Strategic Plan 2016-2021

The University of Iowa has authored many great stories.  Building on a remarkable legacy, the people of the UI are crafting new chapters of exploration, discovery, creation, and engagement. 

The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved the University of Iowa's Strategic Plan for 2016 to 2021 at its meeting on December 5, 2016.

View/download the plan in PDF format

Strategic Plan 2010-2016: Renewing The Iowa Promise

The Iowa Promise, the University’s strategic plan for 2005-2010, provided a framework to advance excellence across the university. As we look to the next planning period, we renew The Iowa Promise and reaffirm our commitment to excellence.

The four "pillars" of the strategic plan (the four complementary, mutually supporting areas in which we are investing for accelerated advancement) are highlighted in the image below.  Illustrated at the bottom of the image are three "foundational commitments" (areas that the university is committed to strengthen because of their broad impact across all aspects of our mission).  

• Strategic Priorities

  • Student Success 
  • Knowledge and Practice 
  • New Frontiers in the Arts 
  • Better Futures for Iowans 

• Foundational Commitments

  • Inclusion and Internationalization 
  • Sustainability 
  • Collaboration, Enterprise, Innovation 

Strategic Plan 2005-2010: The Iowa Promise

We have titled our plan The Iowa Promise to remind ourselves, and all future readers, of the twin pillars on which the plan is built: we recognize our potential for greatness—our promise—and intend to realize it; at the same time, we recognize that we cannot achieve greatness except by fulfilling our pledge—our promise—to those we serve.

Strategic Plan 2000-2005: New Century Iowa: Bridges to the Next Horizon

The University of Iowa, spanning the banks of the Iowa River, is a public research institution founded upon a tradition of building bridges. As inheritors and renewers of this tradition, we advance our mission of teaching, research, and service through dedication to the finest scholarship and creativity. From the health sciences to the arts, our aim is to provide a humane and technologically advanced community in which diverse students, faculty, and staff, working and learning together, are able to achieve excellence. Our success derives from the strengths of the relationships we build.