for 60 years, the university of michigan-dearborn has pushed the boundaries of higher education and continuously pursued opportunities to serve the students, industries and communities of southeast michigan and beyond.
despite our unequivocal and manifest success, um-dearborn is not immune to the challenges that face all higher-ed institutions as we strive to achieve our mission of being a transformational center of learning for all capable students. throughout 2019 our strategic planning process will engage all of our stakeholders — faculty, students, alumni, staff, retirees, executive leadership, supporters and our partners in business, industry and the community at large — in an open-minded, open-ended conversation around fundamental reconsideration of our educational model.
guiding principles
these principles will steer us as we move through the strategic planning process.
- recommendations and outcomes should be inspirational, aspirational, attainable, measurable and sustainable.
- analyses and recommendations should be benchmarked, research and data-informed.
- the strategic planning process will engage stakeholders across campus and beyond (e.g., alumni, parents, community, donors, corporate sponsors, other campuses), ensuring that diverse voices are represented in developing the plan.
- the entire campus will share a commitment to developing, adopting, implementing and ownership of the plan.
- clear, consistent and timely communication will occur throughout the process to increase transparency and awareness of the process providing opportunities for input and participation.
throughout the process and beyond, as a campus community we should be aware of important reading below regarding our campus environment, our objectives, and the values and principles that should drive all we do at um-dearborn.
final reports: strategic priorities working groups
resulting from and guided by the situational analysis, these five areas require our attention over the duration of the strategic plan and are the basis for the working groups.
for each strategic priority the plan will identify major initiatives that would improve our performance and foster an environment of innovation and change.
below are each working group's final reports, submitted in december 2019, along with summaries. february 2020 town hall suggestions are also available for your review.
note: you will need to use u-m weblogin to access the reports. enter your @umich email address at the login prompt.
- student experience and success (full report) (summary) (february town hall suggestions)
- scholar-teacher (full report) (summary) (february town hall suggestions)
- staff development (full report) (summary) (february town hall suggestions)
- public prominence, awareness, partnerships and community engagement (full report) (summary) (february town hall suggestions)
- resources, structures, efficiency and management (full report) (summary) (february town hall suggestions)
membership and thought starters: strategic priorities working groups
the strategic priorities and associated working groups identified are below. the following suggestions were intended as conversation starters and should not limit creativity and innovation.
thought starters
- deliver a premier, transformational educational experience.
- explore alternative pedagogy (innovation, flipped classroom, online, moocs, peer-instruction, study abroad, j-term, courseload).
- examine curriculum structure and delivery (e.g. course credits, length of semester, experiential learning).
- evaluate student support systems, access to educational and financial support and resources.
- prepare students for a global citizenship: prepare students to who will think globally and become “global citizens”. understand civics, world cultures and the arts, science and politics.
- promote growth mindset.
working group membership
chairs: mitch sollenberger, office of the provost; amy finley, office of the provost
- rayna anderson, cecs
- hani bawardi, casl
- joy beatty, cob
- andy beverly, academic affairs
- debi butler, cecs
- sara byczek, student life
- shareia carter, student life
- chris casey, academic affairs
- sarah davey, cehhs
- mesut duran, cehhs
- elisa gonzales, student
- tyler guenette, student life
- sue guinn, cecs
- yi maggie guo, cob
- pam heatlie, office of the chancellor
- jennifer irwin, enrollment management
- ellen judge-gonzales, casl
- matthew laurinec, office of the chancellor
- andrea lewis, enrollment management
- sharon lobdell, student life
- francisco lopez, enrollment management
- jennifer macleod, career services
- jennifer makas, cecs
- brahim medjahed, cecs
- cole motley, information technology services
- karina nava, casl
- lori ormsby, cob
- urana pridemore, enrollment management
- britta roan, career services
- cathy sidor, student life
- vivek singh, cob
- alfonso sintjago, academic affairs
- jesse stanghini, cob
- holly sorscher, academic affairs
- laurie sutch, academic affairs
- lindsey tarrant, cehhs
- carla vecchiola, academic affairs
- tuere wheeler, cob
- tommy williams, business affairs
thought starters
- commit to consequential scholarship through recruitment, support and development of our faculty and alignment of incentives. improvement of infrastructure and physical spaces that will support current and future teaching and research needs.
