Communications

Message Sent To:	All Faculty, All Staff, All Students
Message From:	Message from the Office of the President
Date Sent:	Tuesday, June 8, 2021 03:45 PM CDT

Loyola's Strategic Plan Approval and Next Steps

June 8, 2021

Dear Loyolans,

I am excited to share the news that, last week, Loyola University Chicago's Board of Trustees approved and endorsed the Strategic Plan for our University. With its overarching theme, To The Greater Good, the plan empowers us to strengthen our mission and blaze bold paths toward greater understanding, wider justice, equitable societies, and a more sustainable world.

In our 150th anniversary year, the Loyola community came together in an intensive and inclusive process to formulate the principles and plans that reinforce our University’s mission and focus on solutions to the most urgent and complex problems of our time. We are appreciative that so many of you came together as One Loyola to contribute to the strategic planning process over the past two years. This plan truly represents the committed engagement of our entire community, with more than 20 stakeholder groups participating in the last few months alone across all three campuses and through forums that reached more than 1,000 additional stakeholders.

It is built around six enduring values that will provide a compass for its implementation and the work going forward as we increase our University’s agility to respond to rapidly changing situations and needs, leverage the distinct Loyola experience, and invest to make the greatest impact over the next five years and beyond.

With the plan approved, we will look to our community for continued engagement as we implement this “living” plan and determine how to measure our progress. To that end, we have formed two committees: an Implementation Steering Committee (ISC) and a Key Performance Committee (KPC). We are pleased to announce the following Committee members:

Implementation Steering Committee Members

• Emily Barman, Dean, The Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education
• Jennifer Griffin, the Raymond C. Baumhart, SJ, Professor of Business Ethics
• Susan Malisch, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Services
• Elaine Morrato, Dean, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
• Karen Paciero, Vice President, Advancement
• James Prehn, SJ, Vice President and Special Advisor to the President
• Constantine Rasinariu, Professor and Chair, Physics
• William Rodriguez, Assistant Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students
• Meharvan “Sonny” Singh, Vice Provost for Research and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology
• Janet Sisler, Vice President for Mission Integration
• George Trone, Special Assistant to the President and Board Liason
• Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (when selected)

Key Performance Committee Members

• Sean Campbell, Senior Associate Vice President for Advancement
• Jeanne Colleran, Associate Director, Rule of Law Institute
• Tobyn Friar, Director, Financial Aid
• Philip Hale, Vice President, Government Affairs
• D. Scott Hendrickson, SJ, Associate Provost for Global and Community Engagement
• Malik S. Henfield, Founding Dean, Institute for Racial Justice
• Kana Henning, Senior Associate Vice President for Facilities
• Teresa Krafcisin, Senior Associate Vice President and Controller
• Amy Luke, Professor, Public Health Sciences
• Robyn Mallett, Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Provost
• Thomas Neitzke, SJ, Dean, Arrupe College
• Meharvan “Sonny” Singh, Vice Provost for Research and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology
• Joan Stasiak, Associate Vice President, Human Resources
• Nancy Tuchman, Dean, School of Environmental Sustainability

The ISC has met once and has already begun developing processes and metrics to gauge our progress. Over the next three months, they will be assisted by the KPC, who will set up working groups with faculty, staff, and students for inputs to these measures and will monitor real-time progress. Together, the ISC and KPC will work with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) to develop key metrics between now and mid-fall. They will set up regular processes for reporting and discernment as to the course of our efforts. By the time our trustees meet in December 2021, we will report on early implementation, performance against key performance indicators, and our action plans to achieve them.

We are grateful to the members of the ISC and KPC for taking on roles that will be critical to realizing our aspirations and deepening our work to the greater good of our community and our world. These leaders and the processes they develop will enable us to regularly and transparently communicate implementation steps and progress to the entire community.

Thank you to everyone who offered questions, ideas, and comments on the plan and helped to shape it. We extend special appreciation to Michael Kaufman, acting provost and chief academic officer and dean of the School of Law, and to Seth Green, Baumhart Center founding director. Their leadership and collaboration in fashioning the values and priorities within the Strategic Plan and engaging the Board's participation led the Board to unanimously and enthusiastically approve the plan.

I encourage Loyolans to study the Strategic Plan and to continue offering the questions, ideas, and information that will help us succeed. The ability to keep moving with the important work of refining and socializing a plan of this magnitude while educating students, operating virtually during the pandemic, and preparing for an in-person fall semester is nothing short of amazing. It speaks to the character, strength, and resilience of our University community and the dedication you have shouldered as Loyola steadfastly navigates through a historic global health crisis. I deeply appreciate you for all you have accomplished in challenging circumstances.

Once again, thank you for your continued unwavering commitment to Loyola, as well as your hard work and leadership as we move closer to fully reopening the University and actualizing priorities grounded in Loyola’s enduring values and mission. Your work will shape the future of our University as we embark on our next 150 years.

Together in Loyola,

Jo Ann Rooney, JD, LLM, EdD
President