Five Imperatives
Prepare students to be engaged in a diverse democracy
Key early actions:
- Engage new students in core civic skills to gain knowledge about free expression and the positive role that it can play in their education.
- Implement opportunities for all new students to participate in a facilitated community conversation on a topic of public interest designed to improve civic engagement skills.
- Provide workshops and curriculum development resources for instructors to create educational exercises that develop student skills and broaden their engagement in public service.
- Provide training opportunities and resources for registered student organizations to develop civil discourse and civic engagement skills and bring those skills to the broader campus community.
Make career preparation and experiential and immersive learning an expansive and defining strength of the University of Minnesota experience for all students
Key early actions:
- Identify, develop and implement strategies to create and integrate immersive learning experiences for students.
- Ensure every student is educated in their first years to develop a career plan, articulate skills, connect with alumni and employers and locate career-related experiences.
- Increase alumni engagement to enhance student understanding of careers and opportunities.
- Increase early (first- and second-year) and ongoing participation in career preparation experiences including internships, co-ops, micro-internships, job shadows, simulations and student employment, beginning early and while removing financial obstacles.
- Identify resources and reduce financial barriers for students seeking to participate in immersive learning experiences
- Develop short-term and flexible programs that account for unique student needs and circumstances to ensure broad participation in immersive learning experiences.
Bring to life “One University on Five Campuses” to ensure student access to resources and opportunities regardless of home campus
Key early actions:
- Identify and remove barriers to improve transfer opportunities, course participation and degree or credential completion for all students.
- Identify innovative and proven student support functions and scale across all campuses to improve the student experience.
Enable the highest quality of life by supporting students' mental health and food security so they can focus on thriving, not simply surviving
Key early actions:
- Adopt the Okanagan Charter, prioritizing commitment to health and well-being across the University of Minnesota in support of student success.
- Expand mental health prevention and treatment for students on each campus.
- Develop new solutions or grow existing strategies to expand access to food options on all campuses.
Create problem-based, solution-generating academic programs and classes by expanding interdisciplinary learning, thinking and teaching
Key early actions:
- Identify and address financial and other organizational barriers so that interdisciplinary learning and teaching are facilitated and incentivized across schools, colleges and campuses.
- Identify critical societal and community problems and co-design novel interdisciplinary academic programs and classes so learners understand and contribute to solutions.
- Identify and respond to community needs by using spatial expertise to map where they overlap with interdisciplinary opportunities.
Build a comprehensive online learning hub to serve all students, regardless of campus, and meet the needs of lifelong learners beyond campus
Key early actions:
- Develop and implement a university-wide online strategy for undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and courses that personalize learning to meet the needs of a wide variety of learners and prepare our future workforce.
- Create and launch new educational programs that result in credentials and just-in-time upskilling for lifelong learners to advance their careers.
Lead AI innovation in teaching and learning through development of a comprehensive AI educational strategy for all learners, and create new opportunities for professional development in AI for the University of Minnesota’s teaching workforce
Key early actions:
- Develop and provide fundamental AI literacy for students, faculty and instructional staff, utilizing appropriate incentives and accountability measures to increase knowledge, competency and use of tools.
- Support and incentivize the incorporation of discipline-specific AI competencies into the educational experience to enhance students' understanding and learning.
- Advance and grow leading practices in the integration of AI in teaching and learning in professional programs to prepare students for professional practice.
Design new models of learning that meet students/learners where they are and address emerging realities and opportunities in higher education
Key early actions:
- Develop an initiative that engages students in the co-design of how, where and when they learn, using pedagogical research that is formulated, tested, assessed and reported for scaling and adoption.
- Pilot residential and virtual programs using evidence-based practices to achieve exceptional learner outcomes and test financial viability.
- Launch a one-of-a-kind collaborative to create and disseminate new models that apply research results to practice in higher education and that provide solutions to current learning-related challenges.
Create a dynamic, integrative arts and design initiative that supports faculty and student creativity, innovation, empathy and optimism
Key early actions:
- Create an Integrative Arts and Design Initiative to grow and enhance learning that infuses creativity into student learning experiences at the University of Minnesota that benefits our communities.
- Incentivize the creation of community-based partnerships through Extension and relevant academic partners to grow our engagement with and impact on our communities and economy.
- Create public programs featuring the arts, design, and innovation on each of our campuses, designed and/or led by faculty, staff or students, engaging members of the campus community and the broader communities in which we reside to have arts-based experiences as they navigate campus spaces.
Drive economic development and support Minnesota employers as they build and strengthen their workforces
Key early actions:
- Conduct broad workforce assessments to support the development of programs and resources, with an emphasis on AI, that provide certifications, upskilling and related strategies to serve Minnesota.
- Develop innovative partnerships and strategies to understand and contribute to the workforce needs of Minnesota employers.
- Accelerate the growth of partnerships with Minnesota and U.S. public and private organizations to grow the National Security Research Institute.
