University leaders share strategic imperatives through outreach and campus conversations

University leadership is taking the strategic imperatives outlined in Delivering on Our Promise to key stakeholders and the campus community through a coordinated series of presentations, publications and conversations designed to showcase the institution's impact and its path forward. 

Presenting progress to the Arizona Board of Regents

On June 12, University President Suresh Garimella delivered "A Force for Good" to the Arizona Board of Regents, providing a comprehensive update on the institution's operational and financial landscape. Joined by university leaders, Garimella outlined progress and priorities guided by the three strategic imperatives: success for every student; research that shapes the future; and engagement with our communities to create opportunity. 

A two-and-a-half-minute video featuring highlights of the presentation as well as a recording of the full update are now available on the university's YouTube channel.
 

During Garimella's presentation, a video titled "Changing Lives Across Arizona" showcased how the university supports the work of alumni and community members to bring life-changing services to people in every corner of the state. The video demonstrates the university's commitment to connecting families in rural areas to essential health services, educational opportunities and legal resources that might otherwise be out of reach.

The video spotlights several key university initiatives to:

• Expand health care in rural areas through the Center for Rural Health and Mobile Health Units programs.
• Help tribal communities address environmental and societal challenges through the Indigenous Resilience Center.
• Develop the next generation of agricultural leaders through the 4-H program.
• Provide free legal services for low-income individuals and families through the School of Government and Public Policy's Step Up to Justice program.

The video has since been shared on the University of Arizona's social media accounts and featured in U of A Today, a new weekly LinkedIn newsletter highlighting the university's top stories. Those with a LinkedIn account can join the 52,000 subscribers who already receive the newsletter in their inboxes every Thursday to stay informed, celebrate our impact, and share stories that matter.

Bringing the message to broader audiences

Building on the presentation to the Arizona Board of Regents, Garimella continued to share the university's strategic imperatives through an op-ed published June 24 on the Arizona Farm Bureau blog. In the piece, he emphasized the importance of the U of A’s land-grant mission and its responsibility to help the state of Arizona thrive.

"The power of a land-grant university doesn't reside on a campus," Garimella wrote. "It lives in these relationships. That's why our presence across all 15 counties and service to 22 tribal nations matters. But presence alone isn't enough; it's what we do together that counts." 

Garimella explained that the land-grant mission demands the university meets people where they are geographically, culturally and economically. "It asks us to be in relationship, not just in service. That means showing up. It means building trust. And it means recognizing that the future of this university is inseparable from the future of Arizona itself," he wrote.

Engaging with the campus community

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While university leadership shares the institution's impact and vision with the broader community, Provost Patricia Prelock is simultaneously engaging with the campus community to build on the strategic imperatives and help shape the next phase of academic planning. Prelock has launched a series of campus conversations running through September.

Over the course of 16 sessions, Prelock will meet with approximately 320 participants, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and community partners. She said these conversations aim to explore how to strengthen student retention, graduation and career success, as well as how best to structure student support services and create a sense of community as one U of A.

"We want to use the data that we gather and the stories that we hear to help inform the strategies that we're going to use to move forward," Prelock explained. 

More information about the campus conversations is available on the Office of the Provost website.

Additional resources:

• Garimella's op-ed: "We're Listening and Always Learning: Arizona’s Land-Grant Mission Is as Vital as Ever"
• Delivering on Our Promise
• UANews Story: "President Garimella highlights progress, priorities in presentation to regents"
• Lo Que Pasa story: "How employees helped shape the university's strategic imperatives"