Launch a campaign for timely undergraduate degree completion

We will set and track bold but achievable targets for retention and graduation in every department, school and college, aiming also to equalize rates of retention and graduation by race and ethnicity. Partnering with the OSU Foundation, we will launch a campaign to substantially increase need-based scholarships. To incentivize and support more undergraduate students to attend full time, we will explore instating a block (or flat) tuition rate model. In addition, we will launch a signature first-year onboarding experience for undergraduate students, including reformed first-year advising and dedicated attention to transfer and online students, and we will strengthen relationships with other higher education institutions to create smoother pathways into Oregon State’s academic programs.

Build international research distinction in areas of competitive advantage

Oregon State will maintain a breadth of disciplines and research appropriate for a comprehensive research university. However, we will be highly strategic at every level — university, campus, college, school and department — in building selected clusters of research excellence that are world-leading and underpinned by exceptional faculty, highly ranked undergraduate and graduate programs, and Oregon State’s unique assets.

To catalyze this culture of deliberate focus, over the next several years we will prioritize four areas for investment and growth: climate science and related solutions, clean energy technology and related solutions, robotics, and integrated health and biotechnology. To support work in these areas, we will build foundational strength across the university in artificial intelligence, data science and research computing, and we will consolidate and invest in infrastructure that will better support scholarship, creative work and research in the arts and humanities and their intersection with the target areas.

As we build the four target areas, we will take advantage of Oregon State’s current and emerging assets, including those associated with our specializations across 11 academic colleges; the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex; PRAx, the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts; centers and institutes such as the Linus Pauling Institute, PacWave and the world-renowned Hatfield Marine Science Center; OSU-Cascades; and our location in the ecologically and socioeconomically diverse Pacific Northwest. We will build accompanying strength in doctoral programs, and we will purposely take a multidisciplinary approach in each area, bringing together the expertise of scientists, artists, engineers, humanists and social scientists.

Build an enterprise approach to knowledge translation, innovation and partnerships

Urgent questions of global consequence — such as climate change and sustainability, the health and welfare of rural communities and marginalized people, and the diffusion of artificial intelligence — require solutions that are grounded in discovery but often have unclear paths to human-centered application. Elements of Oregon State’s approach to solving this problem include launching an economic development and industry relations strategy, strengthening our capacity to link research and its translation, launching a comprehensive strategy for our activity in the Portland region and leveraging global networks and partnerships to create additional competitive advantages in research and teaching.

Build faculty excellence

In addition to our focus on the first four target areas for investment, all colleges will set goals for research and teaching excellence and innovation. A universitywide faculty hiring initiative, fueled in part by creating efficiencies and focusing priorities, will leverage college efforts. Even as we expand the work of colleges and the Office for Research Advancement in supporting faculty in their research endeavors, we will launch a campaign supporting faculty professional development in course design, teaching and assessment, and we will increase awards and recognition for distinguished teaching. We will also expand our efforts to increase the number of faculty recognized by national scientific and scholarly societies.

Significantly increase enrollment online and at OSU-Cascades

An economy that is increasingly knowledge intensive is motivating more people to pursue degrees and build new skills over the course of their careers, and Oregon State plays a critical role by serving those needs, and in doing so, addressing state and national workforce requirements. What’s more, demand for quality online academic programs is growing, and competitors are striving to capture market share. In this context, it is imperative that we expand our online programs to offer educational opportunities to more students, remain competitive, and fuel investments in student success, faculty excellence and research. Developing and executing ambitious plans in every college, we will strive to more than double online enrollment, and we will implement growth strategies for OSU-Cascades, the Corvallis campus and our professional master’s degree offerings.