Framework Introduction
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s three-year strategic framework to cultivate a thriving, people-centered university where every person and every interaction matters.
Pillar 1
Extraordinary Teaching & Learning
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln will advance our land-grant mission through learning of the highest quality—where curiosity, discovery, and real-world action connect learners to ideas, opportunities, and communities wherever learning takes place.
Strategic Priority 1:
Design Future-Ready Learning Grounded in Quality
Advance future-focused curriculum for all learners that pairs strong disciplinary foundations, curiosity, and critical thinking with the adaptive capacities needed to thrive in evolving environments.
- Advance AI literacy, ethics, and critical thinking through educational and engagement efforts.
- Expand career readiness experiences.
- Grow accelerated master’s degree programs.
- Create lifelong learning opportunities including stackable credentials.
Strategic Priority 2:
Expand Access and Success for Every Learner
Create pathways, policies, and support systems that enable all learners to access, persist, and achieve their educational and personal goals, recognizing that basic needs, mental health, and well-being are foundational to student success.
- Incentivize growth in online degree programs.
- Improve and grow clear and effective transfer pathways with community colleges, state colleges, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
- Prioritize investment in mental health and well-being resources for students.
- Foster alignment and prioritize investment in closing gaps to enhance student success and retention initiatives.
Strategic Priority 3:
Cultivate Transformative Learning Experiences
Ensure every student — undergraduate, graduate, professional, online, and non-traditional — engages in high-impact experiences that connect knowledge, discovery, leadership, and service with structured reflection embedded in the curriculum.
- Grow education abroad, internship, civic engagement, and leadership development opportunities for every student.
- Expand undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity opportunities that strengthen a curiosity-driven education.
- Cultivate a vibrant student life experience through engagement in co-curricular learning, reflection, and meaning-making opportunities.
Pillar 2
Extraordinary Research & Creative Activity
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln will champion discovery, creativity, and innovation across all disciplines and invest in the faculty, staff, and students who fuel it. We will pursue excellence at the level of the nation’s leading public research universities, accelerating the journey from ideas to impact in Nebraska and the world.
Strategic Priority 1:
Advance AAU-Caliber Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors
Grow research, scholarship, and creative endeavors through strategic investment in people, infrastructure, and interdisciplinary collaboration built on strong disciplines. Strengthen areas of established excellence while building capacity in emerging fields, with transparent criteria for identifying both, and benchmarking progress against AAU membership indicators.
- Implement strategic faculty hiring initiatives focused on AAU membership indicators.
- Grow financial resources for graduate and postdoctoral support.
- Prioritize investment that advances research in agriculture and bioindustry; basic mechanisms of disease; creative engagement and cultural heritage; material sciences and energy; social, behavioral, educational, and prevention sciences; transportation, infrastructure, robotics, and autonomous technologies.
Strategic Priority 2:
Transform Nebraska and the World Through Impactful Scholarship
Advance research, scholarship, and creative endeavors that address Nebraska’s opportunities and challenges while generating knowledge, legal and policy insights, innovation, and creative expression that contribute nationally and globally — with the arts and humanities championed as essential to that impact.
- Provide a focused suite of internal funding programs that strengthen scholarly excellence, catalyze additional investment and strategic partnerships, and maximize societal benefit.
- Champion the arts, humanities, and legal and creative scholarship as integral to Nebraska’s cultural, intellectual, democratic, and economic vitality and to the university’s broader societal impact.
Strategic Priority 3:
Accelerate Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Translation
Expand the translation of discoveries, ideas, and creative works into economic opportunity, community benefit, policy solutions, and entrepreneurial ventures through a clear, well-resourced path from discovery to patent, startup, and real-world solution, with NUtech Ventures as a key partner.
- Support a strong ecosystem for entrepreneurship and innovation through policies, streamlined processes, and incentives.
- Expand entrepreneurship education, startup incubation, and funding pathways to advance innovation, commercialization, and economic impact.
- Document and communicate how research-driven innovation strengthens communities and enhances quality of life throughout Nebraska.
Pillar 3
Extraordinary Partnerships & Engagement
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln will advance our flagship, land-grant mission by serving as the vital connector linking Nebraska’s communities, government, and industries with one another and the world.
Strategic Priority 1:
Advance Nebraska’s Land-Grant Mission Through Engagement and Extension
Amplify the land-grant mission by leveraging Extension as the university’s statewide nexus for engagement.
- Leverage Nebraska Extension’s statewide network, so university expertise reaches all 93 counties, both rural and urban, through reciprocal, two-way partnerships.
- Accelerate efforts aligned with the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification to define, benchmark and strengthen the scholarship of engagement.
Strategic Priority 2:
Strengthen Public Trust and Public Value
Demonstrate the value of higher education through clear, relevant communication, public scholarship, and trusted partnerships by co-creating evidence-based solutions with communities, inspiring a spirit of service that transforms the university and communities.
