A Strategic Plan for UNL: Setting Our Compass
The UNL Plan: Our Compass
Our Priorities
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has two overarching priorities: undergraduate education and research. These priorities align with the two primary needs of the state of Nebraska.
Undergraduate education. A high-quality undergraduate program is an important priority for both the university and the State of Nebraska. Higher education plays a key-role in retaining talented individuals who can contribute to the economy of the state of Nebraska and attracting young people from elsewhere. UNL, as the state's public, land-grant, comprehensive research university, plays a prominent role in engaging those students who have the widest range of choice in choosing where to pursue their college careers. Evidence shows that students tend to locate where they earned their last degree, and the quality of the undergraduate experience is the single most important ingredient in student choice.
Research. Nebraska must be able to compete in a global idea-based economy. A strong university research agenda is essential to economic growth in Nebraska; as UNL, through its research, has spurred success in agriculture, it must broaden its scope to assure Nebraska participates in the technologies of the future. Research universities have driven economic growth across the nation and UNL must drive it here in Nebraska. In addition, the research and creative activity involved in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, support the continued improvement in the quality of life in Nebraska, making it an attractive place for young people to live.
Our Strategies for Success
The ingredients for excellence at a public, land-grant, comprehensive research university are clear. Success depends on attracting talented people and providing them with the resources necessary for them to use their talents to advance the programs of the university. Hiring top-flight faculty is the chief ingredient and this requires competitive salaries, appropriate facilities and equipment, supportive staff, and an environment and culture that recognizes and rewards achievement. Building a quality undergraduate program at a residential campus also requires a wide range of support personnel who contribute to the undergraduate experience through student involvement, housing, recreation, leadership activities, and international and cultural experiences. Success in research as well as in undergraduate education requires the recruitment of highly qualified graduate students and graduate programs that provide them the support to achieve excellence in teaching and research. Professional programs contribute importantly to each of our key priorities. Modern and appropriate facilities that incorporate contemporary technology for both teaching and research are essential.
Our strategies can be summarized in two statements: Invest in Excellence and Maximize Resources.
Invest in Excellence
Within the general priorities of the university, excellence is often best achieved by strategic planning at the unit, department, and college levels. The campus administration, however, has a role in providing a proper framework for such planning, signaling in advance the criteria for making investments from the campus level. The following are the campus-wide investment strategies.
1. Invest in competitive undergraduate program, with a broad mix of programs for undergraduate education, to attract and retain highly talented students from Nebraska, the region, nationally and internationally.
It is vitally important for the well-being of the State that its flagship university maintain its leadership in educating young people of Nebraska as well as students from other states and countries. To ensure this success, we strive to:
- Offer a mix of undergraduate programs to attract high ability students and maximize every student's potential for success;
- Support faculty development projects that enhance undergraduate teaching and learning; and
- Increase access to undergraduate programs for qualified students from diverse backgrounds.
2. Invest in focused programs that are or can become "spires of excellence" by achieving national or international recognition and thereby enhance the reputation of the entire university.
Over the past 10 years, UNL has tripled its external funding for research and substantially increased the academic credentials of its student body. These accomplishments have been achieved, largely, by efforts to focus resources and attention on programs that are, or can become, nationally significant. New research centers, building on our strengths, have attracted additional outstanding faculty, advanced knowledge and educated students. New partnerships are creating opportunities for expanded technology commercialization and economic development. Development of innovative curricula as well as unique extra-curricular activities is essential to remain competitive in student recruitment. To continue its trajectory, UNL must:
- Continue to focus on outstanding programs through competitive allocation of existing resources and encourage strategic priorities at the academic unit level.
- Set and achieve benchmark goals to measure the success of these investments; and
- Support inter-disciplinary work that matches educational opportunities to future work-force needs and enhances research competitiveness.
3. Invest in programs of instruction or research and creative activity that serve the particular economic needs of Nebraska and contribute to our quality of life.
As the state's only public, land-grant, comprehensive research university, UNL must assure that it addresses the particular needs of the State of Nebraska. In building "spires of excellence" the university must take into account its comparative advantages which in many instances are dictated by its location in Nebraska. Beyond this, programs that may or may not achieve national recognition, but focus on particularly important needs for Nebraska or specifically enhance the quality of life in Nebraska deserve investment and support.
4. Invest, where we have a comparative advantage, in programs that contribute to solving challenges that face Nebraska, the nation, and the world.
In the United States, higher educational institutions have always played a significant part in advancing the interests of the nation, both at home and abroad. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln accepts its own share of that responsibility and accordingly has a obligation to be a participant, when it has a comparative advantage in doing so, in helping to solve the problems that face not only Nebraska, but the nation and the world. This is not only an obligation we share as a university, but one essential to the concept of engaged citizenship that we hope our students acquire.
Maximize Resources
In a world of scarce resources, the university must be both creative in its effort to expand its current resource base and in investing the resources it has for maximum advantage. Here we set out strategies for enhancing resources.
- Plan strategically to focus resources on excellent programs and provide mechanisms to direct existing resources toward our highest priorities.
- Demonstrate the importance of the university to the future success of our two most important funding sources: students and Nebraska taxpayers.
- Respond to federal research priorities and build collaborations and expertise necessary to compete successfully for federal research funding.
- Engage in public-private partnerships and create synergies where we and industry can marshal our independent talents and perspectives for mutual advantage.
- Advance entrepreneurship and embrace unanticipated opportunities to enhance the research and teaching of the university.
- Welcome persons of diverse backgrounds and perspectives who will keep us open to new ideas and emerging needs.
- Expand, through international work and study, our appreciation for the global environment and address the global interconnectedness of societal challenges.
- Support outreach as a mechanism for assuring that all Nebraskans benefit from the priority efforts of the university.
