A Blueprint for the Next Johnson & Wales Century

By Catherine Sengel

The expansive view of downcity Providence, RI, from Mim Runey, LPD’s executive office on the sixth floor of Cookson Place looks out over the heart of Weybosset Street past Gaebe Commons and southeast toward Johnson & Wales’ Harborside Campus. As new Providence Campus president and chief operating officer, Runey presides over the thought hub of an increasingly emulated model of higher education.

What began with one typewriter 99 years ago is today a nearly $500 million operation employing 2,446 faculty and staff across four campuses to help equip students for careers. At a recent Rhode Island economic development forum of business, industry and education leaders, Runey drew loud applause when she noted that JWU provides stipends to students in unpaid internships.

“Others have supported internships, but not to the extent we have,” Runey says later when discussing the university’s most recent strategic initiative — 2017: The Centennial Plan. “We invested over $4 million last year; we’ll spend over $4 million this year. By the end of the plan we will have invested $25 million on internship stipends. I don’t think anyone’s taken it to that level.”

As the institution approaches its 100th year, the 2017 plan makes an unprecedented investment in strengthening the university’s future as a recognized leader. Internship stipends are just one of the keys to making a Johnson & Wales education more relevant and accessible.

JWU’s previous five-year plan, FOCUS 2011, called for greater rigor, relevance and excellence in the classroom guided by goals to increase retention, recruit a higher caliber of student and make a JWU education more affordable. A dictate from the success of FOCUS 2011, the university’s newest plan is in some respects “more of the same,” says Tom Dwyer, vice chancellor and executive vice president.