To the Temple community:

I am pleased to update you on the progress we are making with the university’s strategic plan. As you learned at President Wingard’s investiture ceremony on Sept. 16, our strategic priorities are in place and we are putting the finishing touches on the initiatives that will help us reach our goals.

These strategic initiatives will crosscut many aspects of university life. The 10 signature presidential initiatives announced include the Temple Access Fund to improve scholarship support for our students; a DEI Hub focused on achieving best-in-class status in diversity, equity and inclusion; an Institute for the Future of Work to bring together expertise to inform curricular innovation and prepare our students for the future of the workplace; and a Research Collaborative to advance our research enterprise.

You can hear the president share the full list at the investiture ceremony link above.

As part of the strategic plan, we also will be launching a couple dozen other initiatives. Some of these initiatives are already underway, like the Health and Wellness Task Force or the Task Force on Violence Reduction Strategies. Others will take a longer view, like reviewing and improving our curriculum to meet future expectations for our students, beginning with a faculty-led review of our general education program. Taken together, these initiatives will result in tangible advances to how we learn, teach, work and live at Temple University.

Altogether, this work is the product of broad stakeholder engagement across the university and many, many hours of dedicated hard work. It started with the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, a diverse group of representatives from our schools and colleges, administrative units, alumni, and community members. They spearheaded the introspection and assessment phase of the process. The Steering Committee was complemented and supported by the Futures Committee, a group of senior university leaders focused on our vision for the university, and the Executive Committee, which oversaw and facilitated the strategic planning process. These groups were assisted by widespread input and participation throughout the university community, including various surveys, workshops open to all faculty and staff, leadership retreats, and numerous conversations and brainstorming sessions.

Look for the launch of the strategic plan via a new website next month. It will be a record of our process, a repository for our plan and a source of updates on our progress moving forward. I look forward to sharing it and hope that you will visit the website regularly to review the components of our plan and check on our progress in moving our strategic initiatives forward.

I am very excited about our collective work and know that it will better prepare Temple University to meet the enrollment and other challenges facing higher education. While these challenges may feel daunting, they also present a unique opportunity to shape an ambitious future. I am proud of the advances we have made thus far and look forward to continuing to work together as a community to implement our plan and position Temple as a leader in higher education. In doing so, we will remain true to our enduring mission while we chart a bold course forward. I hope that you will join us on this journey.

Sincerely,

Gregory N. Mandel

Provost and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law