- appropriately balance, promote and publicize excellent teaching, discovery, creativity and scholarly achievement.
- support investment in research and the necessary infrastructure.
- explore promotion and tenure criteria.
- promote growth mindset.
working group membership
chairs: yi lu murphey, office of the provost; maureen linker, academic affairs
- ghassan abou-zeineddine, casl
- nilay chakraborty, cecs
- yubao chen, cecs
- john cristiano, cecs
- natalia czap, casl
- francine dollins, casl
- sheryl edwards, casl
- susan everett, cehhs
- ivy forsythe-brown, casl
- jorge gonzalez del pozo, casl
- yi maggie guo, cob
- sally howell, casl
- elif izberk-bilgin, cob
- marouane kessentini, cecs
- bruce maxim, cecs
- saulo ortiz, student life
- german reyes, cecs
- liz rohan, casl
- patricia wren, cehhs
- yunus zeytuncu, casl
thought starters
- provide quality, accessible developmental and training opportunities to increase individual and organizational productivity and job satisfaction.
- leverage technology where applicable.
- examine professional development: earning or maintaining professional credentials such as academic degrees to completing. formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning opportunities.
- identify tuition support/learning opportunities.
- support the organization's succession planning efforts to ensure that we employees are prepared with the skills and knowledge to perform the work of the organization now and in the future.
- promote a culture of professional development.
working group membership
chairs: rima berry-hung, business affairs; bryan earl, office of the chancellor
- rebekah awood, cecs
- michelle barnes, office of the chancellor
- sherry boyd, cecs
- rachel buzzeo, casl
- maria cheatham, external relations
- kris crawford, university hr records (ann arbor)
- monique davis, cehhs
- courtney duffy, cecs
- christine dunning, cob
- eva gogola, institutional advancement
- joseph goraj, cob
- amanda hill, business affairs
- mary jones, cecs
- jonathan larson, cehhs
- molly mccutchan, business affairs
- leigh mcgrath, cecs
- tiffany purnell, institutional advancement
- mai qazzaz, career services
- lisa remsing, cecs
- scott riggs, academic affairs
- erica ross, enrollment management
- belinda soliz, casl
- matt speck, information technology services
- deborah stark-knight, cob
- erin vestrand, institutional advancement
thought starters
- bolster reputation and increase awareness of um-dearborn and its strategic differentiators.
- develop an ongoing, targeted communication and outreach strategy that promotes our offerings and achievements (faculty, staff, alumni and donors).
- identify ways to mitigate our shortcomings/areas that negatively affect our reputation.
- engage local and global partners and the community.
- explore the role of faculty as public intellectuals and thought leaders.
working group membership
chairs: beth marmarelli, external relations; jessica camp, cehhs; tony england, cecs
- ann marie aliotta, institutional advancement
- bailey ayers-korpal, external relations
- matt beaudry, office of the chancellor
- miles booker, business affairs
- perry boyd, student life
- marc brigolin, business affairs
- charu chandra, cob
- kelly cronin, institutional advancement
- danielle defauw, cehhs
- cheryl donohoe, institutional advancement
- sarah dorchak, institutional advancement
- paul draus, casl
- cristina frendo, institutional advancement
- laura garling, external relations
- jeanne girard, cecs
- tracy hall, office of the chancellor
- michael kamen, cob
- sridhar lakshmanan, cecs
- michael latvis, external relations
- kevin lewtschanyn, enrollment management
- francisco lopez, enrollment management
- molly manley, office of the chancellor
- patti martin, casl
- blythe murphy, institutional advancement
- kari porembiak, cob
- carmel price, casl
- celia robinson, business affairs
- julie roddy, casl
- natalie sampson, cehhs
- crystal scott, cob
- lashorage shaffer, cehhs
- rob simpson, information technology services
- david susko, casl
- dale thomson, casl
- line van nieuwstadt, cecs
- robin wagner, business affairs
- jamie wraight, casl
- adam zehel, cob
thought starters
- balanced scorecard, zero based budgeting, revisiting budget model.
