Final Report

 

For the 2020-21 academic year, a 23-member team was presented the challenge of developing an enduring framework for UM’s future. The University Design Team spent the better part of the year examining UM’s best attributes, learning from experts about the directions in which UM might head, workshopping big ideas with campus, gathering feedback, and studying national and international signals and exploring new models in higher education.

The loudest signal the UDT observed is that change and adaption are critical for UM's future. 

The final report looks into the future to ensure UM delivers the best of public education, innovative research, civic engagement, and economic impacts – so that Montana's flagship public university can meet both emerging and lasting societal needs. It encompasses the entire institution and proposes brave and big change for UM’s future, while honoring core values and strengths.

What's next? 

The work of the UDT forms a foundation for UM's transition to an annual strategic operating rhythm.

Together, the vision and design principles form an enduring strategic lens through which to assess University priorities each year. And the UDT’s strategic initiatives are a set of experimental actions that can potentially move UM toward achieving that vision.

The UDT will sunset later this year, but its work will inform and shape actions for years to come. Several UDT members will assist with the transition.

More information regarding how UM will incorporate the UDT’s thinking and recommendations as the University transitions to this new strategic operating rhythm will be provided.