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SLU’s Next Strategic Plan

Future in Focus: Planning for 2026-30

With SLU's next strategic plan, we will meet the challenges and opportunities of our moment with courageous inquiry and bold action. 

As a Catholic, Jesuit university, we are called to employ our gifts where we have the unique capacity to make a transformative difference. 

The plan we develop will answer this question: What tangible actions over the next several years will enable SLU to most effectively and impactfully advance our mission? 

Students cross Grand in front of SLU's pedestrian gate.
 

Planning Process and Teams

This strategic plan is about focus — observing challenges and opportunities clearly and prioritizing high impact actions that will move the University forward in our current landscape.  

President Edward J. Feser, Ph.D., has charged a Strategic Planning Steering Committee to assess the internal and external terrain, solicit the insights of the SLU community and key stakeholders, and propose a focused number of compelling strategies and supporting actions.

Each steering committee member has been assigned to a planning team dedicated to one of the four core areas of the plan. These four teams will facilitate substantive community engagement so that the strategic plan embodies the insights and aspirations of the SLU community.

Enrollment

Planning team members

  • Jennifer Giancola, Ph.D., School for Professional Studies (chair)
  • Eric Armbrecht, Ph.D., School of Medicine
  • Jean Marie Cox, Enrollment Management
  • Scott Duellman, Ph.D., School for Professional Studies/Chaifetz School of Business
  • Stacey Harrington, J.D., Provost’s Office
  • Staffed by: Nicci Roach, President's Office
Student Success

Planning team members

  • Steve Sanchez, Ph.D. Provost’s Office (chair)
  • Matt Goodwin, Ph.D., Student Development
  • Brittany Hollister, Ph.D., School of Medicine
  • Laurie Mazzuca, Ph.D., SLU-Madrid
  • Jeff Jackson, Ph.D., Career Services
  • Staffed by: Matt Davis, Provost's Office
Research and Scholarship

Planning team members

  • Ellen Barnidge, Ph.D., Office of the Vice President for Research (chair)
  • Nate Kinsey, Ph.D., School of Science and Engineering
  • Claire Gilbert, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
  • Adriana Montaño, Ph.D., School of Medicine
  • Jesse Helton, Ph.D., School of Social Work
  • Staffed by: Virginia Herbers, Mission and Identity
Athletics

Planning team members

  • Anthony Breitbach, Ph.D., Doisy College of Health Sciences (chair)
  • Danielle Uy, J.D., General Counsel
  • Neil Jansen, M.P.A., Chaifetz School of Business
  • Mike Ross, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences/Faculty Athletics Representative
  • Chris Tinson, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences 
  • Staffed by: Janet Oberle, Ph.D., Athletics 

A core management team will coordinate and support the planning process.  

Planning support and coordination

Core management team members

This group, which includes a member of each planning team, provides a central point of coordination. 

  • Chris Rollins, J.D., Provost's Office (chair)
  • Nicci Roach, President's Office
  • Matt Davis, Provost's Office
  • Virginia Herbers, Mission and Identity
  • Janet Oberle, Ph.D., Athletics 

Outcomes and Impact

SLU’s Board of Trustees will review a completed strategic planning report on May 1, 2026. That report will include a focused set of strategies that will have the greatest positive impact on SLU’s mission -- distinctive strategies that will set SLU apart in a competitive and complex landscape. 

Launch and implementation of the strategic plan will begin in summer 2026 and extend through May of 2030. The plan will be continuously assessed and updated over its four-year life. 

More planning resources for the SLU community (SLU ID required)