IUP’s 2020–25 strategic plan was approved by the IUP Council of Trustees in December 2020.

President Michael Driscoll had charged the University Planning Council, cochaired by Paula Stossel and Scott Moore, with developing priorities to guide the design of the 2020–25 plan. That process included meetings with more than 600 members of the IUP community for feedback and input.

This plan updates the 2015–20 plan.

The Goal

At the highest level, the strategic plan is designed to transform the culture at IUP to enhance the student experience by fostering exceptional student centeredness. This transformation includes reordering resources and reengineering processes to ensure every student, at every level and at every stage, can be successful.

The plan has seven core principles and five impact areas.

Core Principles

  1. Every student is a priority.
  2. Promote the search for, production of, and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of our students and society.
  3. Provide a wide range of intellectual and professional opportunities for students that will assist them in developing their potential for becoming productive and responsible citizens.
  4. Construct an environment of respect that encourages the growth of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  5. Respond to students and their needs when and where they are to enhance student satisfaction.
  6. Design and reengineer processes and procedures logically to improve ease of use for students.
  7. Improve communication, collaboration, and engagement across the university, and with our alumni and community partners.

Impact Areas

  1. IUP Readiness
  2. Finding and Creating Community
  3. Mental Health and Well-Being
  4. Post-IUP Success
  5. Academic Success

Next Step: Implementation

An implementation team is being created to assist with making the plan a living document in all divisions, units, departments, and offices.

These individuals will engage regularly and intentionally with their identified areas to help create and implement short-term and long-term initiatives.

The implementation team—IUP Plan Ambassadors or IUP Strategic Plan Ambassadors—will help guide divisions and departments to think through student centeredness for their work practices and how to align those practices with the core principles and impact areas of the strategic plan.

The goal of the teams is to help areas use the strategic plan as a lens, or a filter, to eliminate existing roadblocks and prevent future barriers for students.

This approach enables each area to make the strategic plan a living document within the best practices of its discipline, while still working toward the overarching goal of transforming the culture at IUP to enhance the student experience by fostering exceptional student centeredness.

Questions or comments about the strategic plan or the process can be directed to Paula Stossel (pstoss@iup.edu) or Scott Moore (rsmoore@iup.edu).