Dear Friends and Colleagues:
It gives me great pleasure to present to you the University of North Texas at Dallas’ strategic plan for the next decade, Vision 2020: A Framework for Achieving Comprehensive University Status. Representatives of the UNT Dallas faculty, staff, and student body have collaborated on the development of this plan over the past two years in a series of workshops, forums, and committee meetings. A blueprint for the future, Vision 2020 points the way as UNT Dallas focuses on taking its place as a leading proponent of 21st century education in an urban setting.
We have begun our task of setting the University’s future course during a historical moment of extraordinary change. The most difficult economic downturn since the 1930s in our nation and around the globe has brought into focus as never before the critical role that higher education must play in preparing our citizens for the economic, cultural, and political challenges that we face in a rapidly shifting international order. As a new university, we are mindful of the fact that we do not possess the many years of accumulated policy and practice to guide our decisions that more mature institutions can rely upon.
Yet we have chosen to view our youth as a great advantage. The University of North Texas at Dallas will have many choices to make in the decade to come, and each choice will foreclose some options while opening others. We believe that our core values of virtue, civility, reasoning, and accountability, expressed in this strategic plan, will stand us in good stead as we navigate the uncharted course to come.
In sum, Vision 2020 is a focused articulation of where we would like to go as an institution of higher learning in the next ten years. I invite you to join us in embarking upon this great adventure.
Sincerely,
John Ellis Price, PhD, CPA
President
University of North Texas at Dallas
(Click on the headings below to show more information)
Summary
This strategic plan presents the primary goals that the University of North Texas at Dallas aims to accomplish by the year 2020 and the fundamental strategies that it will employ to realize them. Based on two years of collaborative dialogue among UNT Dallas faculty, staff, students, and external constituents, Vision 2020: A Framework for Achieving Comprehensive University Status articulates the University’s commitment to meeting the needs of its city and region for a highly trained workforce of informed citizens.
Mission
The mission of the University of North Texas at Dallas is to enhance access to high quality education and to prepare students to become exemplary citizens who can assume leadership positions in a global environment. Our mission is accomplished through an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, the pursuit of innovative research and technologies, and a commitment to improve the quality of life through civic engagement. Our teaching, research, and civic engagement will be conducted in an environment guided by respect for and understanding of diverse viewpoints and the core values of virtue, civility, reasoning, and accountability.
Vision
The vision of the University of North Texas at Dallas is to become a highly valued university serving Dallas, surrounding communities, and the State of Texas, recognized for its distinctive interdisciplinary approaches to education, for innovative research, and for its commitment to the well-being and full development of all students.
Key Initiatives and Priorities
The strategic plan of the University of North Texas at Dallas supports the institution’s mission and embodies the vision that drives the University. The plan is built from the University’s key strategic initiatives, developed by the institution’s administration at the direction of UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson. The administration, faculty, and staff in unison with the community form the framework to achieve the purpose-driven functions embedded in the plan. All play a supporting role in achieving the following six key initiatives and supporting priorities:
I. Achieving Academic Excellence and Student Success
Achieve academic excellence and student success by recruiting, developing, and retaining outstanding faculty and staff who demonstrate effective teaching, student service, and quality scholarship in a learning-centered environment.
- Recruit academically ready students
- Develop faculty governance
- Enhance and increase scholarly and creative activities
- Create quality advising/mentoring/retention programs
- Develop a high-quality first year experience program
- Implement merit and reward structures and policies for faculty and staff
- Enhance quality of instruction and programs and promote active learning
- Implement a process to (1) identify and develop future interdisciplinary and niche programs and curricula and (2) determine the parameters that will define a 21st century comprehensive university
- Develop a comprehensive student success plan
- Implement faculty development activities
II. Developing Human Capital Encourage and support the achievement of the full potential of all learners by emphasizing the importance of citizenship, preparation for careers, communication skills, leadership, wellness, and life-long learning.
- Engage students in student organizations and peer-support activities
- Develop internship/co-op programs for students
- Develop staff development activities to promote customer service and effective and efficient practices
- Focus on leadership skills development for students
III. Creating an Interdisciplinary and Technological Focus Create an interdisciplinary and technological focus on teaching, learning, and research by developing interdisciplinary curricula and research that leverage the use of state-of-the-art technology.
- Utilize state-of-the-art technology in teaching, research, and service
- Encourage interdisciplinary research among faculty and students
- Enhance the quality of and access to the virtual library
IV. Promoting Civic Engagement Build and strengthen relationships with local, regional, and state partners to achieve common priorities and goals in economic, social, and educational development.
- Develop a comprehensive public engagement plan, including service learning, internship, and cooperative education opportunities for students, and an institutional relationship management plan
- Work with local school districts, private schools, and all institutions of higher learning to promote a college-going culture, reduce the high school drop-out rate, and enhance access to higher education
- Partner with area chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, businesses, community groups, and faith-based organizations to promote and implement city, local, and state educational and economic initiatives
V. Fostering Institutional Effectiveness Operate the university as an effective and efficient institution of higher learning through data-based, transparent decision-making with continuous quality improvement.
- Develop and measure student learning outcomes for improvement of all degree programs
- Establish a strong and active institutional research function to provide appropriate data and analysis to decision makers
- Develop a unit planning process with action plans, assessments, follow-up, budget implications, etc.
VI. Leveraging Institutional Resources Leverage institutional resources to promote financial stability of the institution and encourage advancement of the institution’s mission by prudent stewardship and efficient use of institutional resources, cultivation and solicitation of increased private and public investment, and implementation and maintenance of effective business practices.
- Develop a comprehensive marketing and public relations plan
- Develop cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies to foster relationships that result in financial support and other external funding
- Adopt sustainable environmental practices
- Develop, implement, and document sound business/fiscal policies and practices
