FROM THE NEST | SPRING 2023 | 25 Lehigh has released its draft framework for a new strategic plan that focuses on innovation and risk-taking, defines and addresses important intellectual and societal challenges, and cultivates collaborations and partnerships. The plan is tentatively titled “Inspiring the Future Makers.” Lehigh Provost Nathan Urban laid out the framework during a “campus conversation” in late February, asking: What do we want Lehigh to be as a result of this strategic plan and the work that gets done in association with it? “We want Lehigh University to be a premier residential research university where students, faculty and staff are future makers and future-makers,” he said, articulating the plan’s draft vision statement. The draft statement also included: providing students with an experience that embraces the intersection between technology and humanity because “that is what the future needs,” Urban said. In having collected, read through and reorganized 80-plus pages of material from the four working groups involved in the months-long process, and having had many conversations with stakeholders, Lehigh identified three goals as a starting point in drafting the plan: for Lehigh to innovate, create, take risks and spark curiosity to become a leader in discovery and learning; to break boundaries to define and address the most important intellectual and societal challenges; and to cultivate collaborations and partnerships that build community, foster a sense of belonging, and amplify Lehigh’s global and regional impact. Lehigh is expected to announce the plan in June.—Mary Ellen Alu “WE WANT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY TO BE A PREMIER RESIDENTIAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY WHERE STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF ARE FUTURE MAKERS AND FUTURE-MAKERS.” —Provost Nathan Urban STRATEGIC PLAN A Draft Framework Lehigh expects to announce the strategic plan in June. BOTH IMAGES BY CHRISTA NEU EXPANSION The Lehigh community celebrated an open house March 3 at the new Business Innovation Building, which is infused with technology and provides students and faculty with collaborative spaces for learning, teaching and research. The three-story structure—catty-corner to the Rauch Business Center—also is the new home of the Vistex Institute for Executive Education. In addition to accommodating classes in the college’s undergraduate and graduate programs, the building houses the Bosland Financial Services Lab, Data Analytics Lab, Rauch Center for Business Communication, and Lehigh Ventures Lab, a business incubator space for entrepreneurial exploration. COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0OTQ5OA==