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In November of 2018, the Beach community came together to imagine the world of 2030, and the myriad technological, economic, sociopolitical, and environmental changes that will impact higher education in the intervening decade.

The Imagine Beach 2030 event invited thousands of stakeholders – students, faculty, staff, and community members - to participate in a unique two-day forum designed to elevate our collective voice on an unprecedented scale. The goal was to catalyze É«ÖÐɫ’s legacy of inclusivity and impetus for the public good into a grass roots movement, a future-focused zeitgeist that would unite and fortify our institution as a national leader at the dawn of a tempestuous era. Participants from all social strata and academic and professional disciplines contributed their expertise, identifying known drivers of change and imagining the consequences of different courses of action. 

The Imagine Beach 2030 platform enabled real-time conversation tracking, using algorithmic analysis to elevate vibrant discussions among tens of thousands of submissions. The immense data was synthesized into summaries of key themes and their relationships to university outcomes, creating a synopsis of the best foresight and wisdom of our constituents.

In the two years following the Imagine Beach 2030 event, dozens of planning committees representing stakeholders from every area of operation convened to continue the discussion. Students, faculty, staff, and community members considered both the challenges and the opportunities illuminated by the Imagine event and translated this wealth of data into recommendations for comprehensive and transformative action. 

The result was five Strategic Priorities which will align all planning efforts with É«ÖÐɫ’s Mission, Vision, and Values, and a framework for seven ambitious University Action Plans which will guide our work for the next 10 years.

The necessity for bold action has never been clearer. Though our recommendations were developed through a three-year planning process, the events of the spring of 2020 have done as much or more to galvanize the need for transformative action as the preceding work. Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing struggle for racial equality are exemplary of the swift action for the public good that is the spirit of Beach 2030, and the lessons learned have made us stronger, more united, and better prepared for challenges to come.