MSU University-Wide Strategic Plan Focuses on Empowering Excellence, Advancing Equity, Expanding Impact

MSU Today with Russ White

Michigan State University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. says the plan is a guidepost for MSU to be strategic about wisely and efficiently using limited resources and refine its values in an inclusive way.

“We have a mission of education, research and innovation, and outreach to really take what we've learned and make a difference in people's lives,” Stanley says. “So, we really need to be strategic. Resources are limited. We know that. We depend upon tuition. We depend upon state allocation. Those things have not been rising at great levels recently. We must think very carefully about how we use our resources. What we did for Michigan State University was say, ‘What are our values? What are the things we care about? How do we want to make a difference? Where do we want to be impactful?’

“We identified those values and then we said, ‘How do we accomplish and excel in them?’ We have the university's strategic plan, which looks at the university's activities on a whole level. We have the RVSM Strategic Plan, which looks at an issue that's been very important for Michigan State, relationship violence and sexual misconduct. And then we have a plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is not only a separate plan, but also incorporated into the university's strategic plan. We made a campus wide effort to bring people together.

“These plans had to be inclusive; they weren’t going to be top down. We had to have plans where faculty and staff and students had input on what we're going to do going forward. And from that we've crafted something we think, particularly in the university strategic plan, is going to take us from now to 2030 and be a guidepost for us for how we invest our resources and how we work together as an institution to be impactful and to make a difference for the State of Michigan.”

Ultimately, says President Stanley, the plan puts people and student success first.

“We have great facilities, but really when it comes down to it, it's about people. We start with our students and student success. Our heritage is to provide access for students who are economically disadvantaged and give them an opportunity to get a college education that was good as they could get at any school in the country. That was our primary mission initially, and that's continued now. So, we're finding ways to ensure student success and help every student who arrives at Michigan State University graduate.

“Absolutely essential as well is our faculty and staff and providing opportunities for them to reach their full potential. So, whether it's in education, whether it's in research and innovation, whether it's in outreach, how do we help them use their full potential and have impact? And what are the conditions we need to set to do that? How do we help them become better at educating? How do we reduce barriers to their ability to do their best research? How do we find resources to help them achieve what they want to do? How do we help their professional development so they can really see careers ahead of them that allow them to succeed and make Michigan State a destination where people want to work? Those are the things that are most significant. We're putting people at the center of our plan and focusing very much on them.”

The goal for MSU is to evolve and grow its impact on Michigan and the world.

“The destination looks like a Michigan State University that's recognized around the world as being impactful and having impact in areas that matter to people. There are some major problems we face, like problems around climate change and problems around artificial intelligence and how we use it effectively. There are issues around health and health disparities, which are a very significant problem for the United States and for the world. How do we keep our water and food supply secure so people don't have to suffer from insecurity or concerns about their water? All these things are things that Michigan State can tackle. We have the multidisciplinary ability to do it. The strategic plan lays out ways in which we can make a difference. One of the goals, for example, is to get to $1 billion annually in research expenditures.

“We know that's a number where we're going to be having impact. If we're at that number, that speaks to a national and global impact. As we look at graduation rates, we know if we can get up to 86 percent that we'd be among the top public universities in the country in terms of graduation rates. It's an achievable number, but how do we get there? This is an educational institution that matters to Michigan and to the world. We have found ways to get engaged in the problems that matter most to society, like creating the trained workforce that helps Michigan continue to excel and create economic development.”

President Stanley says the process of how the plan was developed was crucial so that the entire Spartan community could take ownership in the plan.

“The process really mattered so we needed a plan that involved input from faculty, students, and staff. The key constituents needed to have input. But we expanded that as well. The Board of Trustees was intimately involved in this and was involved in reviewing each of these three plans on a regular basis. And then we went to our alumni as well. We went to our donors and talked to them. We went to elected officials and talked to them. All these people had a chance to provide input into the strategic plan because we wanted a plan that people owned and know they contributed to.

“Without that buy-in and people seeing themselves in the plan, it could become a document that just sits on the shelf. That's not what we want. It was critical that it be an inclusive process. My hat’s off to the leaders of these different committees for all the work they did to be inclusive, all the listening sessions they held, and all the outreach they did. I think it's paid off in having a plan that I think people can, as I said before, see themselves in, buy into, and want to be a part of.”

President Stanley says the plan is not etched in stone and will evolve over time as necessary. And the plan allows MSU to refine and evolve its values.

“It's always important for an institution like MSU, one with this incredible history of accomplishment, to not rest and to always look and say, ‘What are our values? Are we staying true to our values? And are our values appropriate to the times we live in? How have they changed? And what's changed from maybe 100 years ago or 150 years ago?’ That relook was very important. Coming out of the challenges the university faced earlier in 2017 and through the pandemic, it's really helped us hone in on what's important to the university and how we’re going to be impactful. We had vigorous discussion on these questions. The values segment of the plan took a long time to come together to get cohesiveness and agreement on. Having those values defined will help us function better as a university.”

2030 is eight years away. It's the right amount of time to implement the plan and evaluate its progress.

“Eight years is a pretty good number. It's hard to get things done and have real impact in a short period of time. As we know, universities are large and complex organizations, and to get people pulling together sometimes takes some work. But once we do, it can be extraordinary. So, I think that timeframe is appropriate. Things change rapidly. So we will revisit this plan on a regular basis. We have already built into the plan a review in about three to four years into the process to see where our progress is. And Bill Beekman, our vice president for strategic initiatives, will be looking at this plan and be responsible for helping to co...