- maximize efficiencies.
- explore alternative uses of the campus.
- incorporate the principles of positive leadership.
- new and modified academic organization.
- alternative academic calendars.
- innovative learning modalities.
working group membership
chairs: raju balakrishnan, cob; carol glick, business affairs; ilir miteza, office of the provost
- rima berry-hung, business affairs
- stein brunvand, cehhs
- john cristiano, cecs
- tim davis, cob
- paul fossum, cehhs
- noel hornbacher, business affairs
- eric kirk, cecs
- ghassan kridli, cecs
- joe lubomirski, information technology services
- joe lunn, casl
- emily luxon, casl
- deb peffer, enrollment management
- chris samfilippo, cob
- karen strandholm, cob
- tim taylor, enrollment management
- marie waung, casl
- armen zakarian, cecs
timeline
- official launch of the strategic planning process (shared visioning paper in december)
- um-dearborn conversations
- initial situational analysis working groups meet
- thought leader sessions
- additional working group leadership assembled
- inauguration
- thought leader sessions
- environmental scan and vision 2020 review groups findings due to senior leadership
- working group leaders announced
- orientation for working group leaders
- develop charge for working groups
- finalize working group membership
- campus updates shared
- working group teams announced
- working groups begin meeting and continue to meet throughout summer and into fall
- working groups engage external audiences as necessary (alumni, retirees, community partners)
- working groups provided a status update to leadership
- thought leaders sessions
- campus updates shared
- working groups continue to meet (as necessary)
- campus forums and updates shared
- leadership to consider findings and recommendations and inform campus of decisions
- modify planning document (as needed)
- share components of the strategic plan with campus (as developed)
- celebrate!
thought leaders
the university is welcoming thought leaders to campus throughout the strategic planning process to discuss the state of higher education and other related topics. view recordings and supporting materials from past thought leader sessions below.
- kathleen fitzpatrick, director of digital humanities and professor of english, michigan state university, december 3, 2019
- jennifer haverkamp and stephen forrest, co-chairs of the president's commission on carbon neutrality, u-m, october 18, 2019
- mark searle, executive vice president and university provost, arizona state university, september 13, 2019
- mark schlissel, president, university of michigan, april 3, 2019
- mark schlissel, president, university of michigan (powerpoint slides)
- rick miller, president, olin college, march 20, 2019
- nancy g. love, borchardt and glysson collegiate professor, university of michigan, april 30, 2020
key resources
throughout the strategic planning process, resources will be shared with campus — news and journal articles, tedx talks, books, webinars, etc. — aimed at sharing key insights and trends that relate to higher education from leaders in their fields.
use this growing list to stay informed and be inspired, then get involved by sharing your thoughts and attending strategic planning events.
- the urban futures spire of excellence
- um-dearborn conversations video, october 21, 2019
- stanford 2025 strategic plan
- um-dearborn conversations, january 29, 2019
- confronting the challenges of a new era - a call to action
- the power of believing you can improve: professor dweck's ted talk
- university objectives
- the university of michigan-dearborn narrative
- core values and performance principles
- challenging times in higher education: a conversation with lawrence s. bacow
- mindset: the new psychology of success by carol s. dweck
communications updates
throughout the strategic planning process, progress updates and other information will be shared with the campus community.
our words
these clouds visualize the frequency of words in the documents and feedback of the strategic planning process.
share your thoughts
your thoughts about the strategic planning process and reports are welcomed! campus feedback will be continuously solicited and incorporated into working sessions and campus decisions.
read the latest strategic planning updates
attend an upcoming strategic planning event
there are no events at this time.
