Campus Wide Engagement Sessions: April 17th - 23rd

Get a sneak peak of the latest draft of NMU's next Strategic Plan, and share your feedback and ideas.

Engagement Session Calendar
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Click "Share Your Availability Here" button below and indicate the Engagement Session(s) you are able to attend. Once session assignments have been determined, a calendar invitation confirming your Engagement Session date, time, and location will be emailed to you within 3 days. 

Contact IE@nmu.edu with any questions.

Community Visioning Dinner Findings

NMU's Community Visioning Dinner was hosted in November 2023. View the resulting Fall 2023 Mission and Vision Theme documents:

Fall 2023 Mission Themes Working Draft 2.13.2024 (click to open full document PDF)

Fall 2023 Vision Themes Working Draft 2.13.2024 (click to open full document PDF)

 

Planning and Progress

Graphic detailing NMU strategic planning phases and timeline for 23-24

NMU's approach to planning has been divided into three distinct phases: Could, Should, and Will. In the fall, we asked what could NMU do by reaching out to our community far and wide. This included students, alumni, faculty, and staff members, as well as parents, community members and leaders throughout the Upper Peninsula, who shared their thoughts and ideas with the University. 

As we entered the should phase, this work was brought back to campus and we've been distilling all of the great ideas into realistic and achievable strategies. Coming next is the will phase, where a clearer picture of the future of NMU will emerge, including where we're going and how we'll get there.  

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The sun rises over the ore dock in Marquette.

Winter 2024: Refinement

A number of engagement opportunities occurred during Winter 2024, allowing additional synthesis of the Mission and Vision Themes into Strategies, or how NMU's future goals will be achieved. Opportunities to engage with elements of the plan included critical conversations with the NMU Board of Trustees, students, and administrative leadership, in addition to a campus wide survey and guided conversation with University Assembly members. In all, more than 1,000 additional comments and ideas were captured and used to refine our direction.

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President Brock Tessman viewing a green poster which reads "What strengths do you believe NMU should focus on and highlight in its mission?"

Fall 2023: Listening

Through the Community Visioning Dinner and Survey, internal and external stakeholders shared almost 3,000 comments in fall 2023 related to what NMU is today (Mission) and what NMU plans to become in the future (Vision). They have been organized into themes, which will be used as we consider refreshing elements of Northern’s mission and vision statements, and will contribute as building blocks for development of the next strategic plan.

Fall 2023 Mission Themes Working Draft 2.13.2024 (click to open full document PDF)

Fall 2023 Vision Themes Working Draft 2.13.2024 (click to open full document PDF)

 

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President Brock Tessman standing at a wooden podium

Community Visioning Dinner

The Community Visioning Dinner was held on November 8th, 2023 and provided off-campus community members and valued partners a chance to share thoughts about the future of NMU. Guided by trained Student Facilitators, Community Visioning Dinner attendees took part in small group discussions around the university's purpose and vision for the future, and ways in which NMU and the community could better align for greater impact.