Finding Our Focus

In order to develop a sustainable plan and vision for the UW, we needed community input. During 2009–2011, more than 3,500 faculty, staff, student and community stakeholders participated in 2y2d focus groups and surveys to help envision the future and identify priorities.

Where should the UW be in 20 years?

Initial focus groups addressed seven key areas of interest:

Discovery focus group

Diversity focus group

Engagement focus group

Globalization focus group

Summary and Preliminary Recommendations

Interdisciplinary education and research focus groups

Learning focus group

Summary and Preliminary Recommendations

Technology focus group

As they considered where UW talent and expertise would be most needed in the coming decades, these groups:

Envisioned The UW of the 21st Century
Identified Two-Decade Trends
Called on the UW to address “society’s most pressing issues”

Each focus group summarized their vision and recommendations in a report, Two-Decade Trends.

Resulting action: Their conclusions informed the selection of 2y2d strategic priorities and formed the basis of the Sustainable Academic Business Plan.

Which of society’s major issues should we help solve?

After initial focus groups asked the UW to provide solutions to “society’s most pressing issues,” we sought additional input from stakeholder groups to help identify what issues those might be. Results are shown in the concept cloud below. The size of each word corresponds to the frequency of responses naming it a priority.