Dear AU Community:

I am excited to share the framework for a community-based planning process that will support the collaborative development of American University’s next strategic plan, the roadmap for AU’s future. Strategic plans can be vital organizing tools. They can guide us on how to further our mission together, seize new opportunities, and address new issues and trends, while helping us to differentiate AU in the evolving higher education landscape.

One of our key priorities for this strategic planning process is to help identify, elevate, and enhance the attributes that make AU different and unique. Building on our identity as an engaged anchor institution in the nation’s capital devoted to such enduring ideals as public service, democracy, pluralism, justice, and equality, there is an opportunity to redefine our American (University) dream together. The strategic planning process will be guided by this question: What can or should make AU distinctive?

Through my listening tour and conversations across campus, I have heard clearly that our community is ready to work together to chart a new course. Some initial themes that emerged from these discussions have provided a starting point for us to explore how we can take AU to even greater heights. These themes will form the basis for eight working groups that will drive the strategic planning process. Each group will explore big ideas in core strategy areas through framing questions that focus on our mission and our unique identity.

These core areas, with starting point questions, are:

• Building community: How can AU develop a truly welcoming, inclusive community that represents the ideal of “We the People” in light of the rich diversity of our nation and world and that helps us navigate times of uncertainty?
• Civic pluralism: How can AU become the model in which all students learn the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and habits of mind needed to be engaged citizens and problem solvers in a pluralistic society?
• Public service: How can AU reflect and reinforce its founding principles to foster public service?
• Innovation and experimentation in educational programs: How can AU lead in creating inter- and trans-disciplinary academic programs that address societal challenges while advancing its academic distinctiveness?
• High-impact experiential learning: How will AU set a national standard for integrating theory and practice, creating unparalleled opportunities for students to engage with the world?
• Research distinctiveness (R1 the AU way): How can AU transition to an R1 institution and focus on differentiation through public impact research and the integration of research, teaching, and service?
• Enduring learning and connections for AU students and alumni: How can AU create lifelong learning opportunities and intergenerational connections for students and alumni to meet their evolving educational and career needs?
• Operational infrastructure and support: How can AU identify and adopt emerging best practices to provide the best possible operational infrastructure and support to meet its priorities and aspirations?

Community participation and engagement are essential to this process. We are opening a call for nominations for working group members. To nominate a member of the community (or yourself), please complete this online form by February 16, 2025.

The current AU strategic plan (Changemakers for a Changing World) will conclude at the end of the calendar year 2025. Our new strategic plan will be developed over the course of this year and will go live on January 1, 2026. We have a four-phase approach that will create a thoughtful, data-informed, and inclusive planning process.

• Phase 1 (February to May 2025)—Form working groups, explore key questions, and develop ideas for “big bets” through community engagement, research, and discussion.
• Phase 2 (June to October 2025)—Continue working group activity and community engagement, align strategy development with the university budget process, determine the overall time horizon for the plan, and produce concise working group reports with goals, strategic proposals, and metrics.
• Phase 3 (November 2025)—Draft final strategic plan based on working group reports and review with the Board of Trustees.
• Phase 4 (December 2025)—Launch the plan and prepare for January 2026 implementation.

We will track and report on the strategy process through a new website. Check back for updates once the working groups are formed and begin their efforts. You can also email strategicplan2025@american.edu with questions and suggestions.

I look forward to working with all of you to dream big and chart our exciting future together.

Go Eagles!

Sincerely,

Jonathan R. Alger 
President