Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan Sections
Message From the Chancellor
Mission and Vision
Values
Goals
Research Themes
Strategies and Initiatives
Moving Forward
Plan Outcomes
Plan News
Advancing UC San Diego’s
Strategic Vision
A history of transformational leadership has set the stage for UC San Diego’s future. Building on our strategic vision, we’re prioritizing people, collaboration and efficiency to empower our community and drive long-term progress. Together, we’ll rise to meet new challenges and create lasting impact.
The Plan In Action
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A Message From Chancellor Khosla
Over the past decade, UC San Diego has evolved in ways that strengthen our mission and impact. Our refreshed strategic plan refines this vision, focusing on People, Collaboration and Efficiency to sustain our momentum and embrace new opportunities.
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Mission and Vision
This plan affirms the mission and vision that motivate and sustain our work. By revising both statements as part of our refreshed plan, we better reflect our evolving efforts and growth and highlight our intention to ensure learners, faculty, staff and patients all have a compelling reason to come to UC San Diego.
MISSION
UC San Diego will transform California and a diverse global society by educating, generating and disseminating knowledge and creative works, providing high-quality health care and engaging in public service.
VISION
To be a destination public university that is student centered, research driven, patient dedicated and service oriented.
Values
Underpinned by our deeply held
Principles of Community
, our values guide our efforts in advancing the strategic plan, both throughout the university and in all our external engagement. These tenets — and our role as a democratic institution — matter more than ever in our polarized and complex world.
Respect
We seek opportunities to learn from others, intent always on acting with integrity as individuals and as a public university.
Collaboration
We engage with others, across disciplines and with our community partners to solve problems and enrich our research, teaching and service.
Courage
Driven by optimism, curiosity and our enterprising spirit, we are not afraid to take bold steps to challenge the status quo.
Responsiveness
Alert to change, we shape and adapt to our context, with a steadfast focus on our social, environmental and fiscal responsibilities.
Accountability
We strive to deliver for the benefit of those we serve, from our learners and alumni to those who work at the university and to society more broadly.
We are all learners, and we know that awareness and understanding create a solid foundation from which to lead. The connections and, in some cases, tensions, between these values encourage us to think carefully about the individual and institutional choices we make.
Goals
Through the pursuit of the following seven interrelated goals, we will push boundaries in all we do. We will work together, inspired in our shared pursuit of these goals, alongside regional and global partners and in collaboration with our vibrant and diverse regional community to make a meaningful and positive difference in the world.
These goals connect our mission and vision to action:
Student experience
Transforming the educational experience to develop learners who lead and innovate in a complex world.
Transforming the educational experience to develop learners who listen, lead and innovate in a complex world.
High-impact research
Enabling a collaborative culture of scholarship and discovery that extends the frontiers of knowledge and improves lives.
Enabling a collaborative culture of scholarship and discovery that extends the frontiers of knowledge and improves lives.
Health care excellence
Expanding a world-class academic health system to deliver innovative, accessible, and compassionate care.
Expanding a world-class academic health system to deliver innovative, accessible, and compassionate care.
Diversity and access
Building a university that embeds diversity, equity and inclusion, encourages open dialogue, and provides affordable access.
Building a university that welcomes and fully includes every individual, cultivates open dialogue, ensures affordable access, and creates supportive systems that enable all members to fully thrive.
People and purpose
Creating an experience that attracts and develops academics and staff who work together in the continuous pursuit of excellence.
Creating an experience that attracts and develops academics and staff who work together in the continuous pursuit of excellence.
Community partnership
Forging two-way connections that promote social equity and shared prosperity regionally and globally.
Forging two-way connections that promote social equity and shared prosperity regionally and globally.
Sustainable infrastructure
Optimizing operations to establish sustainable financial and physical infrastructure in support of our vision.
Optimizing operations to establish sustainable financial and physical infrastructure in support of our vision.
Research Themes
Six research themes will guide our approach to advancing knowledge and translating discovery into practice. Designed to be inclusive and inspire creative discovery, these themes are distinct yet overlapping, and they represent areas in which UC San Diego is uniquely positioned to make a positive difference. They create a structure that will catalyze and sustain academic and creative exploration. Through these themes, we will ask and address the key questions facing our world, today and tomorrow.
Advancing fundamental knowledge
We will lead the conceptual, theoretical and experimental research that provides the foundation for furthering scientific, societal and creative discovery.
Understanding cultures and addressing disparities in society
We will improve our comprehension of diverse cultures, perspectives and belief systems; examine how organizing structures, policies and practices contribute to historical and current inequalities; facilitate collaborative approaches and respectful engagement to tackle societal problems; and amplify the voices of marginalized populations.
Shaping and engaging with technology
We will build the future of digital work, life and education; advance technological systems and materials to secure the power of computational solutions like artificial intelligence (AI); translate technological progress to provide solutions to pressing social problems; and prevent negative consequences of new technologies while ensuring equitable access.
Conserving the planet and exploring the universe
We will understand the evolving causes and impacts of climate change; develop solutions that improve environmental conditions to sustain our world and enhance environmental justice; and better comprehend the larger universe.
Studying human knowledge, learning and creativity
We will investigate the human brain; study the impact of history, arts, culture and technology on how we think and act; and advance new models of education, knowledge and creativity.
Producing breakthroughs in human health
We will improve human health; reduce health disparities; and advance affordable health systems that promote physical and mental health at the individual, interpersonal and community levels.
Strategies and Initiatives
As a global research institution with a large and growing student body, we are guided by strategies that advance education, access and academic excellence. They are also intended to inspire our diverse and proudly unconventional community to activate and connect our strengths in ways that enrich understanding, ensure resilience and nurture creativity so we can mobilize for positive change. All are enabled by the thoughtful integration of technology and by our commitment to equity, diversity and belonging for all.
