Seeking to develop an intentional and impactful course for the future, the UC Santa Cruz community will work together this academic year to develop a shared vision that will culminate in Leading the Change: The UC Santa Cruz Strategic Plan, the university’s top leaders announced Monday.
UC Santa Cruz is on an incredible trajectory. It is one of just a handful of universities that conducts high-impact research, is both a Hispanic-Serving and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, and is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
The strategic plan aims to provide opportunities for campus improvement and transformation impacting a wide cross section of campus constituents and experiences. The work will seek to advance campus goals around student success, research impact, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability and resiliency, and establish clear metrics by which success will be measured over the next decade.
“Strategic planning is an incredible opportunity for our community to shape the future of a university already positively impacting our world,” Chancellor Cynthia Larive and Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer said in a message to campus formally announcing the planning effort.
A steering committee, co-chaired by Larive and Kletzer and with members from across campus, has started the groundwork, establishing five central themes. The themes and the co-chairs for each committee are:
- Unparalleled Undergraduate Student Education and Experience, co-chaired by Akirah Bradley-Armstrong, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Success, and Sean Keilen, Chair, Council of Provosts;
- Envisioning Graduate Education for the Future, co-chaired by Peter Biehl Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, and Matt Guthaus, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Baskin Engineering;
- Distinction in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities, co-chaired by Jasmine Alinder, Dean of the Humanities, and Paul Koch, Dean of Physical and Biological Sciences;
- Inclusive and Thriving Campus Community, co-chaired by Anju Reejhsinghani, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Dean of the Arts; and,
- Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resilience, co-chaired by Elida Erickson, Director of Sustainability, and Sikina Jinnah, Professor of Environmental Studies.
These themes are intentionally broad to allow opportunities for input and creativity. Committees for each theme will now begin to gather ideas and input in each area. The plan will be opportunity-focused, identifying strengths and emergent areas of research, education and service that can advance the university’s global and regional impact, improve the experiences of community members, and strengthen the campus push to lead at the intersection of innovation and social justice.
Leading the Change: The UC Santa Cruz Strategic Plan will build on past planning efforts. The Envision UC Santa Cruz plan that launched a decade ago, the Strategic Academic Plan (SAP) of five years ago, and the recently completed Long Range Development Plan all include valuable pieces that will inform this strategic planning effort.
All in the campus community are encouraged to participate. The Leading the Change webpage includes the charges for each committee and will serve as clearing house of information throughout the year. The dates and places of upcoming meetings will be posted there. Organizers will also communicate important meetings, milestones and opportunities for input via email and through Tuesday Newsday, the campus news blast that is sent to all in our community once a week. A survey will be forthcoming.
“Nobody understands UC Santa Cruz as well as the people who make up our campus community, so your input in this process is invaluable,” Larive and Kletzer said. “We need to harness the incredibly wide range of knowledge and experience our community holds, then collectively establish goals for the future and metrics by which we will measure our progress.”
