When Marie Hardin was announced as the next president of Quinnipiac University, she and her team began what was called Strategic Visioning, a three-step program meant to integrate new vision and mission statements for the next three years.
The third event, Strategic Visioning Part III, took place on Tuesday, March 25, in the Communications, Computing & Engineering building. Students, university officials, faculty and staff across all departments and majors attended the event during the common hour.
“This isn’t a retirement plan, we’re proposing some bold things here,” Hardin said.
The events, which have taken place in person and over Zoom during President Hardin’s time at the university, have included a lot of back-and-forth input from faculty, staff and Hardin, either in survey form or through simple call and response.
A heavy focus of the two prior meetings was improving the previous mission and vision statements for Quinnipiac, as Hardin and her team drafted many different versions to ensure a cohesive final message.
“We took the components of the mission statement that was currently in place, it was a bit wordy, and we condensed some of the language to make it more succinct,” Vice President of Government and Community Relations, and Chief of Staff to Hardin Bethany Zemba said. “If you know Marie at all, her background is in communications, so she’s really savvy. She thinks ‘how do we maintain people’s attention and really help focus in on what we’re trying to achieve,’ so the mission statement is nice and crisp.”
The updated mission statement, announced by President Hardin at the event, is the following:
“We empower graduates to build meaningful careers and lives of impact. Through rigorous academics, immersive learning and deep industry and community connections, we prepare globally aware graduates ready to navigate the changing workforce landscape.”
Below is the updated vision, also announced at the event.
“As a national leader in higher education, Quinnipiac prepares graduates who combine intellectual depth, professional expertise and a commitment to advancing human flourishing. We empower our students through premier academic programs that meet workforce needs, campus life focused on well-being and connection and partnerships that improve lives and communities.”
Hardin introduced six new strategic priority areas, which is different than the four pillars of the last plan.
- Empower academic success
- Cultivate a community of learners
- Lead through innovation
- Design a distinctive experience
- Advancing health and human potential
- Extend our partnerships and our value
Throughout the event, Hardin repeatedly emphasized the term “human,” and how human connection, human flourishing and community connections are especially important in this AI-driven world.
Along with “human,” some other terms and keywords that were frequently mentioned were “immersive,” “partnerships” and “national leader,” as faculty and staff weighed in on the statements and priority areas, and what stood out to them.
“I think it’s a quality mission and vision statement, and I think it really represents our commitment to the student,” Clinical Associate Professor of Nursing Erica Mumm said.
“In priority six, I wanted a more intentional focus, not just on partnerships generally, but on alumni specifically,” Dean and Professor of Law Brian Gallini said. “That’s the only piece, from a content standpoint, it’s not that they were missing, but I just wanted them raised up a bit more.”
President Hardin has made it clear that she is willing to hear input from everyone at the university, including students, alumni, university partners and community members.
“I think President Hardin is really looking for students, staff and faculty input,” Mumm said. “I think that increases the buy-in from everybody at the university, and it’s a good way to go when you’re trying to make significant change.”
Zemba echoed that sentiment, and described how Hardin’s team is going about increasing engagement.
“As far as student engagement, we did contact the Student Government Association, and had a meeting with the leadership around strategic visioning,” Zemba said. “We also worked with a consultant to help design surveys that we used to collect additional feedback. We had over 900 people who submitted feedback for the strengths and distinctiveness, so the feedback has been robust throughout the process.”
Though the general consensus was positive, some faculty appreciated the direct plans of the past.
“I really like the current mission statement ‘The University of the Future,’ and I worry that there are a lot of institutions with similar language,” Dean Gallini said. “It just maybe blends too much with the marketplace. I feel like students should be able to know it right away.”
Gallini attended all three events on Quinnipiac’s North Haven campus, and despite critiques of the statements themselves, found all the events to be very positive.
“I really respect President Hardin’s approach of how she’s listening and receiving feedback, and I think it’s a great demonstration of inclusive leadership,” Gallini said. “It’s cliche, but also true. It is an exciting time to have these conversations.”
Even with the plan in its late development stage, many areas have already begun some of the initiatives.
“We have the reassurance that ‘oh the initiatives we have already started are the same that the president sees as priorities,’ Mumm said. “So it gives us a renewed spirit to say ‘hey, this is great, we’re going in the right direction, and President Hardin has out back on this one.’”
According to Quinnipiac’s website, the three-year plan is slated to be completed in the summer of 2026, with change expected at the start of the next academic year.