I am proud to announce the completion of Utah Valley University’s Academic Master Plan. It was a privilege to work with this great institution for the past seven months, gathering academic leaders together, focusing on the most important and powerful goals that will advance student success and academic excellence, brainstorming strategies together, and creating a process to ensure it has power to influence behavior — to not just be a document on the shelf.
During this process, I was thoroughly impressed by the earnest commitment of everyone I worked with to the unique mission of UVU. Not many universities serve such a broad mission, from its comprehensive community college role, providing certificates and associates degrees, to its regional university status, offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees. This Academic Master Plan focuses on six essential goals:
- As an open admission comprehensive community college and university, UVU meets the region’s diverse educational needs.
- Faculty, in collaboration with staff, take collective responsibility for student success.
- General education empowers students with the foundational knowledge and skills for advanced study, the workplace, and life in the wider world.
- Programs are designed and implemented to provide integrated support, opportunities and pathways for student success.
- UVU engages with the community in addressing regional opportunities and challenges in a global context.
- UVU seeks and maintains adequate resources and capacity to sustainably achieve academic goals.
One of the reasons I found this project so personally rewarding is that, as an open-admission university, UVU serves a lot of people who need an affordable path to a life-sustaining career and personal enrichment. My brothers and I are first generation college graduates, and I can’t tell you how radically my college experience changed my life. Not only did it open doors for a meaningful, rewarding professional career, my years in higher education opened my mind to a whole world of intellectual curiosity and enrichment that I couldn’t even imagine before. I made lifelong friends (who are really interesting people!), developed a sense of mission that has guided my life, and filled my mind with useful knowledge that has helped me to see the world as it really is (not to mention having a lifetime of fun dinner conversation on meaningful topics!). UVU helps people like my family to have a higher quality of life. What more can you say than that?
Many thanks to UVU’s executive team for selecting me to help with this crucial project! It was an honor, and I’ll be watching over the coming years as the university continues to grow and fulfill its vital mission.