The co-chairs discuss the latest draft, which incorporates feedback from the March town halls and an online survey, and present next steps in implementing the plan.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) 2027-2031 Strategic Plan co-chairs held town halls May 7 and 8 to present the nearly finalized draft of the plan that incorporates feedback from the University community and to discuss next steps in implementing the plan.
These second round of town halls, attended by nearly 200 people in person and online, were led by the Strategic Plan Steering Committee co-chairs, Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD, NNP, FNAP, FAAN, professor and the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and Jenny Owens, ScD, MS, vice provost of academic affairs, UMB. They were joined by Diane Forbes Berthoud, PhD, MA, chief inclusive excellence and institutional effectiveness officer and vice president, whose office will oversee the implementation and progress of the plan.
The Strategic Plan process began in fall 2025 with the Steering Committee convening every two weeks to develop the plan's themes, objectives, and outcomes. The committee met with numerous stakeholders such as the University Student Government Association, Faculty Senate, and Staff Senate. Virtual and in-person town halls were held in March that gathered feedback from 250 UMB faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members, and an online survey was also available to offer comments; Owens said the committee received about 50 survey responses.
“Community voice in the strategic planning process was essential to developing a forward-thinking plan,” Ogbolu said. “We recognize that UMB community members best understand the real operational and strategic needs of the organization. Making space for everyone supported trust and shared ownership. The collective energy in the meetings ensured that we prioritized themes, recognized potential barriers to themes, and discussed strategies to mitigate challenges and support opportunities. Because the themes, objectives, and goals were developed with community voices, we believe the plan will be relevant, actionable, and impactful.”
The themes are:
- United for Impact
- Student, Faculty, and Staff Success
- Future-Ready Graduate and Professional Education
- Research and Scholarship Excellence
- Digital Transformation and Innovation
- Community and Global Engagement
The strategic objectives and strategic outcomes were revised after the co-chairs and Steering Committee gathered the community’s input. For example, Ogbolu pointed out that under the theme of Digital Transformation and Innovation, the word “responsibly” was written into the objective: UMB will responsibly accelerate innovation and digital transformation across all schools and units in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
“We heard from the community that the University needs to have a structured governance system for the use of AI — guidelines and policies, many of which we have begun to put in place already,” she said.
Owens added, “We are committed to adopting new technologies responsibly and with intention, while also recognizing the broader sustainability implications of AI use. Our goal is to be conscious consumers, and we have worked to thoughtfully integrate that perspective in response to feedback.”
Ogbolu said the UMB community also noted consistently that the Strategic Plan should be people-centric and inclusive of all community members: students, staff, faculty, postdocs, and alumni. The latest version names each group specifically.
“We have many alumni and volunteers who give up their time, their talent, and their treasure,” she said. “Making sure they’re part of being able to make a meaningful contribution to UMB is exciting and very beneficial to the University.”
During the town halls, the theme of United for Impact was also the focus of discussion.
“Our seven schools are made up of people who deeply care, people who are committed to trying to make the world better for other people through health, human services, and law,” Owens said. “This is a special community of purpose-driven professionals who are here intentionally, and our students will go on to work together in service to our communities long after graduation. The more intentionally we foster interprofessional collaboration, the more equipped our students will be to lead, serve, and create meaningful collective impact.”
Next Steps
The final plan will be submitted in June to the University System of Maryland. UMB’s seven schools and its administrative units then will work from July to December to build their own SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timebound) goals to align with the Strategic Plan, which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2027.
UMB’s Office of Inclusive Excellence and Institutional Effectiveness, which advances inclusive excellence in teaching, research, learning, data-driven planning, and strategic partnerships and cultivates a culture of belonging, dialogue, and well-being, will work with the schools and units to develop the SMART goals. Forbes Berthoud said her office will be available to consult about goal creation and is planning to create an implementation committee to help guide the process.
“I’d like us to zoom out a bit to be more strategic and thoughtful in our acting and in our planning as a university, to think about the ways in which we are creating impact in our community, the state, the region, and the world, focusing on decision quality and using metrics to drive continuous improvement,” she said. “This is really a cultural shift. We’d like for more of us across campus to integrate data and assessment in our decision-making. We look at our data (e.g., our surveys), we listen to our folks, and conduct focus groups to then inform our decisions so we can be a more effective, dynamic, and collaborative university.”
Forbes Berthoud also discussed the Strategic Plan Implementation Management System, which will be used to facilitate SMART goal creation and approval, risk assessment, and progress for the Strategic Plan.
“As a university, we’ve established through the plan where we’d like to head, and our responsibility as offices and schools will be to contribute to helping UMB reach where it would like to go with its mission, vision, and values,” Forbes Berthoud said.