Impact 360 Strategic Plan
Our Vision
Anchored in our Christ-centered mission, Lipscomb University will lead as a top-tier, nationally recognized institution. We will excel in teaching, learning and research; be ambitious in our service to others; and be driven by continuous improvement.
Our Mission
We are a Christ-centered community preparing learners for purposeful lives through rigorous academics and transformative experiences.
Our Core Tenets
We are a community engaged with the life and teachings of Jesus. We are committed to an ongoing search for truth. We provide excellent, whole-person learning experiences to shape lives of character, leadership, service and faith. We equip people to succeed in their vocation and contribute to the common good by living out their faith in action.
Our Values
Love God | MATTHEW 22:37B-38
Serve others | GALATIANS 5:13B
Respect all | MATTHEW 22:39B
Pursue joy | PSALM 68:3
Seek to learn | PROVERBS 1:5A
Embrace collaboration | GALATIANS 5:22-23A
Deliver our best | COLOSSIANS 3:23A
Create solutions | JEREMIAH 33:3
Our Goals
Goal 1: Provide a premier, learner-focused Christian education
Goal 2: Promote and develop spiritual growth and transformation across our community
Goal 3: Recruit, support, retain and graduate students with the tools for a purposeful life
Goal 4: Build a culture of diversity, equity and belonging where people thrive as image-bearers of God
Goal 5: Expand our engagement, influence and impact by forging deep connections with communities, organizations and alumni
Goal 6: Empower and sustain a culture of effectiveness, efficiency, collaboration and financial strength across our community
Measuring Our Success
We gauge our success by measuring:
- Recognition for our university for educational and research leadership
- Spiritual and intellectual fulfillment for our students and graduates
- Demand for our graduates by employers and post-graduate programs
- Commitment to a life of service to community by our alumni, students, staff and faculty
- Indicators of our organizational and financial strength as an institution
Achieving Our Goals
Goal 1: Provide a premier, learner-focused Christian education
Learning is the beating heart of our vision and mission. To accomplish this goal we will:
- Strategy 1: Implement a rigorous Christian liberal arts education.
- Strategy 2: Create a faith-centered educational environment with programming that enables learners to be curious, analytical, innovative and resilient supported by advances in scholarship.
- Strategy 3: Attract, recruit and retain mission-aligned faculty who excel in teaching and scholarship.
- Strategy 4: Enhance student success through improved retention, advising, mentoring and vocational preparation.
- Strategy 5: Promote meritorious research and scholarly productivity enabling the transition from a Doctoral/Professional University to a High Research University.
- Strategy 6: Implement a continuous data-informed program review and support process.
Key indicators of success:
- Strong learning outcomes
- Strong internship and job placement rates
- Effective recruitment and retention of faculty and staff
- Increasing scope and efficacy of our research enterprise
Goal 2: Promote and develop spiritual growth and transformation across our community
Nurturing spiritual growth throughout the university is integral to our mission. To support the faith of each member of the Lipscomb community we will:
- Strategy 1: Sustain and strengthen our Christ-centered mission.
- Strategy 2: Strengthen and coordinate spiritual formation efforts for our community members.
- Strategy 3: Advance the discovery and actualization of faith and vocation.
Key indicators of success:
- Increases over time in spiritual fulfillment and engagement
- Engagement in service and mission opportunities
- Utilization of the Center for Vocational Discovery & Life Purpose
Goal 3: Recruit, support, retain and graduate students with the tools for a purposeful life
To fully meet our mission we must ensure that learners know and value what we offer, seek admission, and thrive once they join us at Lipscomb. To fully meet our students’ needs we will:
- Strategy 1: Recruit, enroll and retain students, who contribute to the intellectual, social and spiritual life of the University.
- Strategy 2: Develop an integrated approach to student life and engagement to re-energize the student experience for students.
- Strategy 3: Recruit, hire, develop and retain a diverse student life staff that is characterized by its shared mission, culture of innovation and love for students.
Key indicators of success:
- Increasing prospective student interest; increased applications and yields
- Strong student retention and graduation rates
- Improved student physical and mental wellness
- Continuous improvement on student satisfaction surveys and graduating student exit surveys
Goal 4: Build a culture of diversity, equity and belonging where people thrive as image-bearers of God
We value each and every member of the Lipscomb University community. To ensure our students, faculty, staff, and alumni experience a genuine sense of belonging in our community we will:
- Strategy 1: Center policy development and actions on a theology of diversity, reconciliation and justice based on the life and ministry of Jesus and Scripture.
- Strategy 2: Increase hiring and retention of faculty, staff, and administration of historically underrepresented groups; increase the diversity of the University’s leadership in all areas.
- Strategy 3: Provide ongoing support to students, faculty, staff and administration of underrepresented groups.
- Strategy 4: Enhance the University’s engagement with alumni, churches and communities of historically underrepresented groups.
Key indicators of success:
- Increasing sense of belonging amongst students, faculty, and staff in satisfaction surveys
- Robust diversity throughout our community
- Active and substantive engagement with historically underrepresented communities
Goal 5: Expand our engagement, influence and impact by forging deep connections with communities, organizations and alumni
Our community extends far beyond the boundaries of our campus and our vision and mission can only be fully implemented through rich collaborations with the individuals, organizations, and communities we serve. To extend and deepen our reach we will:
- Strategy 1: Prioritize and enhance alumni programming and services.
- Strategy 2: Create opportunities to impact the community outside the walls of campus.
- Strategy 3: Cultivate a campus environment designed to create passionate fans of Lipscomb.
- Strategy 4: Engage communities with Lipscomb’s story and mission more broadly, boldly and consistently.
Key indicators of success:
- Thriving levels of alumni engagement
- Increasing career services utilization and satisfaction for students and alumni
- Scope and quality of campus engagement in the community
- Participation in Lipscomb life-long learning opportunities
Goal 6: Empower and sustain a culture of effectiveness, efficiency, collaboration and financial strength across our community
Our ability to achieve our vision and mission relies on our efficacy and vitality as an organization. To ensure Lipscomb thrives we will:
- Strategy 1: Develop and use a common framework to manage performance, engagement and well-being for all employees.
- Strategy 2: Develop a "one-stop" approach for the entire lifecycle of student services.
- Strategy 3: Enhance our financial key performance indicators through endowment growth, debt reduction and operating margin improvement.
Key indicators of success:
- Widespread adoption and achievement of performance goals
- High rates of employee engagement and low turnover
- Increasing student utilization of and satisfaction with services
- High levels of parent satisfaction
- Enduring financial strength as an institution
