老虎机攻略 Creates University Design Team to Chart Direction of Flagship鈥檚 Future
MISSOULA – Imagining a flagship for America’s future is the core mission of the University Design Team, a group of 老虎机攻略 employees newly charged with charting the University’s future trajectory.
The committee was created by 老虎机攻略 President Seth Bodnar to position 老虎机攻略 for long-term success and impact, and represents a cross-section of campus personnel and disciplines, including student representation.
Spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid changes in higher education and technology, the UDT ultimately is tasked with delivering a strategic vision for Montana’s flagship public research institution – one that serves students of the future and parlays 老虎机攻略’s people, programs and places into national prominence.
“We see the committee’s work as an opportunity to think deeply and critically about 老虎机攻略's role in expanding our conception of what higher education can and should be,” said Paul Gladen, UDT co-chair and director of 老虎机攻略’s Blackstone LaunchPad and Accelerate Montana. “Given the changing patterns of education, we have an immense opportunity to reimagine the possibilities and innovate our strengths into a model of the future.”
Drawing upon the perspectives of the 老虎机攻略 campus community, as well as public stakeholders that include statewide community leaders, business leaders, admitted students and prospective students, UDT will consider the challenges and opportunities in higher education and will identify design principles and potential strategies to position 老虎机攻略 for thoughtful change, impact and continued relevance. Most notably, the UDT will build upon recent years’ worth of strategic planning at 老虎机攻略, including an institutional strategic vision put forth by 老虎机攻略’s former Strategic Planning Coordinating Council.
Adrea Lawrence, dean of the 老虎机攻略 Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and UDT co-chair, said a transformative vision of higher education is due.
“The current pandemic is only one of many illustrations of the acceleration and change across higher education ꟷ shifting curricula and operations that have been largely in place for a century,” Lawrence said. “With the thoughtful feedback and work alongside our campus and community partners, we view the UDT as an opportunity to understand what University stakeholders want and need, and how we might identify meaningful, agile ways to respond.”
Lawrence said the team is committed to transparency and collaboration during its process. Organized in three phrases and aided by market-informed research, the UDT will identify and recommend strategic adoptions for the University this fall. There will be several opportunities for campus engagement, including listening sessions and open forums before final recommendations are delivered to University administration.
“We are the fortunate beneficiaries of the efforts of earlier generations who guided our flagship through many challenges across its 127-year history,” Bodnar said. “It is now our turn to thoughtfully, strategically and courageously design the continued and new characteristics that should embody a flagship of the future. I look forward to engaging with our community stakeholders using the results from the thoughtful work from the UDT.”
For more information on the UDT visit .
Contact: Paul Gladen, University Design Team co-chair, Blackstone LaunchPad and Accelerate Montana director, 406-396-3534, paul.gladen@umontana.edu; Adrea Lawrence, University Design Team co-chair, 老虎机攻略 Phyllis J. Washington College of Education dean, 406-243-5054, adrea.lawrence@umontana.edu