RADFORD -- Radford University ’s Board of Visitors has approved a strategic plan, titled “7-17,” that promises to “challenge and stretch the university community” over the next decade.

The plan charts a course for the university to become one of the top 50 masters universities in the nation.

RU will now move forward to develop a more detailed operational plan, an implementation schedule, and target metrics.

The genesis of the plan was the creation of the Commission for the Future of Radford University by President Penelope W. Kyle soon after she took office. Members of the Board of Visitors, faculty, alumni, students, staff, community and business leaders joined forces to analyze RU’s mission and how RU could best serve its future students and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

A writing team took the Commission’s findings and articulated them into the plan, which is prefaced by a vision statement, mission statement and list of core values.

The Board approved the plan with enthusiasm and optimism.

“I’m very impressed by this plan,” said Rector R.J. Kirk. “Radford University’s stock is going up, markedly, and people know it. It’s wonderful to be associated with a rising star.”

The vision statement says RU will become one of the “top 50 masters universities in the nation” and become “increasingly known as a model for student-centered learning.”

The statement adds that RU graduates will become “among the most sought-after by the nation’s best employers” and will become community and career leaders in “the arts, business, education, health and human services, medical professions, the humanities, the sciences and technology.”

Four strategic directions serve as organizing principles for the plan: investing in people, programs, society and the future.

Key aspirations of the plan include:

• Making academic excellence the university’s highest priority and ensuring that the curriculum is challenging and attractive to student scholars from diverse backgrounds and geographic locations;
• Revising and streamlining the core curriculum.
• Upgrading campus facilities through construction of new academic buildings, modern residence halls, new athletic facilities and a state-of-the-art student fitness and wellness center;
• Restructuring the graduate college and increasing its enrollment and expanding the number of degrees offered, particularly at the doctoral level;
• Developing consistent success and prominence in intercollegiate athletics;
• Expanding study abroad and international travel opportunities;
• Increasing financial resources from public and private sources to support RU as it strives for excellence in all endeavors.

The plan can be accessed at www.radford.edu/rustrategicplan717.html