Re: Imagine 2030: Thank You for Your Input
To: All campus
Feb. 10, 2021

Dear Campus Community,

I am delighted to report that the engagement phase of UC Merced’s strategic planning process concluded with the start of February. I want to thank each of you who shared thoughts through a live virtual engagement session or through the online, self-guided presentation. Your input has been invaluable.

Over the last two months, 636 members of the UC Merced community, including students, staff, faculty, academic appointees, alumni, trustees, and the Merced community, participated in 29 live engagement sessions generating over 2,000 submissions for analysis. An additional 1,200 submissions were also received through over 1,000 views of the online self-guided presentation. These submissions--regarding draft campus-level goals, what makes and will make UC Merced distinctive, and what the campus needs to do to realize its goals--are now being analyzed to inform development of the strategic plan. I want to thank the Planning Task Force and Technology Team for designing and implementing such a broadly inclusive process. 

From the initial data, we’re seeing clear trends in what stakeholders view as UC Merced’s most distinctive qualities: our focus on serving the Central Valley, our shared values of diversity, equity and inclusion, our newness compared to other universities of our caliber and our leadership in sustainability. Visual summaries of these data are available here.

With the conclusion of the engagement phase, the strategic planning process continues throughout the spring semester. Under the guidance of the Strategic Planning Governance Committee, a draft strategic plan is being developed using the input from the engagements and the academic planning process underway in Academic Affairs. In April, please expect to be invited to review a draft of the plan. Your thoughts will help us finalize UC Merced’s first 10-year strategic plan, taking us to 2030 and the campus’s 25th year of operation. 

Again, thank you for your participation in this process. 

Sincerely,
 
Gregg Camfield
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
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