While each strategy presents unique opportunities, they also are intersectional. None is specific to any one school or department: This is the power of the plan. They do not constrain us. Rather, they empower us to spark innovation, invite participation and drive discovery. They are intended to guide and coalesce, rather than to impose new work; in many cases, activities, initiatives and programs already well underway align with this plan. And all provide opportunities to connect, recognize and amplify our work.
Plan Strategies
Student support
We will enhance resources to ensure personal connection and meet the needs of a growing and diverse community of learners. The experience and achievement of all learners at all levels — undergraduate or graduate students, trainees in our health system or lifelong learners — are paramount. Core elements span accessibility and affordability, academic and career advising, time-to-degree and support for students new to UC San Diego, including transfer and first-generation students.
Educational innovation
We will implement approaches that inspire students, trainees and instructors while sustaining our focus on retention and graduation rates. As the demands of learners continue to evolve, we must build capacity for ongoing renewal to ensure we remain a leader in education. Program development, technology-enabled delivery, learning space upgrades and increased summer instruction are likely areas of focus, as are instructor training and incubation for experimentation in pedagogy.
Integrated education
We will strengthen linkages across educational experiences to prepare learners at all levels for academic and real-world challenges. Facilitating of interdisciplinary learning and teaching across our general campus schools and colleges, UC San Diego Health and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is an ongoing priority. Other priorities include expansion in experiential, applied and global learning; access to research for undergraduates; and on-campus student employment and apprenticeships.
Graduate and professional education
We will promote growth and embed practices to support the fundamental research and training goals of graduate and professional students. These programs are core to our mission and vision, and we must tailor our approaches to attract and retain learners seeking enrichment beyond undergraduate education. Stable funding, facilitating alumni networking and integrated support that foster a strong learning community and personal wellbeing are all important.
Sense of belonging
We will continue to advance initiatives and system changes that ensure the full participation of every member of our Triton community. We strive always to create a culture of mutual respect, validation and understanding. We can make meaningful progress by better coordinating existing efforts and increasing our respective awareness, as well as by amending policy, practices and structures to address equity gaps and barriers faced by those with visible and invisible disabilities.
Faculty and staff support
We will align processes and programs to attract, engage and retain a diverse community of high-caliber people who feel valued and can thrive at UC San Diego. The employment landscape continues to shift post the COVID-19 pandemic, and we must respond accordingly to support, connect and honor all those who work at the university. While the specifics differ across faculty and staff, onboarding, career-stage training, career pathing and workforce planning are all areas for development.
Campus activation
We will cultivate a university that encourages and welcomes learners, faculty, staff, patients, alumni and visitors to experience the breadth of our activities. The continuing physical transformation of the campus is fundamental, with attention to improved accessibility and amenities, but a more coordinated approach to space management and events promotion is also needed. Opportunities to build Triton pride and engagement through Division I Athletics add an exciting dimension.
Health and well-being
We will build and integrate our programs and services to improve patient care and community health. Strategic expansion of both UC San Diego Health and centralized health and well-being services for students, faculty and staff, represent a shared commitment to excellence and better health for all. Related we advance digital health tools, mobile health and destination sub-specialty clinical programs as we strive to serve a broad range of needs across campus, the region and beyond.
Regional progress
We will create, coordinate and sustain collaborations through which we seek to learn, build knowledge and help address pressing issues with the communities around us. It is our privilege as a public university to partner with our binational society through a spirit of reciprocity in pursuit of purposeful change. We will enhance and establish mechanisms to ensure effective engagement, and we will work actively to support local priorities, especially during times of crisis.
Arts connections
Reaffirming the blend of disciplines that has characterized UC San Diego since its founding, we will more fully embed the arts into all facets of university life to stimulate creativity, empathy and commitment to the common good. Through cross-school curricular initiatives, co-curriculars that explore cultural traditions and activities that honor the contributions of our students, colleagues and partners to the rich fabric of the university and region, our aim is to permeate UC San Diego with the arts.
Research foundations
We will strengthen structures and practices that help ensure excellence, inclusion and impact through research, scholarship and creative activity. These foundations create the conditions for success in pursuing our research themes. Areas of focus include computing capacity and services, grant writing support in strategic growth areas, shared research spaces and equipment, translational health research and clinical trials and innovation through industry, government and community partnerships.
Climate action
We will leverage our unique knowledge, history and resources to accelerate sustainable solutions, transform the university and serve as a model for others. Beyond advancing climate science and the urgency of the global crisis through research and teaching, we must embed sustainability in all we do through practices that, for example, decarbonize our operations, reduce research emissions and waste, integrate urban ecology throughout the campus and promote green transportation.
Strategic internationalization
We will deepen cross-border engagement and amplify our education and research activities around the world, coordinating across all undertakings to enrich our culture and build a global brand. In adopting a more integrated approach, we will enhance and establish programs and partnerships that support our people and progress, both across campus and abroad. And as we illuminate our achievements, so too we reinforce our capacity to attract the best and brightest to UC San Diego.
Operational alignment
We will deploy common tools and structures to enable flexibility and efficient coordination with local solutions, also making it easier to work across the university and add value by extending the reach of ideas and activities. Underpinned by our commitment to excellent financial stewardship, we will connect priorities, incentives and accountabilities through our funding model, and we will leverage technology and AI applications to enable modernization and resiliency.
Moving Forward
We recognize that we will not progress at the same pace across the strategies or across the years, in part due to resourcing and competing pressures. A long-term strategic plan expects us to remain agile as our context evolves, course correcting and refining as required. This plan will serve as our university compass to guide our efforts. We are honored to count as colleagues everyone across this remarkable institution and look forward to working together as one Triton community to expand UC San Diego’s impact as a top public university.
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