UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Workgroups have been formed to advance each of the five key goals that Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi has identified for the University to work toward over the next five academic years. Efforts across each goal and from each workgroup will also contribute to a larger planning process — in which the broader University community will participate — to develop Penn State’s next strategic plan beginning this fall.  

More than 80 individuals representing a broad cross-section of institutional perspectives and experiences were selected to serve on the workgroups by members of the President’s Council who are leading progress toward each of the five goals, which are to:  

• Enhance student success 

• Grow interdisciplinary research excellence 

• Increase land-grant impact 

• Foster diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging 

• Transform Penn State’s internal operations 

“As higher education and our world continue to change rapidly, the goals we are working toward will connect us as Penn Staters as we work together to build on our strengths, address challenges, and create a more inclusive, innovative, and effective University,” Bendapudi said. “By aligning our phased process to achieve our vision and goals with institutional strategic planning, we will develop a roadmap upon which each unit will be able to develop their own goals, measure outcomes, and continuously refine strategies to meet the needs of the students and communities we serve.” 

Phase one: Summer 2023 

The first phase of the five-phase approach to execute Bendapudi’s goals is taking place this summer, with each workgroup assessing strengths, challenges and opportunities for their goal area.  

For each goal in phase one, the associated group has been charged with benchmarking and exploring the current state of Penn State and its key peer institutions, identifying opportunities to refine the goal’s stated focus areas, and identifying key barriers and enablers to success. Their work will address four broad questions:  

• What is the state of Penn State today in this goal area?  

• What is the current state of Penn State’s key peers in this goal area?  

• Does the workgroup need to refine its stated focus areas to best perform in this landscape?  

• What are the primary barriers and enablers to success in this goal area? 

This summer, each workgroup will prepare a preliminary strategy framework that will lay the groundwork and help to inform future strategic planning across the University. As a roadmap, the phase one framework is intended to provide enterprise-wide and unit-level planning groups with helpful information to develop future strategies, goals and tactics to drive growth and success.  

Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Michael Wade Smith will begin to discuss next steps around strategic planning during a meeting of the Academic Leadership Council in August. 

Future phases  

Each phase in the five-phase approach is designed to build upon the previous one to enable the University to adapt to the changing needs of the Penn State community and the world at large. Throughout the next five years, the additional four vision phases will focus on: 

• Completing a comprehensive strategic planning exercise beginning this fall; 

• Developing unit, college and campus plans that align with broad institutional plans; 

• Implementing the institutional and unit-level plans; and  

• Continuously evaluating and recalibrating plans and efforts based on progress and outcomes.  

This will be an adaptable process, and in addition to seeking feedback from Penn State community members, workgroup membership may change throughout the five phases to infuse new expertise and perspectives into the mix across each goal, according to Bendapudi.  

“I am grateful to the leads, co-leads and members of each workgroup for driving this important first phase of strategic work, which will provide valuable insights around Penn State’s position within the competitive landscape and push us closer to our next institutional strategic plan,” Bendapudi said.  

The five goals, announced in February 2023, are the product of Bendapudi’s vision for the future of the University — a vision defined by building on Penn State’s purpose, becoming more agile to respond to ever-changing needs, and leveraging the University’s many strengths to realize strategic opportunities. Each goal comes with planned actions and metrics for determining success.  

Progress will continue to be periodically shared with the University community, including information on future engagement opportunities.