As the new academic year begins, DePaul University will embark on Vision 2018: Dedication to Excellence, Commitment to Community (V|2018), an ambitious six-year strategic plan to reinforce the university’s strengths and enhance academic excellence.

V|2018 was formed with input from all corners of DePaul. Information was gathered at a series of university-wide town hall and steering committee meetings, retreats and through faculty-staff feedback. The plan was approved by DePaul's Board of Trustees last spring.

“I know this plan will inspire new ideas and motivate all segments of the university to search for ways to make an even stronger DePaul,” said the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president. “The DePaul community deserves recognition for the special care and thought that went into creating Vision 2018.”

Moving forward, schools and colleges will be encouraged to form specific initiatives and unit plans with V|2018’s objectives in mind, said Jay Braatz, vice president for planning and presidential administration.

“The feedback we received from more than 2,000 individuals at DePaul was the driving force behind Vision 2018,” Braatz said. “It will be exciting to see how the university community incorporates the goals and objectives into their own departmental plans.”

Work has already started on implementing the plan among DePaul’s 10 colleges. Dean Charles Suchar of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (LAS) and LAS faculty, staff, students and alumni will form six task forces dedicated to implementing these areas:

 “The goal for each of these task forces will be to generate ideas and concepts for new initiatives by the end of the first year of the plan,” Suchar says. “These ideas will form the more concrete initiatives that LAS will begin implementing during the second year of Vision 2018.”

To learn more about the plan, visit V|2018 online at vision2018.depaul.edu.

About DePaul

With more than 25,000 students, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest. The university offers approximately 275 graduate and undergraduate programs of study on three Chicago and three suburban campuses. Founded in 1898, DePaul remains committed to providing a quality education through personal attention to students from a wide range of backgrounds. For more information, visit www.depaul.edu.