Kellogg Institute Launches Strategic Plan
The Kellogg Institute presented a new five-year strategic plan on May 5 that places democracy and human development at the center of its work. While building on geographic strengths in Latin America and increasingly in Africa, the Institute will energetically engage in research, teaching, and building bridges on these themes across the globe, and particularly in the developing world.
“Notre Dame’s mission is to be one of the very best private research universities in the world and to sustain and enhance a serious commitment to the university’s Catholic identity,” said Dean of the College of Arts and Letters John T. McGreevy during a luncheon launching the strategic plan with the Institute’s Advisory Board. “The brilliance of the Kellogg strategic plan is that it advances us on both fronts.”
Throughout the day of May 5, faculty, university leaders, members of the Advisory Board, students, and staff addressed the role of the Institute’s strategic plan in campus-wide internationalization initiatives. Advisory Board Chair Mark McGrath facilitated a public dialogue in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium on “Internationalization at Notre Dame: A Roundtable Discussion of the Kellogg Institute’s New Strategic Plan.”
“The Kellogg strategic plan is ambitious without being unrealistic; organic without being moldy; and rooted without being complacent,” remarked Scott Appleby, director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He stressed that the increasing partnerships between the Kroc and Kellogg Institutes will help support the University’s goal of becoming the world’s leading Catholic research university. At the same time, he challenged the Kellogg Institute to reach even further in developing its work on religion and human development.
A number of presenters suggested ways that the Institute’s research work might further influence policy. “I believe that Kellogg has the potential to enliven current debates and leverage research excellence in ways that challenge conventional thinking,” said Ray Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, who serves on the Kellogg Advisory Board.
“There is a complexity to delivering public goods and services on a massive scale. This issue is at the heart of the intersection between democracy and human development, and Kellogg can provide leadership exactly in this area.”
Kellogg Institute Advisory Board member Tara Kenney highlighted the importance of bringing the private and nonprofit sectors into dialogue with academic research to address critical development questions. She argued that the Institute is in a unique position to bridge the worlds of academia and public policy.
Panelists also cited concrete ways that the Kellogg Institute is having a direct impact at Notre Dame. Dean of the Graduate School Greg Sterling spoke of the increasing presence of international graduate students at Notre Dame and expressed his gratitude to the Institute for helping make it possible for Notre Dame to attract some of the best graduate students from around the globe.
“The University’s leadership is enthusiastic about Kellogg’s coherent and compelling plan,” said Lou Nanni, vice president for University relations. Raising new resources are typically at the heart of any ambitious strategic plan.
“People are willing to make a major commitments for resources when they believe in an institution and its mission, when they’re confident in the leadership’s ability to deliver on that mission, and when there is a clear and strategic vision that captures the imagination so people see the good in what they are supporting,” Nanni said.
“If you have theses things, resources will follow. Kellogg’s work on democracy and human development as outlined in this strategic plan has all these elements, and I fully believe that resources will follow.”
