STRATEGIC PLANNING

Solidify The High Research Activity R2 Status And Aim For Texas Emerging Research Institution Status

Prairie View A&M University has built a proud legacy of “Producing Productive People.”

Many years of teaching and training teachers, nurses, agriculture experts, and engineers have solidified the university’s stature as an educational institution. Today, the university is expanding its research enterprise and producing graduate and undergraduate scholars. The ascension to the next level in higher education ranking is the Division of Research & Innovation (R&I)’s core goal to increase PVAMU’s status as an emerging research institution.

In 2019, PVAMU welcomed Magesh Rajan as vice president of research and innovation. From day one, Rajan’s launched his mission to elevate the research and innovation enterprise at PVAMU. Preparing and positioning this historic land-grant university as an R2 high research activity institution has been the focus of Rajan’s five-year (2019-2024) strategic plan for the university’s research and innovation.

The prolonged disruptions caused by the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic, among other challenges, posed significant hardships. However, Rajan and his R&I team demonstrated grit and perseverance to the vision and mission in streamlining R&I operations, staff development, creating new offices and programs, an array of research initiatives, building strategic partnerships, cultivating a culture of research, innovation, and entrepreneurship across campus, sustaining and expanding faculty, staff, and studentcentered programs for a significant expansion of the research enterprise.

“It is astonishing for PVAMU to go from an M1: Master’s Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs to an R2 within three years as compared to the five-year vision initially set despite the global pandemic disruptions,” said Rajan.

PVAMU is now positioned as one of the top 11 HBCUs ranked as the R2 high research activity institution. It is critical for the university leadership and the campus community to ensure that this distinctive position is sustained and continues the growth momentum. It requires an assessment of resources, challenges, and opportunities and utilizes it to develop a solid strategic plan for the university's research, innovation, and economic development.

VP Rajan has envisioned the next strategic goal for PVAMU’s research and innovation is to aim toward Texas Emerging Research Institution status. The Division of R&I actively participates in the university's strategic planning to ensure vision setting and alignment towards equitable resources for addressing challenges and pursuing growth opportunities. R&I will lead a focused, detailed, and inclusive strategic planning for the division with inputs from university stakeholders.

Core Values

Cultivating a positive and productive working culture is at the heart of R&I’s leadership style for continued progress toward achieving the broader vision and goals. As such, Vice President Rajan instituted six core values in 2019 that are stressed and put into practice by the team. The Core Values of the R&I team are: