Office of the Provost

January 2021 marks the start of the third year of five under SP4.0. As of January 2021, the SP4.0 implementation steering committee has identified 284 projects under 90 tactics for the 20 actions. Not all projects are underway; they are scheduled based on priority, opportunity, available resources and appropriate sequencing (i.e., some projects are preliminary to other projects). While all twenty actions have been vetted and determined to be critical to the successful advancement of the university’s four goals, the following actions have been prioritized as they reflect our commitment to an integrated approach to recruitment and enrollment of students, inclusive excellence principles and practices, and a talent management system that supports a more diverse and inclusive faculty and staff:

•   Action 5: Implement an integrated approach to recruiting and enrolling learners at all levels,
•   Action 10: Integrate inclusive excellence principles and practices into all aspects of the university, and
•   Action19: Implement a comprehensive talent management system.   

During the course of the last nine months of 2020, due in large part to the university’s response to COVID-19, projects associated with student learning and technologies to enhance delivery or course work and advance research, outreach and overall communications have been prioritized. These efforts are reflected in the following actions:

•   Action 2: Provide distinctive curricula and support innovative pedagogy suited to our mission and vision,
•   Action 8: Expand pathways to an OSU credential, and
•   Action 20: Integrate and simplify technology systems, data practices and policies to increase our organizational agility.

Efforts and progress toward the following actions have been adversely impacted by the events of 2020, particularly projects designed to increase the number of students who study abroad and to expand the university’s international scholars program:

•   Action 7: Increase experiential learning opportunities and ensure access and
•   Action 12: Further internationalize OSU

COVID-19 has also added urgency to the priority projects under Action 1: Continue building and supporting a diverse, world-class faculty due to the pivotal changes that have occurred within the workplace and the positive and negative disruptions experienced by our professoriate. High priority projects include an intentional focus on recruitment and retention of faculty and a recruitment toolkit. This work will continue in conjunction with Action 10: Integrate inclusive excellence principles and practices into all aspects of the university and the University’s Moving Forward Together initiative, and as part of priority projects under Action 19 to develop a talent management framework.

Our obligations as an inclusive R1 land grant university and our commitment to the economic and social prosperity of Oregonians and the world depend critically upon investing in innovative and robust research and graduate education. Together with a more diverse, world-class faculty, the following support the research and people to create opportunities that will transform our future and reverse growing trends in income and social inequities:

•   Action 3: Diversify our research portfolio and strategically build our graduate programs and
•   Action15: Strengthen our support system for innovation and entrepreneurship