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Strategic Priorities

Strategic Plan

Each of the four pillars is linked to key strategic priorities for the next 10 years. Those priorities are further defined by objectives, or measurable steps, to guide our growth. Based on our progress, these priorities and objectives will be revisited, refined and adjusted over the 10-year period, making the plan a living document.

Unparalleled Opportunities

UNCW's most important asset is its people. We provide unparalleled opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to succeed. We are a community of learners who all believe in the power of education to make the world a better place.

We hire and retain accomplished, hard-working, and committed faculty and staff; and we recruit and enroll talented students with extraordinary potential that we help them achieve.

As a people-centered organization, investing in priorities that support faculty, staff, and students will be key to our future success.

  • Objective 1.1: Develop a long-term enrollment management plan that includes a focus on selecting underrepresented student types (transfer, adult, online, military affiliated and those from underserved counties within North Carolina).  
  • Objective 1.2: Invest in and strategically deploy financial aid to diversify our student body and increase the ability for students to graduate from UNCW with as little debt as possible.  
  • Objective 1.3: Increase graduate student enrollment and success.  
  • Objective 2.1: Develop an advising model for campus that ensures all students receive high-quality, comprehensive academic advising from initial enrollment through graduation.  
  • Objective 2.2: Create an intentional “one-stop shop” for student success and engagement deployed with knowledgeable and well-trained staff prepared to deliver this service.  
  • Objective 2.3: Foster the development of campus affinity that engages students beyond their time at UNCW.  
  • Objective 2.4: Expand recreational and health-related student programming to support health, well-being and belonging.  
  • Objective 2.5: Increase capacity of mental- and health-related services on campus.
  • Objective 3.1: Develop initiatives that ensure that all students will have participated in at least three “high-impact practices” before graduation.  
  • Objective 3.2: Enhance career-readiness activities through robust career services offerings.
  • Objective 3.3: Assess and revise, as needed, the University Studies curriculum to ensure students gain intercultural competency and skills needed to improve society.
  • Objective 4.1: Increase salary pools for faculty and staff as much as practicable and consistent with market trends.  
  • Objective 4.2: Enhance benefits offered through local partnerships.  
  • Objective 4.3: Develop programs that address faculty and staff wellness.  
  • Objective 4.4: Become a “best place to work” as identified in national publications.
  • Objective 5.1: Ensure students from diverse and underrepresented populations attain student success objectives at levels consistent with the student body as a whole.  
  • Objective 5.2: Hire faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to ensure we support our mission and our values.  
  • Objective 5.3: We will assess policies and practices across our institution to ensure they address issues that disproportionately burden or create disparities for individuals.  
  • Objective 5.4: We will strengthen/enhance/ensure policies and practices that foster civil and respectful discourse and debate while protecting free expression and academic freedom.

Nationally Prominent Programs

UNCW is committed to cultivating an academic environment in which all members of our community can flourish. This environment is driven by the program activity related to

  • curriculum,
  • research,
  • creativity,
  • innovation,
  • outreach,
  • engagement,
  • and student support.

Our region and its place in the global economy are changing rapidly. UNCW will invest in regionally relevant and globally important programs that are responsive to our campus and community needs.

  • Objective 6.1: Implement QEP to become the national leader in interdisciplinary pedagogy. 
  • Objective 6.2: Develop interdisciplinary academic and co-curricular programs. 
  • Objective 6.3: Re-imagine campus facilities to foster interdisciplinary collaboration.
  • Objective 7.1: Develop new academic programs in emerging disciplines that serve regional and state needs.  
  • Objective 7.2: Develop curricular pathways and knowledge certification that enhance student mobility and skill building (badges, micro-credentials, etc.).  
  • Objective 8.1: Develop research capacity of faculty around interdisciplinary topics that address the world's biggest problems.  
  • Objective 8.2: Develop coastal resiliency and sustainability initiatives.  
  • Objective 8.3: Expand programming in health equity and outcomes activities.
  • Objective 9.1: Partner with local health community to expand health sciences areas. 
  • Objective 9.2: Expand and incentivize research capacity of faculty around health sciences
  • Objective 10.1: Invest in technologies and research programs that expand academic programming related to coastal living.  
  • Objective 10.2: Develop branding campaign that highlights coastal location. 

