Dear Santa Clara Community,

Continuously challenging ourselves to lead in our changing and complex higher education landscape is essential to our continued success. So I am pleased to announce that we have embarked upon a process that will create a five-year strategic plan, “SCU: Impact 2028,” to build upon our momentum and move our university into the future. 

Building upon the many successes of our previous strategic plan, Santa Clara 2020, this process will develop our strategic goals and specific priorities. It will be a community-wide effort, relying on the knowledge of our exceptional people and the innovative thinking and creative solution-making that is alive every day on our campuses. 

I have appointed Nydia MacGregor, associate dean of graduate business programs, to facilitate this process. It will be overseen by the Board of Trustees and will be stewarded by the Planning Action Council (PAC), which includes representation from our faculty, staff, and student communities.

We will rely on your voices and ideas to help shape and define our direction. You can start providing your input by filling out a community survey that will ask about your aspirations for SCU, our distinctive strengths, and our greatest opportunities. We will continue to gather your feedback in various ways, including surveys, focus groups, and town halls, throughout the year. Updates will be posted to scu.edu/strategicplan, which will serve as the central home for information.

My charge to PAC and all of you is to be ambitious. Don’t just focus on what we likely can do; instead, lean into what you hope our Santa Clara community can be in the future. When this process is complete, our strategic plan should be specific and inspiring, actionable and bold. As we get ready to begin this work, I encourage all of us to consider the following:

• What issues are most pressing in our community, our country, and our world?
• What should Santa Clara University’s role be in addressing those challenges and helping shape a more humane, just, and sustainable world?
• What essential strengths must we grow and what pressing weaknesses must we address to adapt and thrive in the years ahead?

It is my expectation that we will complete the strategic planning process with ratification from the Board of Trustees in fall 2023. It will serve as a critical roadmap as we navigate a complex higher education landscape, and continue our progress as a leading Jesuit university.

Thank you to our PAC members for your service to Santa Clara, and to all of you in advance for your thoughtful input and feedback as we together build our roadmap for excellence in the years ahead.

Warm regards,

Julie Sullivan
President