UNT’s Strategic Plan for Research
UNT’s Strategic Plan for Research: 2017-2022, a thoroughly revised and updated version of UNT’s research strategic plan, was filed with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in January in response to the board’s request that institutions update their plans as appropriate. The original plan was filed in 2010 in response to the Coordinating Board’s requirement that each emerging research university develop its own long-term strategic plan for achieving recognition as a national research university.
Leading up to the plan’s 2017 update, research has become even more of a focal point for faculty researchers and administrators. During the 2015-16 academic year, “Own Excellence to Achieve Tier One Status” was one of the primary topics covered in President Smatresk’s 2015 Planning Implementation Workshop. In addition to the fall workshop, Vice President Tom McCoy hosted a town hall session in February 2016 to bring faculty together to look at UNT’s current status and its path toward national research prominence.
That same month, UNT announced it had achieved the Carnegie Classification’s “Tier One” status as one of the nation’s “Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity” (R1), joining the ranks of the nation’s 131 top-tier research universities.
The plan, which was written with clear action items and expected outcomes, was created with the following research mission as the core guide:
UNT’s research enterprise prepares students to join the next generation of the technical workforce through both education and research experiences, enriches faculty members’ contributions through scholarly and innovative expression, and supports sponsoring entities’ need for scientific and technological innovation.