President C.E. Kupchella

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” Allen Kay wrote. Steve Gilbert put it in more action-oriented terms: “Don’t predict the future, build it.” This document represents just the latest milestone in the process of inventing and reinventing the University of North Dakota, building on a foundation set in 1883.

The plan’s immediate predecessor, Pathways to the Future, guided the University through nearly five years of success and achievement. This document, Building on Excellence, represents an appraisal of those successes and a complete reconsideration of our circumstances and our future.

We have established a very special place in the realm of higher education. UND is one of the smallest universities in the nation with a complete array of undergraduate, graduate/doctoral, and professional (law and medicine) programs. It has the atmosphere of a smaller institution in which students and faculty interact easily. Yet the University is comprehensive in its academic programs, its resources and services, and in its opportunities. For its size, UND has more breadth than just about any other four-year school in the United States. Its size and scope bring to the campus and region a diversity of people, thought, experiences, and opinions that generate a rich intellectual environment.

Enhancing this environment is UND’s commitment to excellence. Numerous programs and features of our campus are ranked among the top 10 or 20 in the nation. Our faculty and staff operate at the “top of their game.” The impressive accomplishments of our alumni demonstrate that UND is indeed a launching pad for success.

If the University is “just right,” why do we need a plan?

The world changes constantly. To even sustain a niche of any kind, an institution must adapt to circumstances and anticipate trends further down the road. Moreover, not all of our programs are of the same quality. There is always room for improvement.

In this new Strategic Plan, Building on Excellence, we will consider such topics as (1) sustaining access to higher education, (2) the need for continuing education and lifelong learning opportunities, and (3) research to address nationally important issues like energy independence and homeland security. We will create new academic programs to meet the needs of the new marketplace, and we will address issues of health care costs with a focus on wellness and prevention.

Our intention is to move UND into the group of America’s top 100 universities by all measures. We will achieve this in a way that is sustainable and builds a foundation for the next level of excellence. We know, however, that we can’t be all things to all people. Thus, we will focus on a select group of Centers of Excellence, strengthening those that already exist and creating new centers that align with the needs of North Dakota and the nation, all as part of a vibrant Red River Valley Research Corridor extending from Winnipeg to South Dakota.

We will position the University as a force for the reinvention of the Northern Great Plains, focusing on the elements of our mission associated with public service and economic development. The University will transcend its campus borders, incorporating technology not only to enhance our programs but also to take them to learners everywhere.

The primary challenge to maintaining high quality and achieving new goals is that we live in a world with serious resource constraints. Simply put, we must generate the resources we need. Two significant dimensions of this new Strategic Plan are (1) the expansion of private fundraising and development, and (2) the positioning of the University as an international institution through marketing and image-building based on the reality of our accomplishments.

Building on Excellence was informed by input from hundreds, if not thousands, of people through surveys, campus forums, off-campus focus groups, meetings of the board of directors of the UND Alumni Association and Foundation, and more. Throughout, there has been a reaffirmation of UND’s core values and an assessment of the challenges — and opportunities — facing higher education and society.

We express our heartfelt appreciation for the time and effort that went into preparing this plan, and we thank in advance all who will contribute to implementing the plan and achieving its goals. We pledge to make you very proud of the future we will invent together.

Charles E. Kupchella
President