- Through strategic enrollment planning, design processes and initiatives that anticipate the future needs of the state while preparing students for career success and long-term impact.
Expand the current healthcare workforce to meet the needs of all of Minnesota, especially rural Minnesota
Key early actions:
- Increase class sizes in healthcare workforce areas experiencing shortages to expand access across the state.
- Expand mobile health and telehealth services in partnership with local communities to improve quality of care close to home.
- Expand the infrastructure of the Rochester campus, allowing for increased programmatic partnerships across health science colleges and schools to meet student and employer needs.
- Create opportunities for rural health education in the Duluth Academic Medical Building.
Lead in the science of “where” through the creation of data-based decision-making and community-based problem-solving by harnessing our deep expertise in mapping and spatial technologies
Key early actions:
- Map the connections among our research centers, academic departments and community activities to unlock new synergies and expand the impact of our educational, research and service efforts.
- Accelerate the World Terrestrial Ecosystems work of the GeoCommunities initiative to map the interactions among humans, plants and animals that share the same ecosystems around the globe.
Grow our national leadership in partnership with Tribal Nations and Native American/American Indian Studies
Key early actions:
- Expand and accelerate undergraduate, graduate and professional educational opportunities designed to meet the needs of Tribal Nations in areas including, but not limited, to healthcare and STEM fields, with the aim of creating Tribal global leaders in these fields.
- Create a Native American and Indigenous Studies–led cross-university collaboration that supports research, teaching and direct benefit to Tribal Nations in a variety of domains such as Native American and Indigenous approaches to health and the environment, science, technology, society, linguistic studies, humanities, law and education.
Lead in the creation of knowledge and solutions, as well as interdisciplinary education, for a healthy planet with abundant natural resources
Key early actions:
- Grow nationally leading research in freshwater and large lake science, including renovation of the Large Lakes Observatory facility, to advance understanding and stewardship of vital water resources.
- Lead development of cutting-edge innovations in technology, approaches, policies, and economic incentives to power a sustainable, integrated energy economy tailored to cold-weather environments.
- Develop and implement transformative solutions dedicated to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity.
- Design and apply rigorous, research-based models and scenarios to empower informed, data-driven community, business and organizational decision-making.
- Develop and implement an innovative cross-campus, interdisciplinary education program with a focus on sustainability.
Lead the nation in community health innovation, and Minnesota in healthcare delivery
Key early actions:
- Lead the research on the frontiers of aging and the science of the developing brain, including neuroscience and developmental psychology.
- Create and scale innovative, AI-driven healthcare delivery models that address operational and financial implications while enhancing access.
Lead in knowledge creation and innovation to advance the health of people, animals, plants and ecosystems through agricultural innovation and a One Health approach
Key early actions:
- Accelerate the advancement of sustainable and secure food systems by integrating cutting-edge innovations in precision agriculture, plant sciences and animal health.
- Identify and respond to emerging and contemporary infectious diseases for outbreak and disease mitigation and control through collaborative research, surveillance and rapid-response strategies across species and sectors.
Invest in field-defining research to advance the frontiers of AI
Key early actions:
- Advance new learning algorithms, ethical AI frameworks and use-inspired AI platforms.
- Strengthen high-performance computing, scalable cloud environments, secure data storage and modern data governance frameworks.
- Create a research computing hub to accelerate use of AI tools, data and methods across disciplines driving breakthroughs in healthcare, agriculture, engineering, public policy and the humanities.
- Catalyze and support cross-disciplinary teams to address leading-edge foundational, use-inspired and applied AI research opportunities.
Invest in the University of Minnesota’s workforce to recruit and retain talented faculty and staff and support them with cutting-edge technology and other tools that contribute to the university's mission
Key early actions:
- Develop a plan and implement approved recommendations from the Workforce Reinvestment Resolution, covering compensation, benefits and faculty and staff success initiatives.
- Identify, embrace and implement AI and other technologies and workplace efficiencies to strengthen our operations with a focus on infrastructure, workforce development and leadership.
Invest in modern and sustainable infrastructure to enhance research, discovery, teaching and learning
Key early actions:
- Create sustainable and ongoing funding models, including public-private partnerships, to address priority teaching, research and scholarship, and living spaces.
- Develop and implement short-, medium- and long-term new build, renovation and decommission plans to focus on priority facility and infrastructure needs that advance our leading research and scholarship expertise.
- Accelerate campus climate action and resilience plans to ensure our campuses are contributing to a sustainable environment and future.
Reimagine the St. Paul Campus
Key early actions:
- Create a vibrant residential experience to attract and retain students from across Minnesota and beyond.
- Develop an Interconnected Futures research and scholarship initiative advancing the shared health of humans, animals and the environment, inclusive of bio-innovation.
- Create a welcoming and educational experience for campus visitors and neighbors, serving as a resource and center of learning and innovation.