Throughout its 184-year history, Saint Louis University has thrived upon the potential of its own talented community. Therefore, it is not surprising that the strategic planning process would entail extensive collaboration among faculty, staff, students and administrators. By becoming direct contributors in determining SLU's identity and direction, every member of our University community has the opportunity to participate directly in determining its destiny: namely, by shaping our shared vision of becoming the finest Catholic university in this nation.

This latest strategic plan reinforces this shared vision by focusing on our core values and traditions of excellence in teaching, research and service. More importantly, the plan builds upon the foundations set by those before us; the foundations which have positioned SLU as a leader in higher education and moral development. We have remained steadfast in our objective of educating women and men for others in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition. And while this tradition rests at the very center of our mission and operations, so too does it pose our greatest challenge in terms of preserving its integrity while also adapting to meet the needs of new generations.

Like any strategic planning process, this current plan illustrates those areas that will require our attention in order to insure our future growth. However, it also highlights those areas that constitute our greatest strengths. Our academic programs continue to grow in quality, size and variety, the students we accept are becoming brighter each year, student retention is up, and our academic reputation overall is continuing to garner greater recognition each year.