As we enjoy the brisk winter season in Bloomington and look ahead to spring, our IUB 2030 strategic planning process continues full steam ahead.
As I write this, the plan’s executive committee is synthesizing recommendations from the three planning committees, which combed through and compiled reports from 25 working groups, along with hundreds of ongoing feedback form responses. Next week, the executive committee will present its working draft — aligned with our pillars of student success and opportunity, transformative research and creativity, and service to the state and beyond — to the campus for our further consideration. I hope that you will attend one of two upcoming hybrid town hall meetings to provide your perspectives on our emerging plan.
As we take these next steps together, I ask you to reflect on this pivotal moment for our campus. Over more than 200 years, we have nurtured strengths at IU in a broad range of disciplines, from the liberal arts and sciences to today’s cutting-edge technologies. Looking toward the future, we have incredible opportunities to capitalize on IU’s unique strengths — and combinations of strengths — to make our communities stronger and our world a better place. I trust our new plan will challenge and compel us to take bold action to realize our fullest potential.
I am deeply committed to making our plan not only a guiding star for our efforts, but an active, responsive point of connection and shared community. It should not sit on a (virtual) shelf; rather, we need to embrace its ideals and integrate its objectives into our daily lives at IU.
I wholly appreciate that embarking on a new strategic direction, and fully committing to our priorities, will not be an easy endeavor. In the process, we will necessarily have to make strategic choices about how we best utilize our people, resources, facilities, and time to pursue our goals. We may need to renew the ways we work together, and we must be open to new forms of collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches. We will need to forge new connections with other IU campuses, businesses, alumni, and leaders in Indiana and far beyond. There will be bumps and hurdles to overcome, and our path of growth will not always be linear or smooth.
But I trust in our resolve, and I trust in us. By 2030, I am assured we will see transformative efforts in research, teaching, and service at IU, with life-changing impacts in shared spaces we are only beginning today to realize can be our reality.
I look to your leadership and guidance in the days ahead as we come together around the most promising opportunities for IU’s future. Please continue to let us know how we can best support you through this time of growth and opportunity. I look forward to collaborating with you as we take bold steps toward 2030 and beyond. Thanks, as always, for all you do to make IU such a special place.
Transformations
