Strategic Plan

To continue VCU College of Engineering's tradition of academic success and scientific innovation, our faculty and staff, foundation board members, the VCU Office of the Provost and VCU Office of the President have collaborated to set our strategic plan. This new direction complements VCU's Quest for Distinction, stimulates our collaborative, creative, and innovative culture, promotes student-centered learning, provides a global perspective of engineering, and secures VCU's role as a leader for a brighter future.

Strategic Plan Quest 2028

Our Mission

Our mission is to create and grow a community of exceptional students, faculty, staff, alumni and industry partners that strive to create a common future for all where innovative, sustainable and equitable solutions to global engineering challenges are realized for the benefit of this generation and future generations.

Our Vision

A Community that fosters:

  1. An environment for experiential student-centered learning, preparing the interdisciplinary leaders of tomorrow.
  2. Research making a positive difference on grand challenges facing society.
  3. Making big ideas real through a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration.
  4. A diverse and inclusive community supporting our students, faculty and staff.
  5. Real-world computer science and engineering by being a catalyst in encouraging industry and academia to collaborate, enabling experiences connecting students and faculty with alumni and industry, both at home and abroad.
  6. Sustainability, in order to create thriving, healthy, diverse and resilient communities for this generation and generations to come.

Core Values

  • Accountability: Committing to the efficient and transparent stewardship of our resources to achieve excellence
  • Achievement: Ensuring distinction in learning and scholarship
  • Collaboration: Fostering cooperation to advance learning, entrepreneurship and inquiry
  • Freedom: Striving for truth with responsibility and civility, respecting the dignity of all individuals
  • Innovation: Cultivating discovery, creativity and originality
  • Service: Engaging in the application of teaching, learning and discovery to improve the human condition and support the public good
  • Diversity and inclusion: Ensuring a culture of mutual trust and respect where individuals of differing cultural backgrounds, identities, abilities, ideas, beliefs and life experiences are embraced, engaged and empowered to drive excellence
  • Integrity: Adhering to the highest standards of honesty, respect and professional and scholarly ethics
  • Perseverance: Encouraging faculty, staff and students to meet their aspirational goals