UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Following the announcement of 11 Road Map workstreams in September, University leaders, in collaboration with workstream sponsors and leads, have solidified preliminary workstream targets. The preliminary targets establish initial goals to guide planning and inform recommendations for advancing key University priorities.
The targets were developed based on findings from the University-Wide Organizational Assessment conducted earlier this year. Drawing on University data, peer benchmarking, and input from more than 200 University leaders and stakeholders, including faculty and staff, the assessment identified opportunities to build on Penn State’s strengths, improve outcomes for students and communities, and position the University for sustained excellence.
The assessment’s findings informed the creation of the 11 priority workstreams announced during the Sept. 24 State of State community update. Workstream sponsors and leads, as announced Oct. 6, will use the preliminary targets to guide discussions, gather input from the University community, and develop detailed plans and recommendations.
The FY 30 planning targets are:
- Academic Operations: Optimize academic operations to enhance the student experience (e.g., gift utilization, academic activity, supplemental pay).
- Administrative Operations: Review staffing ratios and consistent use of supplemental pay across units, colleges and campuses.
- Advancement: 10% increase in philanthropic support (excluding research).
- Auxiliaries, Real Estate, and Capital Planning: Improve utilization of University space and assets while supporting a high-quality campus experience.
- Healthcare Costs: Review and explore opportunities to reduce healthcare costs.
- Procurement: 7% estimated savings from external spend baseline.
- Research & Development: Increase research commercialization and fiscally sustainable faculty research productivity.
- Student Success: Three percentage point increase in six-year graduation rate.
- Undergraduate Enrollment and Aid: Transform the student aid process currently spanning more than 70 distinct groups into a streamlined experience, providing students with timely, coordinated award and aid decisions.
- World Campus: 12,000 more nontraditional learners served.
There is additional work underway on the Commonwealth Campuses workstream; preliminary targets will be established and shared with the community as this work advances.
Penn Staters encouraged to get involved
As planning continues, Penn State faculty, staff and other community members are encouraged to share their expertise, experience and ideas to help shape the workstreams’ plans and recommendations.
A series of workstream-specific engagement sessions start during the week of Oct. 12 and continue through the end of October. Engagement sessions have been scheduled to date for eight workstreams: Administrative Operations, Advancement, Healthcare Costs, Procurement, Research & Development, Student Success, Undergraduate Enrollment and Aid, and World Campus.
Community members can find session dates, times and registration links by selecting the corresponding workstream title above. Engagement sessions are being offered both virtually and in person, depending on the workstream. Participants are encouraged to bring actionable ideas and questions to help inform the work underway.
Engagement sessions have not yet been scheduled for every workstream. Because the initiatives are at different stages of development, opportunities for participation will vary by workstream. Additional engagement opportunities will be shared as planning progresses.
What happens after the engagement sessions
Following these sessions, workstream teams will review the ideas shared by the Penn State community and develop a portfolio of initiatives. Each initiative will be assigned an owner, who will be responsible for developing detailed implementation plans.
For most workstreams, planning is expected to continue through January, with proposed plans submitted to University leadership for review. The portfolio of plans developed across these workstreams will then be reviewed by University leadership for decision making on which ideas and plans are considered for implementation. This information will then be shared with the broader Penn State community in February, except for the Academic Operations workstream, which will continue planning through May.
The latest details about this initiative can be found on the University’s Road Map website, which will continue to be updated as this work advances.