Priority three: Enhance organizational culture

Priority three

Enhance Organizational Culture — Raise our national profile as a vibrant and nurturing university community where all members feel valued, empowered to thrive, and experience a strong sense of belonging. 

Objectives

• Develop a comprehensive value proposition for faculty and staff that is based on our Core Values and Leadership Standards. 
• Establish the university as a national model of an inclusive campus that ensures unwavering exploration of all ideas, ideologies, and perspectives by promoting opportunities for creative and courageous conversations. 
  
• Promote campus-wide learning opportunities to acquire and enhance transferable skills.
  

2025-2026 SMART goals

Updated and approved by the CMU Board of Trustees September 18, 2025

• Foster a culture in which all faculty and staff feel valued, empowered, and can realize the positive impact of their work on the university’s mission by:
  • Developing a comprehensive employee value proposition (EVP) for faculty and staff that is based on our Core Values and Leadership Standards.
    • Measure: Complete the EVP work, including the creation of action steps to fulfill initial recommendations by June 30, 2026. 
    • Measure: Increase year-over-year staff retention rates as established annually.
  • Cultivating and implementing university-wide onboarding and socialization processes.
    • Measure: Inventory current onboarding and socialization processes across campus for future review and determining best practices to be implemented university-wide by April 2026.
  • Completing an inventory of educational opportunities designed to develop faculty and staff in providing support to all the communities we serve.
    • Measure: Ensure the inventory is complete and develop a methodology for evaluating and refining professional development offerings for faculty and staff by May 2026.
  • Establishing pathway programs to prepare current faculty and staff for leadership positions and career advancement.
    • Measure: Complete a needs analysis of programming and resources required to fulfill this goal by May 2026. 
• Establish campuswide (students, faculty and staff) learning opportunities to develop and acquire transferable skills including communication, problem-solving, and leadership.
  • Measure: Develop an updated plan with deliverables for expanding learning activities for students, and professional development options for staff and faculty by Spring 2026.
• Expand the Search Optimization Specialist program across disciplines and functional areas for faculty and staff job searches, including additional training sessions for new specialists. 
  • Measure: Pilot the expansion of the Search Optimization Specialist program within the Division of University Engagement and Student Affairs for academic year 2025-2026 and measure the effectiveness of specialist trainings by August 2026.

Update on 2024-2025 Progress

• Work continues with Marsh McClennan Agency, an external benefits company, to assess positive and negative perceptions of CMU’s organizational culture and climate.
• 20 staff members recognized at the annual Staff Excellence Awards reception.
• Following review of data collected from a pilot program, CMU has discontinued its work with the Constructive Dialogue Institute and will reallocate funds to support the development of tailored learning opportunities for CMU students, faculty, and staff.
• The Community Relations Committee held its first meeting in January 2025 and received its first grant, a $25,000 Go Grant, to launch the “Paint the Town Maroon” community initiative.