A year ago, the Marquette University Board of Trustees endorsed Guided by Mission, Inspired to Change, Marquette’s strategic plan for 2031. The plan’s adoption followed a yearlong, campuswide process of discernment, exploration and collaborative problem solving. The result was an aspirational, actionable plan that considers how Marquette will approach 2031 — the university’s 150th anniversary.
Throughout this past year, two teams moved the Marquette 2031 Strategic Plan forward, positioning the university to begin implementing 19 of the plan’s initiatives in 2025. As we head into the new year, here’s a look back at the strides that were made.
In January, the late President Michael R. Lovell at his annual campuswide address announced a Core Team to lead the first phase of plan implementation. The group — led by Rev. John Thiede, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry, and Dr. Chris Navia, acting vice president for belonging and student affairs — and 19 priority leads were tasked with developing proposals that outlined for the Executive Leadership Team outcomes, milestones, resources, metrics and contingency plans to mitigate risks.
After the monthslong process, the Core Team and a new advisory committee in May began reviewing the proposals for 1) readiness in terms of human, facility and financial resources; 2) alignment and synergies across priorities; and 3) connections to mission and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In September, the Core Team put forth to the Executive Leadership Team its report outlining the group’s recommendations for which priorities to pursue, as well as the most optimal timing to implement them. In considering those recommendations, the ELT that month appointed Lora Strigens, vice president for planning and facilities management, and Alix Riley, chief academic effectiveness officer, to co-lead the next phase of strategic plan implementation.
The ELT also announced that the recommendations from the university’s Securing our Future steering committee will be implemented over time as part of the “Healthy Campus” theme of the strategic plan.
Riley and Strigens in October named a Strategic Integration Team to make recommendations to the ELT regarding:
- Integrating recommendations from Securing Our Future into the Healthy Campus theme of the strategic plan
- Sequencing initiatives identified in the strategic plan
- Aligning initiatives to ensure efficient and effective integration with university operations
- Identifying metrics to track progress
The Strategic Integration Team also outlined its initial goals:
- Develop the implementation structure, including integration of Securing Our Future into the Healthy Campus theme
- Identify the initiative leaders, utilize existing teams, and build new groups engaging shared governance on relevant initiatives
- Ensure alignment across initiatives and university operations
- Recommend a reporting framework, including metrics to track progress
Later in October, the university announced the 19 initiatives aligned with the Marquette 2031 Strategic Plan that will move forward for FY25 (which ends June 30, 2025), along with the individuals who will lead each initiative. The initiatives, which were chosen by ELT based on feasibility, readiness, and alignment across the strategic plan’s objectives and priorities, span the plan’s three goal themes — Thriving Students, Healthy Campus and Care for the World.
The full list of initiatives, initiative leaders and a description of each is available on the Marquette 2031 Strategic Plan Teams site. (The Teams site and its files are restricted to those with Marquette email addresses.)
Looking ahead to 2025
In the coming months, the Strategic Integration Team will be ensuring that all Securing our Future specific and transformative recommendations are incorporated into the strategic plan; finalizing outcome metrics and targets for each theme; aligning the appropriate elements of the strategic plan with unit strategic planning efforts; and beginning FY26 initiative planning.
Watch Marquette Today for Marquette 2031 Strategic Plan updates.
