UMBC Strategic Planning Journey
Pathway to emerging themes
Our UMBC community focuses with this plan on strategic steps toward the next level of inclusive excellence. The plan honors our founding commitment to serve the citizens of Maryland and welcome people of all backgrounds into the life of the university. It builds on our achievements as a selective, public research university strongly connected with the economic and civic life of the Baltimore region and the State of Maryland.
Planning Process Timeline
Fall 2025 – Summer 2026
Building the foundation through USM alignment, Bold Conversations, community engagement, and collaborative planning establishing UMBC's strategic direction.
2026
Official launch and celebration of the plan. Implementation begins.
Ongoing
Regular updates and celebrations of milestones and initiatives.
Click any event card to view full details
USM Vision 2030 Plan Launched
June 2022
System-wide plan
USM Vision 2030 Plan Launched
June 2022
The University System of Maryland Board of Regents approved Vision 2030, a comprehensive 10-year strategic plan titled “From Excellence to Preeminence – For Our Students | For Maryland.” This system-wide plan established the framework that would guide UMBC’s institutional strategic planning efforts.
- Phased implementation from 2023-2030
- Focus on elevating Maryland’s position as a national leader in higher education
Five priority areas:
- Academic Excellence & Innovation
- Access/Affordability/Achievement
- Workforce & Economic Development
- Research
- Diversity/Equity/Inclusion
UMBC Bold Conversations
January-May 2023
Kick-off series
UMBC Bold Conversations
January-May 2023
President Sheares Ashby kicked off UMBC’s strategic planning process with the Bold Conversations series, engaging the campus community in open dialogue about the university’s future direction and priorities.
- Campus-wide engagement initiative across all constituent groups
- Foundation for identifying strategic planning themes
- Community input gathering on university strengths and opportunities
- Report synthesized key themes and priorities emerging from conversations
Presidential Inauguration
April 2023
Presidential message and vision
Presidential Inauguration
April 2023
President Sheares Ashby’s inauguration marked a transformative moment for UMBC, articulating a bold vision for the university’s future and its role as an anchor institution for Maryland and the nation.
Shared Governance Survey
Fall 2023
Strategic planning input
Shared Governance Survey
Fall 2023
A comprehensive survey was distributed to shared governance bodies to gather structured input on strategic priorities and institutional direction. This survey complemented the Bold Conversations by providing quantitative and qualitative data to inform the planning process.
- Distributed to Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, and Student Government Association
- Assessed priorities across key institutional areas
- Gathered feedback on university strengths and growth opportunities
- Results informed development of strategic themes
Strategic Planning Committee Formed
2024
Formal structure established
Strategic Planning Committee Formed
2024
Building on the foundation of the Bold Conversations and shared governance input, UMBC established a formal Strategic Planning Committee to guide the development of the university’s strategic plan. The committee brought together diverse perspectives from across campus to align UMBC’s institutional priorities with the USM Vision 2030 framework.
- Comprehensive review of USM 2030 Strategic Plan and priority areas
- Analysis of State of Maryland plan for higher education
- Assessment of existing UMBC strategic initiatives and programs
- Development of committee structure and working groups
- Regular meetings to discuss emerging priorities and themes
Core Values Survey
2024
Community input
Core Values Survey
2024
The Core Values Survey was launched to the entire UMBC community to identify and affirm the fundamental values that define the university’s culture and guide its strategic direction. This comprehensive effort engaged faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders in defining what matters most to UMBC as an institution.
- Campus-wide participation from all constituent groups
- Assessment of institutional values and cultural priorities
- Input on how values should guide strategic decision-making
- Results shared with the community to inform strategic planning
- Values integrated into emerging strategic themes and priorities
Campus Conversation
April 2025
Strategic Planning Process
Campus Conversation
April 2025
President Sheares Ashby and Provost van Dulmen held a campus forum to share their vision for UMBC’s strategic planning process and engage the community in dialogue about the university’s future direction. This forum marked a key moment in translating the input gathered through Bold Conversations, surveys, and committee work into a cohesive strategic vision.
- Presidential and Provost vision for UMBC’s future
- Overview of strategic planning process and timeline
- Community dialogue on emerging themes and priorities
- Q&A session with campus community
Campus Climate Survey
April 2025 – Dec 2025
Community Engagement
Campus Climate Survey
April 2025 – Dec 2025
The campus climate at UMBC shapes the lives of all of us. This study is a crucial step in ensuring that our campus remains a place where all individuals feel valued and supported. Understanding deeply the varied experiences of our community is a critical part of continuing to improve how we work toward creating a more inclusive and equitable campus environment.
Plan Development
Fall 2025 – Summer 2026
Information distillation
Plan Development
Fall 2025 – Summer 2026
Following the Campus Forum, and the Campus Climate Survey, the Strategic Planning Committee will continue its work to develop and refine the strategic plan through extensive community engagement. This phase involves deepening the strategic priorities, developing measurable goals and objectives, and ensuring broad input from all campus constituencies.
- Continued engagement with shared governance bodies
- Department and unit-level consultations
- Development of strategic priority areas and goals
- Identification of metrics and accountability measures
- Resource planning and implementation considerations
- Iterative feedback and refinement process
Plan Unveiling
2026
Strategic plan launch
Plan Unveiling
2026
The culmination of years of community engagement, analysis, and planning, UMBC’s strategic plan will be unveiled to the campus community and external stakeholders. This comprehensive plan will chart the university’s course for the coming years, aligned with the USM Vision 2030 framework and responsive to UMBC’s unique mission and opportunities.
- Official launch of UMBC’s strategic plan
- Public presentation to campus community
- Sharing with Board of Regents and external partners
- Communication strategy to all stakeholders
- Implementation planning and timeline
Guiding Principles
These principles reflect ones previously developed to guide university planning and feature new ones. We commit to these principles guiding the development of the strategic planning framework and to moving our planning processes forward.
Our strategic planning (is):
- Rooted in UMBC’s mission, vision, and core values.
- Identifies who we are, what we do, where we are going and why we matter.
- Visionary, action-oriented and flexible enough to accommodate emergent opportunities.
- Inclusive of diverse voices across the UMBC community including faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners.
- Informed by institutional data, environmental scans, and feedback from internal and external partners.
- Communicated clearly and effectively.
- Integrates measurable outcomes and has clear accountability mechanisms for achieving these outcomes.
- Aligned with University System of Maryland (USM), state and national priorities, and capitalizes upon global opportunities.
- Provides a foundation for divisional and departmental plans across the university.
- Accounts for human resources, time, infrastructure, technology and funding needs.
Strategic Plan Steering Committee
UMBC’s strategic planning process began in the spring of 2023 when President Sheares Ashby kicked off the Bold Conversations series. Since then, through meetings with shared governance, input received via a campus core values survey, and other meetings with campus community members, a set of themes for planning has emerged.
UMBC Bold Conversations
UMBC Bold: Campus Conversations was a series of listening sessions held in the spring of 2023 that invited the broad UMBC community to share their perspectives on the state of the university and to reflect on its future potential. More than 1,000 participants attended 22 sessions that focused on a breadth of topics, including: the academic experience, our research enterprise, partnerships, governance, and other areas that impact students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
Values Survey
A Core Values Survey was administered to the UMBC campus community in November 2024 to learn what it most valued. Results show consistency with what leadership learned from the Bold Conversations, particularly around the shared values of inclusive excellence, student success, academic excellence, community engagement, and an innovation mindset. Over 1,000 individuals accessed the survey and 789 provided responses.
