Dear Auburn Family,

Auburn University stands at a pivotal moment. We are a remarkable university with tremendous potential for greatness and are poised to achieve even greater heights. Our 10-year strategic plan launched this fall. As we embark on the next chapter in our institution’s history, it is crucial that we are guided by a strategic road map that embodies our aspirations for the future and leverages our role as a leader in higher education.

Over the past decade, Auburn has experienced extraordinary success in connecting student, faculty and staff talent, research, fundraising and community service. For example, we improved the educational opportunities and health care available to underserved communities. Other examples include our efforts to advance cybersecurity and AI initiatives, while promoting our work with key industries to create meaningful partnerships.

We began our strategic planning efforts last fall. We heard the thoughts and opinions of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the university. The discussion centered on Auburn’s core strengths, our challenges and the areas where we could seize unique opportunities for advancement. I thank every member of the Auburn Family who offered their ideas and aspirations for our university. This collective effort led to a dynamic plan that offers a bold vision for Auburn’s future. It is a profoundly ambitious vision that recognizes and celebrates the strengths of our institution.

The strategic plan includes five broad goals with specific action items and key performance indicators to track our progress. We endeavor to exemplify excellence and elevate the Auburn Experience through exceptional student-centered education, transformational research, impactful creative works and scholarship, and far-reaching extension and outreach activities that enhance the quality of life and foster economic growth, while being distinctively Auburn.

Achieving these goals requires every member of the Auburn Family to dream bigger, be bolder and pursue excellence. Our quest to be an engine of prosperity is backed by extraordinary institutional dedication and unlimited potential to catalyze positive change.

We will harness our remarkable individual and collective strengths, be mindful of the values embodied in the Auburn Creed and seize unique opportunities for distinction that will enable Auburn to be recognized as a truly impactful and transformative university. Your support of our institution facilitated many successes, and I ask for your continued engagement as we embark on our next chapter. Your commitment will help lead Auburn University to achieve its aspirational goals.

War Eagle!

Christopher B. Roberts
President