Strategic Directions
Within the decade, Saint Louis University will achieve distinction as the finest Catholic university in the United States. The University will attain this distinction by continuing to advance its Catholic, Jesuit mission, pursue its vision, and foster its positive core and by focusing on four specific directions: expanding research integrated with teaching, learning, and service; advancing community with diversity; fostering technology dedicated to student formation and the generation of knowledge; and promoting continuous institutional learning and innovation.

Expanding Research Integrated with Teaching, Learning, and Service
Research is intrinsic to teaching, learning, and service at Saint Louis University. Scholarship serves the community by adding to the knowledge base and by bettering lives and serves students by enhancing teaching and by providing opportunities for students to learn through the pursuit of knowledge. The University is committed to expanding opportunities for the discovery and dissemination of knowledge with a focus on fostering the synergy among research, teaching, learning, and service.

Advancing Community with Diversity
The people of Saint Louis University aspire to improve the quality of life for all persons, to work for the good of society, and to provide a welcoming environment for men and women from all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Significant efforts are necessary to increase diversity so that the University community is reflective of the larger community. While the University remains firmly rooted in the local community, actively involved in resolving issues important to the surrounding area, it is also linked to the global community. Community service at the local, national, and international levels is an integral part of research, teaching, and learning. The University is committed to attending to community through research and service, to preparing students for the global community, and to fostering student formation in a community of diversity.

Fostering Technology Dedicated to Student Formation and the Generation of Knowledge
Technology is a tool that shapes the way the Saint Louis University community interacts internally and with the world, enhances pedagogy, increases learning opportunities, facilitates research, and improves service to the community. Technology offers the opportunity to develop alternative educational paradigms appropriate to the mission of the University. The University is committed to developing and implementing technology to advance student formation, to benefit research, to enhance service, and to better society in the Jesuit tradition.

Promoting Continuous Institutional Learning and Innovation
Saint Louis University strives for excellence in the fulfillment of its purposes of teaching, research, and service. Innovation, change, and discovery are respected and encouraged in an environment that promotes risk-taking and supports willingness to change in order to pursue excellence. Continuous review and improvement of the objectives that determine the educational experiences for students; of courses, programs, and curricula; of the physical environment for learning and living; and of the utilization of resources to sustain quality are the means for the University to become the finest Catholic university in the United States. The University is committed to continuing to strive for excellence by systemically incorporating processes and structures to promote continuous institutional learning and innovation.

Endorsed by the Saint Louis University Board of Trustees, May 5, 2001