Community Commitment

UNCW understands that collaborative partnerships – both internal and external to campus – are critical for achieving our university mission. Simply put, we work better when we work together.

We see the future of higher education as one

  • where community relationships spur innovation, creativity, and problem-solving;
  • where authentic engagement with the community leads to new learning opportunities;
  • and where partners in our mission help achieve our goals in mutually beneficial ways.
  • Objective 11.1: Partner with local community to expand the UNCW involvement in downtown Wilmington and the Southeast region of North Carolina.  
  • Objective 11.2: Develop a new Welcome Center.  
  • Objective 11.3: Increase activities for hosting on-campus conferences and events from external groups.  
  • Objective 11.4: Improve campus wayfinding, parking and access points.  
  • Objective 12.1: Incentivize, support, recognize and reward community engagement of UNCW faculty, staff and students.  
  • Objective 12.2: Increase service-learning and volunteerism opportunities for students.  
  • Objective 12.3: Develop mentoring programs that connect students with partners in the local region.  
  • Objective 13.1: Develop and implement a “global partner roadmap” that expands and enhances outbound offerings for faculty and students.  
  • Objective 13.2: Increase inbound international faculty, staff and students that strategically grow academic programs with regional needs.
  • Objective 13.3: Build a strategic international enrollment plan for degree-seeking and visiting international students, particularly in technology-based, face-to-face programs, that includes goals, resources and approaches to growth. 
  • Objective 14.1: Develop strategic and master plan for UNCW athletic facilities and athletes.  
  • Objective 14.2: Expand cultural arts offerings through a renovated and modernized Kenan Auditorium as well as coordinated offerings across campus.  

World-Class Operations and Infrastructure

Living and working on the coast is at the heart of almost everything UNCW does. Therefore, “place” – construed broadly – is critically important consideration for our future.

We think of place not only as our coastal location, but also as the physical infrastructure and institutional operations that support our mission as well as our attitudes and approaches to environmental stewardship and sustainability.

We will invest in upgrading and modernizing the operational systems and physical structures that align our campus “place” with our long-term goals as a university.

  • Objective 15.1: Develop sustainability practices and activities, including facility upgrades and renovations.  
  • Objective 15.2: Develop practices that focus on the implementation, tracking and monitoring of continuous improvement with a focus on customer service.  
  • Objective 15.3: Develop a university-wide culture of transparency and accountability to ensure that faculty, staff and administrators are positioned to be active contributors toward university success.  
  • Objective 15.4: Identify critical operational areas of campus for process improvement, including the potential development of a Project Management Office.  
  • Objective 16.1: Implement a data modernization initiative to establish a robust enterprise data warehouse that reduces data silos and focuses on customer service. 
  • Objective 16.2: Improve practices related to technology upgrades that result in safe and secure technology environments (Data and Information Technology governance) while also reducing duplication and redundancy.
  • Objective 16.3: Improve data integrity through automation and the establishment of transparent data definitions.  
  • Objective 16.4: Implement a data analytics initiative that results in a more user-friendly and at-a-glance dashboard for campus leadership, faculty and staff.  
  • Objective 16.5: Develop critical data tracking mechanisms that address existing gaps in our data environment to better capture and report strategic activities (e.g., tracking of high impact practices; community partnerships, productivity, sustainability, etc.)
  • Objective 17.1: Identify from strategic plan critical facility upgrades and/or additions which will advance the institution.  
  • Objective 17.2: Develop cross-divisional functional teams that focus on improved facility and space planning with short, intermediate or long-term plans.
  • Objective 18.1: Increase philanthropic giving from individuals, corporations and foundations 
  • Objective 18.2: Increase alumni giving and engagement  
  • Objective 18.3: Increase externally funded research  
  • Objective 18.4: Creatively manage enrollment, tuition fees to maintain affordability while increasing revenues
  • Objective 18.5: Enhance advocacy for federal, state and local funding