Priority one

Inspire Student and Scholarly Success — Prepare bold leaders and learners who innovate and adapt in a rapidly changing world. 

Objectives

• Engage students to lead in a rapidly changing world.
• Expand interdisciplinary opportunities to meet critical societal challenges in our local, state and global communities.
• Create a seamless journey over a CMU learner’s lifetime.
• Commit to supporting our faculty and strategically investing in research and creative endeavors that address society’s grand challenges and enrich the learning opportunities for all.
• Intentionally internationalize the student experience and the CMU campus.

SMART goals

• 95% of undergraduate students are employed, involved in military or volunteer service, or in graduate school within six months of graduation as reported in the First Destination Survey.
  
• Within 5 years, every undergraduate student will have an immersive experience in a university-approved program by the time they graduate. Immersive experiences include, but are not limited to, leadership development programming, internships, research opportunities, study abroad, alternative breaks, and other relevant experiences with clear learning objectives.
  
  • Measure: Year one target includes the creation of a comprehensive university- approved list of programs, identification of a tracking mechanism, and a communication plan by June 2025.

• Create a program to streamline the learner experience and achieve a continued increase in the number of learners who return to CMU over their lifetime.
  
  • Measure: Year one target includes the development of the methodology for tracking by August 2025.

• Establish and implement a plan to strategically grow the research and graduate enterprise
  • Measure: Develop a plan with annual goals by May 2025.
• Develop a plan and strategies to recruit and retain additional international students and expand the global presence of CMU through our international graduates.
  • Measure: Develop a plan with annual goals by March 2025.

2024 Progress

Successes

• Achieved 94.9% Career Outcomes Rate (employed, involved in military or volunteer service, or pursuing graduate school within six months of graduation) among undergraduate students.  This puts CMU very close to the overall plan goal of reaching a 95% success rate.
• Reached a new record in research-related funding, securing $38 million for research, creative endeavors and scholarly activity.

Ongoing efforts

• Gathering information to develop a comprehensive list of university-wide immersive experiences and seeking mechanisms to track student participation in those programs. 
• Identified four population sets for lifelong learning: pre-college, actively enrolled or de-matriculated from CMU, CMU alumni and learners engaged in non-credit experiences). 
• Secured funding for a comprehensive learner record platform, which will help to track participation in experiential and lifelong learning.
• Integrating international student recruitment efforts into CMU’s overall strategic enrollment management plan.