Notre Dame 2010: A Quest for Leadership

Notre Dame’s fundamental aspiration over the years – to be one of the great universities of the world while remaining firmly committed to preserving and enhancing the Catholic intellectual tradition – has never wavered.Beginning with the COUP Report in the 1970’s, Notre Dame has formulated successive ten-year strategic plans, each designed to bring the University closer to realizing this aspiration.Our last strategic planning process, the Colloquy for the Year 2000, commenced in 1992.Many of the goals articulated in the Colloquy have now been achieved and a solid foundation has been laid for making the next major strides toward our stated aspiration.

It is time to begin the process of developing our next ten-year strategic plan.This plan, which we have entitled “Notre Dame 2010: A Quest for Leadership” is a crucial one.We believe that Notre Dame is on the verge of becoming widely recognized as a great university.Whether we succeed in our efforts to achieve this vision of our future and gain such recognition depends to a large extent on the quality of this strategic plan and our ability to implement it.As has been the University’s tradition, this plan will also form the basis for our accreditation documents and our next fundraising campaign.

The process we have designed to create this strategic plan is different from that which generated the Colloquy, and is intended to maximize input from the various departments and components of the University on which our success ultimately depends.We are asking each planning unit to submit to the Strategic Planning Coordinating Committee a ten-year strategic plan for that unit.These plans should be submitted to the Coordinating Committee by October 15, 2002.The Coordinating Committee, with this document, provides to colleges, schools, administrative divisions, departments, and other planning units the aspirations for the University, the timetable for the planning process, a charge to planning units, and thoughts to guide this work.

ASPIRATIONS

Academic Excellence: A World-Class Research and Teaching University

Over the next decade, Notre Dame must achieve and sustain academic excellence.It is essential that we enhance our academic reputation by vaulting our strongest departments to the ranks of the premiere departments in this country, by raising our good departments to the ranks of the very good, and by guaranteeing a threshold level of distinction for all departments.We envision, ten years hence, that at least 25% of our graduate programs will rank in the top quartile of their disciplines, and our professional programs will rank in the top 20 of their fields.The University’s newly minted Ph.D.s will compete for jobs in the finest departments in the country.Although our academic excellence cannot be spread equally across all departments, it must extend beyond our traditional strength in a few disciplines to embrace various facets of research in a broader array of areas.

We are committed to preserving and enhancing our leadership role in undergraduate education.We will maintain our strength in preparing students for careers in a variety of professions.To more fully develop the intellectual curiosity and academic aptitude of our students, we also expect that many of our best undergraduate students will delve more deeply into advanced study, engage in independent research, and gain admission to the top graduate programs in their fields of study.

Pursue Knowledge, Cultivate Wisdom, and Serve Human Dignity:the World’s Leading Catholic University

Notre Dame is a Roman Catholic University, dedicated to a two thousand year old moral tradition that seeks to integrate faith with reason, knowledge, and the pursuit of social justice.This tradition recognizes that true understanding derives from the integration of knowledge and practice, that no discipline alone can achieve full and complete understanding, and that all disciplines therefore contribute vitally.Like all great universities, Notre Dame must pursue and deepen knowledge of the natural and social world, apply that knowledge for the betterment of humanity, and create works of meaning and enduring beauty.As a Catholic university, Notre Dame must also, through moral and theological reflection, integrate these pursuits into a fuller understanding of the human and the divine.All in our community are expected to contribute to the first part of this mission, and all are invited to contribute to the second part.Notre Dame must play a leading role in forming Catholic leaders, exalting the value of human dignity, and bolstering the moral foundations of public life.

A Vision for Leadership

The twin pillars of our mission – the pursuit of academic excellence and Notre Dame’s identity as a Catholic university – serve as the foundation for our vision.Over the next decade, Notre Dame will take its place as the leading Catholic university in the world through its continued commitment to and enrichment of the Catholic tradition.During the same time span, Notre Dame will excel at world-class research on issues of scholarly and public significance.We will have expanded our capacity for creative teaching and learning.And, the University will be a plausible candidate for membership in the Association of American Universities, having, among other advances, greatly increased the number of faculty elected to national academies.We will have enhanced our leadership role in higher education on many fronts, as we become widely known for our interdisciplinary scholarship, for our ability to train intellectual, moral and spiritual leaders, for our capacity to bring diverse viewpoints and experiences to bear on the critical questions of the day, and for our focus on the local, national and international significance of all learning.

TIMETABLE

Each planning unit should prepare a preliminary report for the Coordinating Committee by August 15, 2002, and should submit its final report by October 15, 2002.For the colleges and a few other planning units, it will be necessary at some point in the process to obtain plans from departments or sub-units.

Each planning unit should establish a reporting deadline for these departments and sub-units that gives the unit adequate time to prepare preliminary and final plans.

The plan of each department or sub-unit should not exceed 5 to 10 pages and must include an executive summary not exceeding 500 words.The plan of the entire planning unit should not exceed 20 pages and must also include an executive summary.The departmental and sub-unit plans, along with their executive summaries, should be attached to the principal unit’s plan.All of these materials will be made available to the Coordinating Committee.

To assist the Steering Committee in the planning process, three separate subcommittees were appointed:a Committee on Research Challenges and Opportunities, a Committee on University Finances and Fundraising, and a Committee on the Future of Higher Education.Each committee has provided a preliminary report to the Coordinating Committee.In developing their plans, colleges, schools, administrative divisions, departments, and other planning units might wish to avail themselves of the resources of these subcommittees.Final reports from the three subcommittees should be available for University audiences by April, 2002.

Once the planning units provide the Coordinating Committee with their strategic plans, the Coordinating Committee will then evaluate the units’ strategic plans and prepare a comprehensive plan for the University as a whole.The final plan is expected to be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval in May, 2002.