SUU Strategic Plan 2024-2030
Connecting People, Purpose, and Place
Southern Utah University (SUU) is an institution built on a foundation of being people-centered, purpose-driven, and place-empowered (the three P’s). Our people are our highest priority and our work is fueled by a desire to change lives and to create a sense of place where our university community feels like they belong. Following the success of its previous strategic plan (2015-2022, Explore, Engage, Excel), SUU is implementing this strategic plan to guide the university’s planning, decision-making, and resource allocation for the years 2024-2030. This plan intends to build on five strategic priorities: enhancing student success, enriching the academic experience, cultivating a culture of caring, increasing access and affordability, and expanding alumni and community engagement. Download the print version of the strategic plan.
The Mission and Vision
Mission Statement
Southern Utah University is a dynamic teaching and learning community that engages students in experiential education leading to personal growth, civic responsibility, and professional excellence.
Vision Statement
SUU will be an inclusive and innovative institution of higher education that strengthens students’ connections to each other, the campus, their discipline, career of choice, community, and the world. SUU will deliver quality and affordable academic learning and an outstanding student experience.
The Five Strategic Priorities
SUU will measure and improve its performance by implementing the strategic priorities and objectives below. These gains will include exceeding USHE’s performance and growth metrics. However, as institutional measures of the success of this plan, SUU has selected a limited number of institutional outcomes and benchmarks for each goal to track SUU’s progress over the duration of this plan. For explanation, review the Terminology and Context for Institutional Outcomes.
Learning Lives Forever
SUU is built on a foundation of being people-centered, purpose-driven, and place-empowered. The following institutional statements provide context for the institution's history, purpose, and core values. Taken collectively, these statements establish the soul of the institution and provide guardrails and aspirational qualities for decision-makers and stakeholders.
Core Values
Quality Academic Learning
SUU is a student-centered institution that prioritizes quality teaching and evidence-based practices to optimize academic learning. SUU connects the process of knowledge acquisition to its experiential application within an academic discipline or interdisciplinary learning environment. Academic learning leads to personal growth, civic responsibility, and professional excellence.
Community
SUU is known for its commitment to student success and its engagement within the communities of which we are part. Everyone with a relationship with the University is included and supported in learning and service initiatives. SUU fosters meaningful collaboration among groups to propel students into lives of service and engagement. SUU creates spaces for everyone to feel safe, challenged, and welcomed as they learn and grow together.
Belonging
SUU fosters cooperation, respect, empathy, and belonging as it recognizes differences at all levels and among all demographics. We aspire to collectively address systemic barriers to encourage success among all populations and within all campus groups.
Innovation
SUU explores and implements innovative partnerships and opportunities in and out of the classroom. SUU uses collaboration and emerging technologies to innovate administratively, pedagogically, operationally, culturally, and artistically. All of the University’s innovation is directed toward providing students with the most engaging and supportive educational experience possible.
Stewardship
As part of the SUU experience, each member of the community expands their perspective through acquiring knowledge, lived experiences, and social connections. With this growth comes the obligation to appreciate and protect our connections to history, learning, the environment, civil conversation, and the scientific process of knowledge creation. SUU works to instill in all members of its community the value of stewardship.
Well-Being
SUU values wellness and prioritizes resources to ensure support and well-being for individuals on and off campus. Taking a comprehensive approach, SUU strives to meet holistic needs through learning programs and resources for students, the campus, and the community. SUU advocates balance in all things and integrates those principles into the learning environment.