Dear U-M Community Member,

We are writing to share with you an update on the University of Michigan’s strategic visioning initiative — our Vision 2034 — and to request your engagement in the process.

In January, President Santa J. Ono asked us to coordinate a year-long strategic visioning effort to chart U-M’s path for the next 10 years.

In the short time since then, we’ve already made progress including:

  • Partnering with deans and executive officers to develop a framework for delivering the vision.
  • Creating an advisory committee that represents the diverse perspectives and interests across the institution.
  • Organizing a wide variety of engagement opportunities for students, staff, faculty and others, including focus groups, town halls and a broad campuswide survey that will be deployed later this year.
  • Launching a new website — Vision 2034 — to share updates on the process and gather input and feedback from the U-M community.

To create a collective vision for the University of Michigan, we have the opportunity to imagine what is possible and what we can create together, on all our campuses, in our communities and for our world by the year 2034. Our collective vision will aim to sharpen U-M’s impact and create new opportunities for faculty, staff and students to challenge the present and enrich the future.

Please share your thoughts and ideas by participating in the many community outreach and engagement opportunities that will occur over the next several months, including a number of town halls that are open to the entire U-M community on all three campuses, including Michigan Medicine.

In addition, many schools, colleges and campus units will be hosting unit-level information gathering sessions to inform the visioning effort. Targeted focus groups also are being offered and will be used to inform a campuswide survey planned for later in the year and developed in partnership with the U-M Institute for Social Research.

In the fall, the teams will use the feedback collected to develop draft strategic pillars to be presented to the community and university leadership for feedback, with the final strategic vision to be announced by President Ono in early 2024.

As we embark on this effort, we will anchor the visioning process to U-M’s mission of education, research, clinical care and service, and our core values: integrity, respect, inclusion, equity, diversity and innovation. It also will incorporate the strategic planning efforts occurring across the institution — including at UM-Dearborn, UM-Flint, and Michigan Medicine — as well as other initiatives such as the Bold Ideas, Bold Challenges, DEI 2.0 and Campus Planning.

We encourage you to share your thoughts, ideas and aspirations for the university by joining the Vision 2034 effort. Please visit the Vision 2034 website for more information and how to get involved.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey Chatas
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Laurie McCauley
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Marschall Runge
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean, U-M Medical School

Learn more about how to get involved→