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Message from the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Initiatives
Dear Campus Community,
I am pleased to share with you the Strategic Initiatives Annual Report for 2020-21. In 2016, under the leadership of President James T. Harris III, and with the support of the Board of Trustees, USD launched its strategic plan, called, Envisioning 2024.
To support the implementation of this ambitious plan, President Harris created the Division of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Initiatives (IESI). In this role, IESI oversees the administration of the Strategic Initiatives Fund, which is used to pilot project proposals from USD students, faculty members and staff that align with the five goals and/or six pathways of the strategic plan.
This funding stream is outside of USD’s normal budgeting process and so opens the door to the ideas of our students, faculty members and staff to realize areas they are passionate about and build upon their expertise to further USD’s strategic vision.
The purpose of the fund is to jump-start, but not permanently fund, initiatives for a two-year period. The university has $500,000 to grant per award cycle (thus, $250,000 per year) for all initiatives. The maximum award one initiative can receive is $200,000 (thus, $100,000 per year). Successful projects then have the opportunity to be permanently funded through the university’s budget or through external resources such as grants and donations.
Strategic initiative proposals are solicited annually and are evaluated by university-wide committees composed of students, faculty members and staff. The committees evaluate and score proposals based upon their support of USD’s strategic goals, multidisciplinary focus, feasibility, and impact. Thus far, there have been five cohorts of strategic initiative awardees. For proposals that occurred this year, the committees were particularly interested in proposals for initiatives that focused on countering anti-Black racism, specifically, and racial injustice more generally while incorporating one or more of the following identified urgent challenges of today: homelessness, cross-border engagement, food justice, environmental justice, human trafficking, and/or educational equity. You may read about these newly funded initiatives as part of the Cohort 5 section within this report.
Over the past four years, USD has provided nearly $1.8 million to fund 38 pilot projects. In May 2021, we celebrated the work of these projects via Zoom during our Second Annual Summit: Confronting Humanity’s Urgent Challenges. IESI, together with the campus community, looks forward a time when we can celebrate the work of all awardees in an in-person environment (postpandemic). The Strategic Initiatives Annual Report for 2020-21 describes all projects currently receiving funding (Cohorts 3-4) and projects whose funds will soon commence (Cohort 5). Cohorts 1-2 initiatives can be found in prior annual reports.
It is my sincere hope that you find these projects exciting and that they help you to better understand our efforts in achieving our vision for 2024: The University of San Diego will set the standard for an engaged, contemporary Catholic university where innovative Changemakers confront humanity’s urgent challenges.
Thank you and be well,
Andrew T. Allen, PhD Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Initiatives
