Operationalizing Carolina Next: We Strive for Excellence in All We Do
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the university of north carolina at chapel hill CAROLINA NEXT INNOVATIONS FOR PUBLIC GOOD Updated - December 2020 1 *The photos in this document were taken before the COVID-19 pandemic. 2 carolina next Contents 03 Preamble 09 Strategic Initiative 1 12 Strategic Initiative 2 build our community together strengthen student success Introduction to Carolina Next: Build our community – rich in Prepare students for success by Innovations for Public Good backgrounds and experiences – providing a student-centered where all work together toward experience, learning adapted to a common goal of creating a contemporary needs and access more diverse, equitable and to resources inclusive community 15 Strategic Initiative 3 18 Strategic Initiative 4 21 Strategic Initiative 5 enable career development discover promote democracy Help students, staff, faculty Pursue discovery through Inspire a culture of listening, and alumni reach their full creative collaboration respect, and civil discussion for career potential the betterment of our campus community, North Carolina and the world 24 Strategic Initiative 6 27 Strategic Initiative 7 30 Strategic Initiative 8 serve to benefit society globalize optimize operations Address community priorities Educate global citizens and Continually improve business for North Carolina and beyond strengthen global impact operations and infrastructure support carolina next: innovations for public good Preamble 3 3 OUR VISION To be the leading global, public research The university in America with outstanding educational programs at the best and most affordable price, to conduct game- changing research and innovate for the BLUEPRINT public good, and to bring health and For prosperity to the citizens of the state, nation, and beyond. NEXT Envisioning the next ten years, our framework identifies the priorities that University Strategic Framework will guide our decision-making. These choices reflect the University’s existing strengths, hold fast to our commitment to the public and deepen our campus culture THE PILLARS of innovation and creativity. The Blueprint for Next was endorsed by the UNC-Chapel — Hill Board of Trustees in January 2017. Of the public, for the public. We will: • Eliminate all barriers to a great education. • Bring expertise to bear for the benefit of North Carolina and beyond. CROSS-CUTTING • Work for democracy: develop citizen-leaders and IMPERATIVES encourage informed public discussion. — Innovation made fundamental. We will: • Value and prioritize foundational research and • Aspire to preeminence. creative practice. • Help us serve as the economic powerhouse for the state. • Meet the imperative for learning that is personalized, • Prepare our graduates for the new economy and experiential, collaborative, and data-literate. contemporary life. • Translate research into professional, commercial, and • Adopt a global mindset. societal uses. • Address big societal questions. • Adapt to evolving workforce and student needs. TREASURED VALUES • We lead as a proudly public institution: in collaboration with the people and our partner organizations in North — Carolina, nationally, and internationally. • We focus on population health and prosperity. • Above all, we are human, inclusive, and humane: we • We embrace change and possibility; we prize beauty and build a highly capable community, care how we treat art; we are aspirational, energetic, creative, and willing one another, provide for each other’s well-being, and to take risks. facilitate personal success. • We are committed to operating effectively, sustainably, • We embrace the evolving diversity of the people of ethically, transparently, nimbly, with technological North Carolina and the broader community we serve. sophistication, at the pace of change. 4 carolina next The University of North Carolina This Document: Carolina Next: at Chapel Hill Innovations for Public Good The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a leading In 2018, Provost Bob Blouin convened a group of public institution of higher education. As the oldest public administrators and faculty members to develop a strategic, university in the United States, Carolina has a long tradition yet concrete plan of implementation and assessment in keeping of producing highly engaged citizens and leaders, driven by an with the vision set forth in The Blueprint for Next. This group abiding ethos of service to community, and has played a pivotal also considered the Campus Master Plan and the University of role in building a stronger, more diversified economy for the North Carolina System’s strategic plan. The result is Carolina people of North Carolina and beyond. Next: Innovations for Public Good. This document serves as the guide for University strategic investment and decision-making during a three-year horizon, with the understanding that its initiatives will be assessed and refreshed semi-annually with The Blueprint for Next an eye toward change as work is completed and new opportunities emerge. What is the purpose of Carolina Next? The strategic plan aims To ensure continued excellence in a fast-changing world, to turn the University’s vision and aspirational goals into we must keep our sights set high while also making decisive readily understood, significant, implementable, measurable, choices about which challenges and opportunities we will strategic initiatives and opportunities. We want to be clear what tackle. Envisioning the decade ahead, the University created a we mean by strategic. In short, Carolina Next is focused on framework to guide our decision-making and investments. We important challenges and areas where we believe the University embraced a process of strategic thinking, gathering ideas and has the greatest chance to create change and shape the future. input from a wide range of students, faculty, staff and alumni. This document does not attempt to capture all of the great We then conducted market research and gained endorsement work happening across the campus, nor does the exclusion of from the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees in 2017 of The any activity suggest that it has become less important to the Blueprint for Next — a unified, university strategic framework. University. Rather, this document prioritizes where we can achieve the greatest impact. The Blueprint for Next identified two principles to guide our future: Of the Public, For the Public and Innovation Made Carolina Next belongs to all members of the University Fundamental. These two principles recommitted Carolina to community and is a transparent, working guide that lets its historic role of service to North Carolina and its people, everyone see where and why we are making strategic and to a fundamental quality essential to Carolina’s success: investments. It also shows where we have made progress. an unwavering commitment to continually reinvent itself, building on its strengths, while acknowledging and addressing Carolina Next is framed around eight strategic initiatives. shortcomings. The strategic initiatives represent the core areas of focus across the University. We will make targeted investments that enable Guided by the Blueprint for Next, over the next two years, the our community to: (1) Build Our Community Together, (2) University launched a range of initiatives, including Creativity Strengthen Student Success, (3) Enable Career Development, (4) Hubs to encourage innovative research collaborations; Arts Discover, (5) Promote Democracy, (6) Serve to Benefit Society, Everywhere to make the arts ubiquitous on the campus and in (7) Globalize and (8) Optimize Operations. These strategic all students’ lives; and the Global Guarantee to ensure a global initiatives are described in detail in this document. experience for all students. For each strategic initiative, we conducted an environmental scan that considered: the external macro-environment, both nationally and globally; the emerging trends, threats and opportunities in higher education; the competitive landscape; and, importantly, the strengths and opportunities for change within the University. Multiple stakeholders participated in 5 a systematic, thoughtful, fact-based process of determining The ultimate value of Carolina Next will come as a result of our status, and where our greatest potential for achieving its implementation and successful execution, which will impact exists. require a significant, sustained and unified effort. This document gives us the context and direction we need to achieve our Three strategic objectives capture the major goals aspirational goals. within each initiative. The strategic objectives represent the practical means of steering the University toward a shared vision. Each strategic objective opens the door to strategic opportunities, which can be pursued to bring about change Our Vision and impact. Strategic opportunities are created in one of two ways: (a) they are existing and ongoing programs within the University that align with a particular strategic objective or (b) The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill aspires to they are identified over time by the campus community and be the leading global, public research university in America University leadership as new opportunities emerge. providing an outstanding, accessible and affordable education; conducting game-changing research and undertaking Each strategic opportunity (whether existing or new) will innovation for the public good; and bringing health and be described in greater detail to provide appropriate prosperity to the citizens