Building Rice’s Future

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

President DesRoches leaning against column in Sallyport

Planning for Rice University’s future is an important endeavor that we officially launched a year ago and expect to complete by the fall. The plan will articulate Rice’s vision for the next 10 years and define how the university will focus its resources to realize Rice’s vision, outline metrics that will allow Rice to measure progress against our strategic goals, and propose strategies to achieve those goals. Implementation of the plan will follow. Members of the faculty, staff, student body and Board of Trustees will guide the planning process and the Houston-based consulting firm of Sterling will help facilitate it. Various stakeholders have had the opportunity to provide input. Rice is an exceptional institution with brilliant faculty, ambitious students, strong leaders and an unmatched staff support system. In addition to providing a top-notch education to our students, we contribute meaningful and impactful research and creative pursuits to the betterment of society. But I believe we can do even more, build on our strengths and, together, forge courageous new paths.

President Reginald DesRoches

Strategic Planning Committee

A 15-member strategic planning committee was selected to provide insight and gather diverse perspectives from their areas of expertise. The committee — along with Rice’s deans and vice presidents — is leading the planning process. The broader Rice community will have ample opportunity to lend their voices to the plan. Rice University Provost Amy Dittmar is chair of the committee.

Planning Process Overview

Planning Process Overview Chart

Stakeholder Feedback

Between January and April, 32 focus groups were held with the groups listed here. Additional focus groups were convened around a specific topic, including research, infrastructure, DEI and the Rice experience.

  • Alumni
  • Architecture
  • Athletics
  • Deans
  • Development
  • Engineering
  • External Stakeholders
  • Finance and Administration
  • Glasscock School
  • Graduate Students
  • Humanities
  • Information Technology
  • Jones School
  • Music
  • Natural Science
  • Research
  • Staff
  • Students
  • Social Sciences
  • Strategic Planning Committee
  • Undergraduate Students
  • Vice Presidents

All students, faculty and staff received a survey in April. Developed in collaboration with Rice faculty and institutional research representatives, the survey was designed to gather specific feedback from stakeholders about Rice’s future. The groups listed in blue denote focus groups that have been conducted.

Draft Plan Structure

Rice President Reginald DesRoches stated in his inaugural address that his vision for the university is that Rice be a premier research university with much greater visibility and with graduate programs of the same distinction as the university's undergraduate program, all while maintaining Rice's commitment to excellence in undergraduate education and the values of diversity, equity and inclusion. DesRoches’ vision has been deconstructed here and will be used as a guide for the university’s strategic planning process. His vision is expected to evolve over the course of the planning process and land where it needs to be based on the feedback of key stakeholders.

Plan Structure

Communications

June Strategic Planning Update Wednesday, Jun. 28, 2023

Strategic Planning Update Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023

Strategic planning process to be launched in January Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

President Leebron, the seventh president of Rice University, completed his first strategic plan — Vision for the Second Century (V2C) — in 2004. The plan was revisited in 2017 and renamed Vision for the Second Century, Second Decade. You can learn more about these plans here: https://v2c2.rice.edu. It is important to note that many aspects of these plans will be incorporated into President DesRoches' vision for Rice.