facility.
  • Renovated campus facilities to include classrooms, a library, studio space, tool and material storage, administrative offices, workshop and kitchen. Student accommodations include a new dormitory, tent sites, cabins and the Chalet, which houses Yestermorrow’s interns.
  • Developed a year-round Intern Program that serves 16-18 aspiring design/builders annually.
  • Expanded community outreach and educational programs to include a summer lecture series, house tours, and community-based design/build projects.
  • Hosted special workshops and trainings with numerous professional associations, including the American Institute of Architects, U.S. Green Building Council, North East Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), and the Vermont chapter of the Congress of Residential Architecture (CORA).

While much has changed about Yestermorrow since 1980, the core ideals and beliefs upon which the School was founded have not. Over the past two and one half decades, Yestermorrow has maintained an abiding commitment to the methodology of the integrated design/build process as a tool to empower people to create their own fulfilling places and promote a more sustainable world.

Looking Ahead: Strategic Goals

In 2005 Yestermorrow Design/Build School reached a critical milestone in its organizational development, celebrating its 25th anniversary, and—through the hard work of board, staff, and faculty, and the generosity of donors—positioned itself for unprecedented enrollment growth, financial stability, and continued national leadership in design/build education with a focus on sustainable design/build theory and practice.
Building upon its current educational programming success, Yestermorrow will in the next five years expand its impact as a vibrant educational institution that inspires creativity and provides quality educational programming, accommodations and amenities within an expanded and improved campus that is a model of sustainable “smart growth.”

Specifically, Yestermorrow will cultivate sufficient organizational, physical, financial and personnel resources to:

  1. Expand the School’s design/build educational programming, which embodies its sustainable philosophy.
  2. Increase the number and diversity of Yestermorrow students and other beneficiaries of design/build education.
  3. Enhance the School’s position as a national leader and innovator in design/build education programming and sustainable design/build theory and practice.

Programmatic Objectives

The School will enhance its educational initiatives by increasing courses, programs, projects and initiatives, specifically including the following:

  • Individual Courses. Increase and focus the curriculum to support Yestermorrow's unique design/build educational philosophy and meet the needs of its students, from beginners to professionals.
  • Certificate and Semester Programs. Expand and enhance Program offerings leading to a certificate, create semester scale programs and cultivate relationships with other educational institutions in order to serve as the premier educational resource for students interested in a design/build career.
  • Intern Program. Enhance the accountability, professionalism and effectiveness of the Intern Program to meet the operational needs of the School and to provide a more comprehensive and coordinated educational experience for aspiring design/build professionals.
  • Design/Builder in Residence Program. Implement a new Designer/Builder in Residence Program in order to meet the School’s emerging programmatic needs, including those of its enhanced Intern and Certificate Programs and its new Semester Program and Landmark Projects.
  • Landmark Projects: School Zone Master Plan. Initiate the development of the School Zone of the Campus Master Plan in a manner that models sustainable design/build and land use practices.
  • Landmark Projects: Serving Community. Spearhead innovative community-based Landmark Projects—collaborative design/build initiatives which address real community needs and expand the School’s reach and impact.
  • Center for Design/Build Advocacy, Policy & Research. Create the capacity to become a national center for design/build advocacy, policy and research that complements and supports the School’s design/build educational programming.

Operational Objectives

Yestermorrow has identified seven critical operational objectives which must be met in order to achieve its strategic objectives and has launced initiatives to meet them:

  1. Quality, professionalism and accountability in all aspects of Yestermorrow’s operations;
  2. Effective board leadership and governance;
  3. Outstanding management leadership and skill;
  4. Financial stability and capacity;
  5. Successful fundraising, development and endowment-building initiatives;
  6. Facilities, equipment, and instructional capacity that meet operational and programmatic needs and conform with Yestermorrow’s core environmental and ecological values; and
  7. Supportive strategic partnerships and alliances.

Enrollment Objectives

Yestermorrow will develop a larger, more diverse student body and instructor base which will broaden the School’s base of tuition income and create new opportunities to secure greater philanthropic support from donors, foundations and businesses. More importantly it will cultivate synergy, energy, and creativity that will enhance students’ overall design/build educational experience and inspire and empower more people to carry out Yestermorrow’s mission to create a better world. To this end Yestermorrow has established the following objectives for enrollment:

  • By the year 2012, Yestermorrow will have expanded its design/build educational programming and created the necessary organizational infrastructure and capacity to support a dynamic and sophisticated educational institution that serves an average of 28 students per day (8,500 student days/year). This is a significant increase from the average of 10 students per day (3,200 student days/year) currently served by the School.
  • Seventy-five percent of Yestermorrow’s student body in the year 2012 (21 students per day on average, or 6,400 student days/year) will be enrolled in the School’s expanded and enhanced Individual Courses, Certificate Program, and Intern Program. To reach its enrollment goals relative to these program sectors, Yestermorrow projects an average rate of student enrollment growth of 15% per year for the next five years.
  • By 2012, 25% of Yestermorrow’s student body (2,100 student days/year) will be enrolled in the School’s new Semester Program, which will include both on-campus and off-campus educational initiatives. Enrollment projections for Yestermorrow’s Semester Program anticipate that by 2012 the School will evolve to serve 15 students, five days per week, for two 14-week semesters.

Conclusion

Yestermorrow is a place to nurture ideas and actions using the inherently creative Design/Build Process. It gives its instructors a chance to formulate their thinking in new ways, and provides them a forum to express their ideas to other instructors and to their students. And it offers them a place to learn from their peers and from their students.

For its students, Yestermorrow’s unique educational methods lead to clarity and expression of personal goals. Yestermorrow offers an introspective and fulfilling educational experience that promotes personal understanding, growth, enlightenment, and creativity in service to its core mission of creating a better, more beautiful and sustainable world.