UK’s Strategic Vision Must ‘Meet Students Where They Are’ to Serve State’s Needs, Future
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 18, 2019) — After an intensive daylong retreat, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees on Friday charged President Eli Capilouto and the institution with developing a strategic vision and plan that “meets our students where they are and gets them to where Kentucky needs them to be.”
“If we are to be the University of, for and with Kentucky, then we must act with a sense of urgency and purpose to develop and articulate a vision for our state’s university that meets the needs of students and our state in a rapidly changing 21st century economy and world,” said UK Board Chair Robert Vance. “Our challenge — and our direction to President Capilouto — is to develop a plan that responds to a compelling vision for our university and our Commonwealth.”
On Thursday, the Board engaged with 80 faculty, staff, and students in three future-focused scenarios that encouraged the expansion of the range of available strategies; the avoidance of the pitfalls and blind-spots in traditional strategic planning; and the consideration of how best to develop a campus that accommodates the learning and career needs of tomorrow’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.
The daylong discussion was facilitated by Educational Advisory Board (EAB) and designed to encourage thinking about the challenges, opportunities and obstacles confronting higher education in the 21st century as UK moves into creating its next Strategic Plan. The higher education landscape is challenged by changing demographics, rapidly developing technology that is transforming how education is delivered as well as the expectations of students and families, and evolving needs of businesses, government and nonprofits that are demanding students come to them job-ready with adaptable skills.
“Our Board and our campus are committed to thinking more creatively about our work and to plan differently for our future.” Capilouto said. “The time has come to cast aside the tired and numbing routines of planning that lead to generic and uninspired results. The time has come to commit ourselves instead to new approaches as we seek new solutions. The time has come to plan not for what is, but for what is next."
During the retreat, general themes emerged, which, when combined with thoughtful consideration of the University’s other essential missions of research and service, will lay the foundation for the University’s next Strategic Plan. Soon the University will engage in a campus-wide conversation.
The framework includes:
Vision: “Meet Our Students Where They Are; Get Them To Where Kentucky Needs Them To Be”
Key Themes:
- Tailor High-Impact, Goal-Oriented Experiences
- Constantly Evaluate and Cultivate Tools for Success
- Make Academics Challenging; Navigation Easy
- Redefine Achievement and Consistently Reward It
- Leverage the Value of Diversity
- Harness the Power of Technology
- Engage Within and Beyond the Campus
- Prepare For First Job and Next Job
Result: Be The University Of, For, and With Kentucky
UK is in the final year of its current five-year Strategic Plan, a period in which UK has reached historic highs in retention and graduation rates, research expenditures, and levels of diversity among its students — key milestones informed by goals and metrics contained in the current plan.
A new strategic plan, led by Provost David Blackwell, will be developed in consultation with faculty and the entire campus over the next few months. The UK Board will review and adopt the plan in Spring 2020. Blackwell said UK’s deans and academic leadership will meet later this month for a planning session around the development of the Strategic Plan.
“The Board has articulated a compelling vision and principles to guide our path over the next several years,” Blackwell said. “Now, our campus community must go to work to take the framework and develop it into an ambitious, but achievable, plan that informs our work on behalf of our students, faculty, staff and the Commonwealth that we serve.”
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.