Three times each year, following the September, December and April Board of Trustees meetings, the university will release via Marquette Today a status update on implementation of the university’s Marquette 2031 strategic plan, “Guided by Mission, Inspired to Change.” All strategic plan implementation updates and information are housed on the Marquette 2031 Strategic Plan Teams site. (The Teams site and its files are restricted to those with Marquette email addresses.)
The status update features the initiative description, a list of implementation team members and a set of updates for each of the 10 active strategic initiatives across the plan’s three themes: Thriving Students, Healthy Campus and Care for the World. Additionally, the December progress reports will include a metrics dashboard.
Following are some recent highlights of strategic plan implementation progress. The full September 2026 status update is available on the Teams site.
THRIVING STUDENTS
- Student Success Initiative — Based on preliminary results, the university has achieved a 91.5% first- to second-year retention rate, a record first- to third-year retention rate of 88.2%, and increases in six- and four-year graduation rates (+1.7 and +0.6 percentage points, respectively). Additionally, utilization rates for the Lemonis Center for Student Success remain at record levels.
- Student Belonging and Well-being — A team that includes the Division of Belonging and Student Affairs, Mission and Ministry, Human Resources, and Faculty Affairs is developing a campuswide belonging model that grounds belonging in Marquette’s mission and strengthens coordination across students, faculty and staff.
HEALTHY CAMPUS
Operational Excellence
- Continuous Improvement — Implementation of the shared services model for business operations continues, with a focus on standardizing processes, improving service delivery, and increasing efficiency to support the needs of Marquette’s schools and colleges.
Following an IT optimization review, efforts are underway to address opportunities to reduce webpage duplication, strengthen cybersecurity and improve online operational efficiency. - Campus Master Plan — An initial student housing study is complete, and planning discussions are underway regarding future residence hall, apartment and retail development opportunities, with additional work continuing this fall. Also, a design team has been engaged, and planning teams have been established to advance development of a comprehensive sciences master plan.
CARE FOR THE WORLD
- Mission-focused Research Communities — A “Discerning AI” Community of Practice has joined the network as a new research community. Additionally, the Civic Science Collaborative is building a research model for public engagement with environmental issues, focusing on air quality; the group will pilot a strategy for approaching foundations and securing other funding opportunities.
- Enhancement of Research Infrastructure — The latest project status roadmap was updated in June; these are updated twice per year. Also, a logic model for this work was published in May. Details are available online.
