Early in my presidency, I initiated the development of the university’s next strategic plan. We embarked on a lengthy planning process almost six years ago and engaged with the campus community, students, industry stakeholders, education leaders, donors and many others throughout the state of South Dakota and beyond.
The recurring theme in each of the conversations during the 12-month planning process was the tremendous impact South Dakota State University has on people’s lives. SDSU educates and creates global citizens, engages in research that changes society and solves the world’s complex problems, drives new technology in key industries that are the backbone of our state’s economy, and provides a place for our friends and alumni to stay connected and passionate about SDSU and their time on our campus.
Ultimately, those conversations and the work done by many led to creation of Imagine 2023: Aspire. Discover. Achieve. It's the strategic plan that has guided us for the past five years and provided us with a better understanding of the role SDSU has on our state and region. It also provided us with one of the most important questions we have needed to answer for our university as we look to the next decade. What does it mean to be a premier land-grant university?
We have learned during Imagine 2023 that we continue to find innovative methods to teach and train our students to be the next generation of leaders and engage with our citizens and communities to make South Dakota a better place. We explore and conduct cutting-edge research and scholarly activities that grow and expand critical knowledge, and we continue to perform at a high level that attracts the best and brightest students and faculty to ensure the health of our university.
But being premier also accounted for opportunities to be bold and innovative and find opportunities for our students and faculty that maybe did not previously exist.
SUCCESS OF IMAGINE 2023: ASPIRE. DISCOVER. ACHIEVE.
Imagine 2023 had a number of key performance indicators that allowed us to measure success and progress of the university. We continued to maintain strong enrollment during challenging times in higher education, recording multiple years where our retention of first-year students to their second year was at or about 80%.
We expanded opportunities for the Indigenous people of South Dakota through the Wokini Initiative to receive the benefits of higher education by recognizing culture and community that is vital to their success.
We improved our graduation rates and the number of accredited programs and achieved re-accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission. Our faculty continued to expand research and the number of research awards on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and create greater opportunities for students to grow and learn.
The SDSU Foundation reached new heights through its Bold and Blue capital campaign by surpassing its goal of $500 million months ahead of its target date. The campaign invested in people, places, traditions and innovation to empower future generations of Jackrabbits. An important outcome of the campaign was our ability to nearly double the number of endowed positions on campus to more than 50, setting a greater foundation of excellence for decades to come.
Each of these accomplishments was defined within various goals and key performance indicators. But as the plan evolved it became clear that the true impact of Imagine 2023 was within the synergies and efficiencies created during the past five years. Reading through this year’s report confirmed that result as many of the stories cross from one goal into another goal in ways that continue to make our university better and stronger.
For example, the School of Design proposed a master plan for a new city park in a South Dakota community as a class project that turned into a grant opportunity that moved a design concept into a development phase and the reality of the project potentially being completed.
What began as a transformative educational opportunity grew into another way SDSU engages and strengthens communities through its land-grant mission. There are several other similar stories throughout this year’s report.
The success of Imagine 2023 set the foundation to be bolder and create a vision for South Dakota State University that was not possible five years ago. It became the premise for our next strategic plan, Pathway to Premier, and the ambitious goal of becoming an R1: Doctoral University.
PATHWAY TO PREMIER AND R1 OUR WAY
In June 2023, the South Dakota Board of Regents adopted SDSU’s Pathway to Premier 2030 strategic plan. The plan includes numerous measurable goals, but the roadmap to becoming an R1 university will serve as the foundation for the next seven years.
R1 Our Way will elevate SDSU as a research university and create a pathway to the possibility of achieving designation as an R1 research university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
SDSU has a long tradition of serving the citizens of our region through a strong teaching and learning focus that is a means to strengthen our state and have a significant impact on its economic growth.
R1 Our Way must strengthen our teaching and learning focus while meeting the grand challenges of the 21st century. It is our land-grant responsibility to help solve the multifaceted challenges of the next generation of leaders by creating opportunities and finding solutions.
University leaders have already engaged in a process to explore what being R1 means at SDSU. Over next several months they will continue to engage with industry leaders, community and state officials and their peers throughout higher education to chart a pathway that not only explores the possibility of meeting this bold initiative, but also to establish SDSU’s own identity as a premier land-grant university.
I look forward to the process and what the future holds, not only for our university, but our state, region and the world. It is truly an amazing time to be a Jackrabbit.
Sincerely,
Barry H. Dunn
President