The strategic planning process has three key deadlines:
- December 15, 2025: Submit a preliminary draft to President Jones and Provost Serio for initial review and feedback.
- January 31, 2026: Submit a revised second draft, incorporating feedback and additional input.
- February and March 2026: Solicit feedback from internal and external stakeholders and partners.
- March 27, 2026: Submit the final version, following further internal and external engagement, including consultation with the Board of Regents.
The visual below outlines these deadlines, highlights key dates and illustrates how community input will interface with the work of the strategic planning committee.
Summaries of community input
On September 19, 2025, the University of Washington distributed a short Qualtrics survey via email to all employees across its three campuses to support the launch of the strategic planning process. The invitation was co-signed by President Robert J. Jones and Provost Tricia Serio. The survey included five open-ended questions designed to gather faculty and staff feedback on the direction of institutional strategic planning.
Participants authenticated their UW community membership by signing in with a UW NetID; however, responses were anonymized using one-way hash encryption. The survey remained open from September 19 through September 29, 2025, and yielded 1,003 qualified responses.
Key Findings
Inductive qualitative data analysis revealed the following emergent themes for each of the five questions:
- What are our existing competitive advantages that we should prioritize and protect?
- Excellence in Research and Academic Programs
- Regional and Strategic Embeddedness
- Commitment to Equity, Access, and Inclusion
- People, Culture, and Organizational Strengths
- Reputation, Trust, and Social Responsibility
- What are the emerging areas in which, with focus and modest investment, we could increase our impact?
- Leverage Existing Strengths
- Improve the UW’s Value Proposition
- Belonging and Inclusion at the UW
- Operational Efficiencies and Synergies
- What should we stop doing now or transform to increase our effectiveness as a foundation for the future?
- Operational Efficiencies and Synergies
- Equity and Inclusion
- Resource Generation and Distribution
- Core Institutional Mission
- What are our greatest opportunities to promote the success and well-being of our students?
- Target Resources for Specific Student Support Services
- Attract, Support and Protect Diverse Students
- Invest in High-Impact Student Opportunities
- Support Faculty and Staff Who Support Students
- What other questions should we ask?
- How can the University reduce costs?
- How can the University attract, retain, and support faculty and staff?
- What barriers to innovation and collaboration exist, and how can we remove them?
- How can the University financially insulate itself from changes in state and federal funding?
Overall, responses reflected a neutral to slightly positive emotional tone. Negative sentiment was most pronounced in answers to the question regarding increasing institutional effectiveness.
Next Steps
These findings informed the strategic planning committee’s work in drafting a vision statement, overarching priorities and key objectives for the University’s strategic plan.
A total of 52 students and employees attended the November 12, 2025, listening session at UW Bothell’s North Creek Events Center.
A total of 71 students and employees attended the November 17, 2025, listening session in the Zillow Commons on Seattle’s campus.
A total of 40 students and employees attended the November 20, 2025, listening session in UW Tacoma’s Jane Russell Commons.
A total of 75 students and employees attended the December 1, 2025, listening session via Zoom and in person in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health on the Seattle campus.