The year is 2034, and Temple University is about to be the centerpiece of a major, positive news story. What does the headline read? And, if it was up to you, what would that headline be? 

Those were among the questions posed by Jeff Selingo, a higher education consultant and former editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, to Temple’s leadership earlier this month during a kickoff event for the Strategic Plan refresh. The intention of the exercise was to encourage attendees to be ambitious when thinking about this institution and all that can be accomplished over the next 10 years. 

As first announced by Temple University President John Fry in February, Temple is embarking on a Strategic Plan refresh that will allow the university to reassess its current goals and strengthen its commitments, while also incorporating the feedback of all its primary audiences. As part of this process, the university has been hosting several open listening sessions and town halls and soliciting feedback through an engagement platform during the month of April. 

The goal of the refresh is to ensure that Temple’s institutional priorities align with the evolving needs of its students, faculty, staff, alumni and the surrounding North Philadelphia community. It will also help set Temple up for the future, ensuring the university has maximum impact on a local, national and global level. 

“Our 2022 Strategic Plan provided us with a strong foundation that we can build upon, but the reality is that both higher education and Temple have evolved considerably since that time,” President Fry said. “This is the ideal time to refresh and extend the plan while ensuring that this is an inclusive process that considers the ideas of all stakeholders. So far, we have been really pleased with the participation that we have seen at the listening sessions, which once again illustrates how deeply our community cares about Temple’s future success.” 

Leading the Strategic Plan refresh efforts for the university are Senior Vice President and Provost Gregory Mandel and Richard Souvenir, vice provost for strategic initiatives and professor of computer and information sciences.  

“It has been inspiring to work across the university, as we jointly seek to advance Temple’s core mission through our strategic plan,” said Provost Mandel. “Through an inclusive process, we are simultaneously honoring the legacy and pointing toward Temple’s bright future. In order to meet the challenges we face in higher education, we must take bold steps to achieve our goals, and I believe we are on track to do just that.” 

The university has four primary goals through this refresh, which include  

• reassessing our current strategic goals in response to shifting educational, economic and societal landscapes; 
• engaging the Temple community in open, inclusive discussions about our future; 
• strengthening our commitment to student success, faculty excellence, research innovation and community impact; and 
• developing actionable strategies to position Temple as a leader in higher education for years to come. 

So far, the response to the refresh has been strong. More than 450 members of the Temple community have attended one of the six town halls, and additional listening sessions will also be held for smaller groups by invite only. Nearly 370 contributions have also been made to the engagement platform, which allows users to rank strategic initiatives in order of importance, answer questions about Temple’s role as an anchor institution, share ideas about how Temple can be more adaptive and best prepare graduates for careers of the future. 

Through the engagement platform, the news headline question posed by Selingo has also been shared with participants. The most popular response thus far: “Celebrating its 150th anniversary, Temple sets record for largest number of graduates, lowest average debt and high job placement.” 

“The foundation for this refresh goes back to the start of the original planning process in 2020. Now we’re ready to build on it,” said Souvenir. “Since launching the plan in 2022, we’ve made terrific progress, revamping enrollment and financial aid to create the Temple Promise and Temple Future Scholars programs, advancing interdisciplinary education and research, and turning the Community Gateway into a thriving hub for our neighbors. With President Fry’s leadership, this is the perfect moment to refresh the plan and position Temple for the future.” 

Throughout these listening sessions, several themes have emerged, including student success and support, financial sustainability and budget, research and innovation, and community engagement and impact. These themes, while reflected in current initiatives, could be further evaluated and enhanced moving forward. 

Temple gathered feedback from its constituencies throughout April and then beginning in May, the priority will be to synthesize the feedback and draft the preliminary findings. This will be followed by committee engagement to refine the content and begin drafting the refreshed plan.  

The plan is expected to be finalized in time to launch this fall, and once it’s live, it will serve as the university’s compass through 2034. The timing is apropos, as that year also happens to coincide with the Temple’s 150th anniversary.