November 26, 2019
Dear Colleagues,
// A year ago, the Arizona Board of Regents unanimously approved our strategic plan, which was the cumulative effort of more than 10,000 community members. This past Friday, I was honored to present to ABOR the progress we have made on implementing the plan as part of our annual Operational and Financial Review.
While I spoke on behalf of the University community, this progress is thanks to the work of many faculty, staff, and students, especially our pillar and initiative owners and their teams – working together with the Office of Strategic Initiatives. Of the more than 60 initiatives in the current plan, we have now launched 65% of them, with a strong focus on student success.
For instance, the Wildcat Journey pillar is well into implementation, with almost 80% of its initiatives launched, and its impact is very exciting. I reported on the most college-ready incoming class of students in our history. With the recruitment of this class, we achieved impressive increases in average SAT and ACT scores, a higher average high school GPA, a larger number of National Merit Scholarship finalists, and a greater number of National Hispanic Scholars. The gains in these many areas show that we are attracting incredible students while maintaining access and diversity.
These are positive signs, but there is still important work to do. The retention rate for first-time, full-time students increased from 81.2% to 83.2%, but we must do better. We lose far too many students between the time they enroll and the beginning of their second year. Achieving a 90% retention rate is key to reaching our goals in improving both four- and six-year graduation rates. This plan is designed to achieve these goals and to truly serve our students, and we will continue to emphasize and invest in this area while actively working to maintain access to the University’s degree programs through innovative programs like the Pell Pledge Grant.
In my report to the regents, I also emphasized that the five pillars of our strategic plan are integrated, and success in one area will drive success in the others. This is especially clear with Trellis, our constituent relationship management program, which will have a dramatic impact on the student experience. As part of Pillar 5, Institutional Excellence, Trellis already has launched with student-focused systems that will serve as a model for better managing the University’s relationships with various constituents. These tools will enable a more seamless, high-quality digital experience for our students to seek advice on their progress, interact with faculty and staff, and find the resources they need across colleges and divisions as they work toward degree completion.
We also are excited for initiatives that are in the pipeline for launch, including some within the University of Arizona Health Sciences. Over this past year, Health Sciences has developed its own strategic plan (see the UAHS strategic plan website), designed to fit within the five pillars of the main University plan. With several initiatives in the health sciences set to launch in the first quarter of 2020, we intend to reach our ambitious goals to serve Arizona students; meet our state’s need for health care professionals, especially physicians and nurses; and become a national leader in health care and health sciences research.
The strategic plan’s implementation process requires collaborative work by many, and I am very grateful to everyone involved. Our successes are more than I could possibly summarize in this message. If you would like to watch the full presentation, it is available in the 90-day video archive at the Arizona Board of Regents website.
I am so proud of the hard work and dedication of our faculty, staff, and students, who are actively creating a bright future for us all.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Robbins, M.D.
President
The University of Arizona