Excellence Evolving Year 1: Celebrating Our Progress Together
Dear PNW Community:
As our new academic year is underway, I am delighted to share the Year 1 progress report for our university’s strategic plan, Excellence Evolving: PNW 2025-2030.
Developed through the contributions from many members of the PNW community during the past couple of years, this plan serves as our roadmap for advancing student success, fostering academic excellence, cultivating innovation and transformative research, strengthening community and global partnerships, and enhancing quality of place.
The report highlights what we have accomplished together during the first year of implementation, and I am proud of the meaningful progress made across our campuses.
The first year of implementation produced measurable progress across our strategic priorities, including:
- Advancing student success through expanded academic support, coaching, mentoring, and early intervention efforts that contributed to improvements in retention, persistence, and student outcomes.
- Launching the Student Success Hub & Network, creating new opportunities for students to access coordinated support services and resources.
- Investing in faculty and staff development, including professional learning opportunities focused on emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and innovative teaching practices.
- Strengthening experiential learning opportunities and partnerships that connect students with real-world experiences and workforce needs.
- Continuing to build a culture of research and innovation, including growth in student participation and engagement through Days of Discovery.
- Enhancing the campus experience through initiatives focused on new staff onboarding (in partnership with MaPSAC and CSSAC) as well as transitioning to self-operated dining services and introduced meal plan options to students.
Equally important, we established our shared RISE framework, centered on our institutional values of Respect, Innovation, Student-Centric, and Excellence, which serves as both a guide and a reflection of the values that shape our work. Through the RISE logo competition and RISE & Reflect forums, faculty, staff, and students came together to engage in meaningful conversations about our future and how we can continue to advance PNW’s mission and fulfill our vision.
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the members of the Strategic Implementation and Action Committee (SIAC, listed in the annual report) and the many individuals whose dedication and leadership made this progress possible. Your commitment to our university continues to move us forward.
While we are encouraged by the accomplishments of our first year, we know there is more work ahead. As we enter Year 2, we will build upon this momentum, expand successful initiatives, deepen engagement across the university and community at-large, and continue using data-informed decision-making to help us achieve our strategic goals.
Thank you for all you do to make Purdue University Northwest a place where our students, faculty, staff, and communities can thrive. I invite you to review the report and celebrate the progress we have made together.
Sincerely,
Marie T. Mora, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs