Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels today unveiled a draft vision for the next chapter of the university's history, a set of 10 strategic objectives, shaped by feedback from university community and beyond, that will guide Johns Hopkins through the milestone of the university's 150th anniversary in 2026 and to the end of the decade.
The Ten for One—10 goals for One University—reflects the university's bold aspirations at a moment of both vast potential and formidable challenges as the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. It acknowledges the need to contribute to addressing the existential threats posed by climate change, entrenched inequality, and the rise of autocracy around the globe, as well as the boundless potential in emerging areas of research such as data science, health disparities, and artificial intelligence.
The plan was informed by more than 60 listening sessions President Daniels conducted with nearly 1,200 staff, faculty, students, alumni, trustees, and neighbors and partners across Baltimore. The Ten for One reflects a desire expressed by many participants in those listening sessions to deepen the university's commitment to common endeavors. It telegraphs where JHU plans to marshal its energy and resources in the years ahead, distilling the collective thinking and ambitions of the Hopkins community into 10 distinct, far-reaching goals.
"Hopkins has long been a place that has given birth to ideas and aspirations that change the world. Today is no different," the Ten for One begins. "Working together, we see in these 10 goals the promise of all that we can achieve. As America's first research university, Johns Hopkins has stood at the vanguard of inquiry and discovery since 1876. Time and again, we have demonstrated that when we strive and dream together, our institution can shape the world in enduring and indelible ways. Now is a chance to do that again—as One University."
Members of the Hopkins community are encouraged to read the draft strategic framework and are invited to provide feedback online by Friday, May 12. The final strategic plan, informed by that feedback, will be shared with the board of trustees for endorsement and released this summer.
The goals are grouped into four overarching categories—One University, Individual and Collective Excellence, Knowledge and Impact, and Community Partnerships and Economic Opportunity. They span the full spectrum of university activity, including major investments in the faculty, staff, and student experiences; diversity, equity, inclusion, and pluralism; Baltimore and other neighboring communities; and research and teaching in fields that will shape the future of our society and the world.
The goals are:
One University
- Invigorate the sense of community and shared on-campus experience that are the essence of our university.
- Embark on an ambitious series of major cross-university initiatives that build on our achievements as One University and lower the barriers to collaboration so that our faculty, students, and staff can pursue their ideas wherever they take them.
- Deepen our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to fostering a culture of dialogue and engagement that models the best of a pluralistic society.
Individual and Collective Excellence
- Retain, recruit, and inspire the very best faculty in the world by ensuring that we have competitive resources, state-of-the-art facilities, and outstanding support services that nurture research and discovery at the vanguard of each field of inquiry.
- Honor our legacy as the nation's first research university by developing ambitious reforms so that every graduate student and postdoctoral fellow receives an experience that is rigorous, innovative, and tailored to their career aspirations.
- Create the preeminent undergraduate experience in a research-intensive university setting by nurturing a learning environment that allows students to connect with our leading faculty and research programs; provides unrivaled mentorship, immersive experiences, and life design; and creates a culture of engagement, community, and belonging that ensures our students can thrive individually and collectively.
- Become a national employer of choice that recognizes, celebrates, and supports our staff and offers multiple pathways to professional and personal advancement for themselves and their families.
Knowledge and Impact
- Create the leading academic hub for data science and artificial intelligence to drive research and teaching in every corner of the university and magnify our impact in every corner of the world.
- Develop new pathways to help us translate our cutting-edge research into meaningful policy ideas, and become the preeminent source of academic expertise for evidence-based policymaking in service to the nation and the world.
Community Partnership and Economic Opportunity
- Develop a new generation of partnerships and programs to support the aspirations of our neighbors and generate economic opportunity for the city of Baltimore and other communities of which we are a part.
Each overarching goal is underpinned by a series of specific, action-oriented subgoals that bring focus and purpose to the ideas they support, many of them informed by the many conversations President Daniels had with members of the university community and others.
"The listening sessions were extremely valuable, and I'm so grateful to all of the students who contributed their time and candid thinking to this process," said Nancy Kass, vice provost for graduate and professional education. "We are well positioned to dramatically expand the innovation that is occurring in so many pockets of the university and to reimagine what is in place for all graduate students at Johns Hopkins."
Added Pierre Joanis, vice president for human resources: "The listening sessions with staff were a substantive conversation about the future of the university, and the discussions informed the entire strategic framework, and the new staff goal in particular, in countless ways. I want to thank the newly formed Staff Advisory Council Planning Group and all of the staff members who participated in the staff sessions across the university and whose ideas helped to shape this document."
Looking forward, Johns Hopkins aims to build on those conversations—as well as the successes of the previous strategic plan, the Ten by Twenty—with the Ten for One, a plan that positions the university to continue its trajectory of ever-increasing impact that began nearly 150 years ago.
"The aspirations in this document were informed by conversations with people from every part of our One University and the extraordinary partners we have across Baltimore," Daniels said. "They reflect the highest aspirations for the future of Johns Hopkins, and I look forward to all that lies ahead in the coming years and all that we will achieve together."
