You may have heard the words “competitive excellence” lately on campus and wondered what exactly it is all about. Interim President Scott Coltrane and acting Provost Frances Bronet first shared the concept at a meeting of the UO Board of Trustees in September. The presentation has since been posted on the provost office's website. The president and provost are also talking about competitive excellence and academic planning at the University Senate’s Oct. 22 meeting.

The competitive excellence presentation is a foundational document that summarizes several strategic initiatives started over the last year and new proposals to advance the university’s mission. It identifies the university’s strengths, challenges and a path forward. Coltrane and Bronet say they see it also as a critical document to help renew the academic plan.

“The idea of competitive excellence is really about pursuit. Just as researchers strive to get published in the best journals or compete for federal funding, we as a university must show that same kind of energy and enthusiasm for advancing our mission,” said Coltrane. “It is really about committing fully to being the best – through thoughtful planning, measuring, hard work and passion.”

The goals of the competitive excellence plan include:

• Attracting bright, high achieving, diverse students through scholarships and programs.
• Hiring and retaining outstanding and diverse faculty members and researchers through targeted programs like the “Clusters of Excellence” hiring initiative.
• Providing more opportunities to Oregon students with financial need through PathwayOregon and other scholarship programs.
• Supporting all students’ success with increased support and enrichment programs.
• Creating and maintaining the spaces, resources and technology needed for faculty and students to learn and thrive.
• Ensuring financial stability and responsibility.

“This is the next step in our planning,” said Bronet. “We spent much of last year talking to campus about the mission statement, the objectives of academic planning and creating cluster hire proposals. Now we are drawing a larger roadmap in order to reach the ambitions addressed in the competitive excellence documents.”

Coltrane and Bronet say achieving these goals will require strategic effort and planning across the entire campus, in collaboration with the larger community, and will entail substantial financial investment. The document also outlines various resources including the state, bonds, and the recently announced fundraising campaign.

—By Jennifer Winters, Public Affairs Communications