• Executive summary
  • Mission, vision and values
  • Theme I
  • Theme II
  • Theme III
  • Theme IV
  • Benchmarking Progress
  • Resourcing the Strategic Plan
  • Implementation Phase
• The plan
  • The Planning Process
  • Environmental Scan
  • Guiding Principles
  • Planning Framework
  • Mission, Vision and Values
  • Theme I
  • Theme II
  • Theme III
  • Theme IV
  • Benchmarking Progress
  • Resourcing the Strategic Plan
  • Accountability for Results
  • References
• Strategic planning process
  • Task force
• Implementation

About the plan

Since its inception in 1968, Virginia Commonwealth University has marched toward this moment in its history — poised to take its place among the nation’s pre-eminent public universities in one of the most challenging times to face higher education.

VCU’s achievements under the most recent phase of its strategic plan¹ resulted in high regard for our nationally ranked academic programs and academic medical center, research and scholarly productivity, and engagement with the communities we serve.

This next phase of the strategic plan — VCU Quest for Distinction — embraces our vision as a premier urban, public research university focused on student success. It does so responsibly, with a renewed focus on how VCU will pursue excellence at every level even in the face of dwindling resources and increasing calls for accountability and demonstrable value for higher education.

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¹VCU’s strategic plan is an ever evolving document providing guidance toward the current and future priorities. Phase 1 of the plan was called Strategic Plan for the Future of Virginia Commonwealth University (1993-1998); Phase II, Strategic Plan For the Future Phase II (1998-2006); Phase III, VCU 2020: Vision for Excellence (2006-2011); and Phase IV, VCU Quest for Distinction (2011-2017).