University of North Texas

Feb. 22, 2012

Dear faculty and staff members,

As a place of learning, we touch students in a way that will completely change their lives and help them achieve their dreams. What a great thing it is that our work has such meaning and impact. It's something that I know each one of us cherishes and takes great pride in as faculty and staff members.

And it's something that we must take care to nurture and grow for the benefit of our students, each other and our university. By now, you have probably heard that UNT has unveiled the new five-year strategic plan, Four Bold Goals for the Future of One Great University: University of North Texas Strategic Plan 2012-17. At the heart of the plan are four cornerstone goals that will transform UNT and our students:

• Goal 1: Provide the best undergraduate educational experience in Texas
• Goal 2: Provide superior graduate education, scholarship and artistic endeavors and achieve status among the nation’s tier-one research institutions
• Goal 3: Become a national leader among universities in student support, employee relations, operational effectiveness and service to constituencies
• Goal 4: Establish UNT as a nationally recognized, engaged university and regional leader by building and expanding mutually beneficial partnerships

These bold goals are a rethinking of what we put first and how we can best serve our students. This is the first time that UNT – or any other university I've worked at – has made service and community engagement cornerstone goals. It is important to include these in our strategic plan because these two goals will help us stand out as a world-class public research university. They also will ensure that we maintain a fulfilling work environment for each of you.

This week, you will receive a short version of the strategic plan illustrating our fundamental objectives in your campus mailboxes. The full strategic plan will emerge in the coming year as we seek campus input to develop strategies and metrics to help us achieve these goals and measure our progress against clear and accepted standards. The plan will guide our budgeting and fundraising priorities so that everything is aligned in support of the goals. And each area of the university will be expected to create annual working plans to move the university toward our collective goals.

To help promote the strategic plan, InHouse also is launching a new feature, Be Bold! to encourage faculty and staff to share how you or your area already are contributing to the goals outlined in the plan – and ultimately to the success of UNT. Look for this week’s InHouse e-newsletter for details on how to participate.

This new five-year strategic plan builds on our excellence as a major public research university that leads the North Texas region in size, scope and impact. More importantly, it motivates us to stretch in new ways. To become one of the nation's great public research universities, we must imagine all that we can be tomorrow and build on all that we are today.  

Sincerely,

V. Lane Rawlins

President

(Above, President Rawlins at the Feb. 13 unveiling of the university's strategic plan and four bold goals.)