- Develop an engagement continuum framework which offers internal and external stakeholders examples of teaching, research, and outreach along a range of interventions and progressively increasing levels of involvement.
- Implement tuition transparency and explore block tuition pricing, with expanded scholarship support for students.
- Launch a storytelling and strategic communication campaign outlining UNL’s positive and reciprocal impact with the state.
- Cultivate a statewide advocacy and government partnerships network that prioritizes financial investment in UNL’s educational, research, and service missions.
Strategic Priority 3:
Build Pathways and Partnerships that Drive Workforce Development and Innovation
Strengthen partnerships with technical colleges, four-year institutions, industry, military partners, alumni networks, foundations, and nonprofits to expand access and student success, workforce readiness, collaborative research, and economic and community prosperity with UNL serving boldly as catalyst and convener.
- Expand K–12, dual-enrollment, and community-college transfer pathways that broaden access and strengthen enrollment.
- Build industry, military, and research partnerships aligned to Nebraska’s workforce and economic-development priorities.
- Mobilize alumni, parents, and foundation networks as mentors, employers, and connectors.
Pillar 4
Extraordinary Culture & Environment
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln will cultivate a thriving, people-centered university where every person and every interaction matters and where faculty, staff, and students grow, belong, and contribute to institutional success.
Strategic Priority 1:
Invest in Our People
Attract, develop, recognize, and retain outstanding faculty, staff, and students through competitive compensation and hiring, explicit career pathways, and professional development. Sustain support for teaching, mentorship, and scholarship.
- Develop a sustainable talent acquisition and retention plan that strategically prioritizes competitive hiring, merit-based recognition, career progression, and compensation investments to attract and retain top talent.
- Enhance financial investment and accessible programmatic offerings for faculty and staff professional development.
- Prioritize the increase of minimum stipends and support of professional development for graduate students.
Strategic Priority 2:
Foster Belonging and a Thriving, Engaged Husker Community
Cultivate a welcoming, engaged, and civil community where every student, faculty, and staff member feels valued and builds a meaningful relationship with the institution — strengthened by traditions, shared identity, and meaningful interactions.
- Strengthen co-curricular experiences, traditional-based programming, and athletic experiences that build Husker identity and belonging.
- Create structured opportunities for meaningful interaction among faculty and staff with undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, regardless of modality of learning.
- Measure belonging, mattering, and morale regularly, and act on what the results show.
Strategic Priority 3:
Advance Trust, Shared Governance, and Sustainable Work
Advance transparent, collaborative leadership and robust shared governance while promoting academic freedom, sustainable workloads, well-being, and the organizational conditions people need to thrive and do their best work.
- Formalize regular, scheduled, engagement and communication among administration, shared governance partners, and the university community.
- Address workload sustainability and burnout through workload review, staffing, and accessible well-being resources.
- Invest in manager and supervisor development and accountability to strengthen trust and effectiveness across the institution.
Pillar 5
Extraordinary Stewardship & Effectiveness
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln will advance a sustainable, growth-oriented operating model which aligns resources with mission and uses data and the strength of our people to inform decisions.
Strategic Priority 1:
Enable Excellence by Reducing Barriers and Friction
Streamline and simplify processes and systems with clear owners and timelines so faculty, staff, and students can focus on mission-driven work.
- Standardize and simplify high-volume administrative processes, assigning clear owners and published approval timelines.
- Redesign complex systems and forms into more intuitive, self-service experiences that reduce steps and delays.
Strategic Priority 2:
Align Resources for Mission Impact and Long-Term Sustainability
Strengthen institutional stewardship through a transparent and collaborative budgeting process that aligns resources with strategic priorities, promotes fiscal sustainability, advances enrollment growth and program innovation, diversifies revenue streams, and ensures data-informed investment decisions that maximize institutional impact.
- Develop a clear budgeting process with transparency, education, and annual reporting expectations to shared governance partners and the university community.
- Implement and continue the work of Business Simplified, simplifying processes and structures in the areas of people management, financial management, and operational opportunities.
- Create a sustainable revenue diversification plan that goes beyond enrollment growth.
Strategic Priority 3:
Leverage Data, Technology, and AI for Institutional Effectiveness
Build integrated, user-centered systems for data, digital tools, and emerging technologies. Leverage appropriate AI solutions to streamline administrative processes, improve decision-making, and foster collaboration, accountability, and organizational agility across the institution.
- Design and implement intuitive, AI-supported solutions that streamline workflows and are informed by the needs and expertise of faculty, staff, and students.
- Integrate enterprise systems and improve data-infrastructure usability so information is trustworthy and easy to access.
- Align incentives and accountability structures to encourage and reward cross-unit collaboration and organizational agility.