Community gets first look at 2022-25 UofL Strategic Plan

As the University of Louisville wraps up the final year of its 2019-22 Strategic Plan, efforts are under way to identify strategies and set goals for the next three years. An initial draft of the university’s 2022-25 Strategic Plan has been developed by the Strategic Plan co-chairs with input from the president’s leadership team, the provost’s leadership team, university deans and strategic plan implementation subcommittees. The co-chairs and Interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez held two feedback forums May 2 to present the initial draft, answer questions and garner feedback on what has been developed so far.

In her presentation, Gonzalez noted a few differences between the 2022-25 Strategic Plan and the 2019-22 Strategic Plan.

The “work” and “learn” strategies will remain in the new plan. However, the current “invest” strategy will change to “connect” to better capture the many ways in which UofL actively partners with the region and world.

“We want our community to turn to UofL for student interns who will hopefully become full-time employees. We also want to highlight our capacities that make UofL a resource and innovation engine for our city and state,” said Gonzalez. “In turn, we want to keep as many of our graduates in Louisville and in Kentucky for a lasting strong economic impact on the communities that we serve.”

The new 2022-25 Strategic Plan focuses on more high-level, aspirational goals. The decision was made to focus on the primary goals and desired outcomes without pre-determining exactly which specific activities must be performed. This allows for more flexibility since those charged with implementation can use the expertise of the entire UofL community to determine detailed activity plans.

The new plan’s aspirational goals include an emphasis on strengthening the element of “trust” among university employees – a value that Gonzalez said has been shaken due to the many current interim positions across the university. She also added that, while the university does a great job recruiting outstanding employees, the new plan will address employee retention. Professional and leadership development opportunities, compensation, streamlining operations as well as further developing the equity and inclusion mission are a few of the strategies Gonzalez noted for the “work” component.

Where students are concerned, the new plan will include strategies that develop the student beyond classroom learning. The goal will be to have students working in the community to gain experience and the opportunity to apply learning. Gonzalez said that, as COVID-19 pandemic safety measures are relaxed and more students return to campus, engaged learning activities will increase in the coming years.

“The future of higher education calls on us to understand the many different life experiences, which our students bring to their college experience,” said Gonzalez. “We also must be prepared to address barriers to higher education such as financial, personal and professional concerns.”

The Strategic Plan co-chairs will solicit feedback from faculty, staff and students via an online feedback form through the end of May. Input received will be considered for the final version of the plan, which will launch in September 2022.

“We want to move on our strategies right away to maximize positive impacts on our university and our community,” said Gonzalez. “Input from the UofL community on how we develop our new plan is essential. The is OUR plan. This is OUR university. We all work together to make our world a better place.”

See the University of Louisville Strategic Plan webpage for more information, updates and resources.