Elevate, Minnesota Carlson Strategic Plan for 2025-27
The creation of a business school at the University of Minnesota answered commercial enterprise demands for better business training— a need inspired, in part, by World War I. That was in 1915.
One-hundred-and-ten years later, the particular needs of businesses have changed, but the Carlson School of Management’s close connection with organizations in Minnesota and beyond remains strong. Ideas generated by world-class scholars have shifted how business is done, while more than 62,000 graduates live out the school’s enduring purpose: nurturing agile leaders who harness business expertise and insights to improve the world. As the Carlson School of Management enters its next chapter and we work to elevate our impact, the future is ever brighter.
From the Dean
Our community shares a spirit of progress. Of not accepting the status quo. Of finding new solutions for old problems. Of addressing thorny challenges together. This strategic plan aims to capture and enhance that spirit. When executed fully, we will set the standard for transformative business education and groundbreaking research.
Since our founding, the school has worked to combine an education in business theory with actual business practice. That has led to notable achievements in economics, the creation of the four “Ps” of marketing, pioneering experiential learning opportunities with real businesses, and the birth of a new academic discipline in Management Information Systems, just to name a few. As a result of an inclusive process that gathered input from more than 1,700 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, corporate leaders, University leaders, and others, this strategic plan will elevate our impact and strengthen a sense of belonging across our community. Thank you for engaging with us, providing your input, and participating as we bring this three-year plan to life. It will only be through working together that we can achieve what we desire!
Jamie Prenkert
Dean and Investors in Leadership Distinguished Chair
Purpose
We nurture agile leaders who harness business expertise and insights to improve the world.
Vision
We will set the standard for transformative business education and groundbreaking research.
Mission
We empower leaders to grow inclusive organizations and foster a healthier society by blending scholarly insights, hands-on learning, and access to our business community.
Values
Priority Areas
- Transformative Student Learning
We are expanding hands-on learning, deepening partnerships, and strengthening online access to equip students with the practical skills and flexibility to solve real challenges. - Community Connections
We unite the expertise of our faculty, staff, alumni, and business partners to drive student success and maximize our collective impact. - People-Powered Growth
We cultivate the enduring human capabilities—such as critical thinking, creativity, and ethical reasoning—that remain indispensable in an era of technological disruption.
Transformative Student Learning
To equip students with the skills, experiences, and knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving world, we will expand experiential learning opportunities to include all students and programs. By enhancing the breadth and depth of our offerings and deepening partnerships with businesses and community organizations, we will provide our students with hands-on experience that extends classroom learning to apply real solutions to real projects with real consequences. Strengthening our online learning infrastructure will increase access and flexibility, allowing students to engage with high-quality education regardless of location. We will also assess and refine our programs to align with student demand and industry needs. Each of these will advance our work to better deliver on our mission.
With an unparalleled business community right outside its doors, Carlson offers students more at-bats with companies and organizations than any other business school.
Experiential Learning
We have more breadth and depth in this area than almost any other business school. Approximately 1,600 students participate annually in a client project, with about 300 student teams working with roughly 190 external clients (companies and organizations). In addition, each year about 1,300 students participate in live cases or case competitions, thanks to the support and involvement of an unparalleled business community.
Home to 17 Fortune 500 headquarters, the world’s largest private company, a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, robust government, nonprofit, arts, and education sectors, six professional sports teams, and more, the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area offers one of the world’s most diverse business communities. Across our state and region, we benefit from an exceptional number of business sectors and a remarkable diversity of organizations, offering exclusive access to world-class experiences not found anywhere else.
Moving forward, we aim to significantly enhance the number, type, and quality of these experiences.
Give all students meaningful, high-quality, and varied experiential learning that prepares them for professional success.
Tactics
- Create a menu of opportunities across academic programs
- Create and implement consistent quality and outcome guidelines
- Increase access to immersive experiences to all students regardless of financial means
- Determine approach to the international experience graduation requirement for the next decade
- Expand opportunities and increase support for case competitions
Categories for Metrics
- Increase student involvement
- Consistently meet quality and outcome guidelines
- Reduce financial barriers to participation in international experiences
Increase capabilities for engaging, compelling, and accessible online education.
Tactics
- Enhance existing Instructional Design team; conduct needs assessment
- Improve production spaces and technology
- Evolve working professional master’s programs to better meet the needs of today’s online learners.
Categories for Metrics
- Improve studio spaces and technology
- Certify that online courses incorporate select online instruction best practices
Ensure program portfolio is sustainable and meets market needs for talent.
Tactics
- Develop evaluation criteria to measure financial and non-financial aspects for current and future programs
- Expand enrollment in the undergraduate Management minor
Categories for Metrics
- Determine sustainability and goals for each current program
- Increase representation in the minor from other Twin Cities campus colleges/schools
Attract and retain excellent faculty and staff who power transformative student learning.
Tactics
- Increase and diversify funding for faculty research and teaching support
- Enhance ways to develop teaching excellence
- Support priorities of the Teaching and Learning Advisory Community
Categories for Metrics
- Increase the number of fellowships, professorships, and endowed chairs
- Enhanced skill development among instructors
Agility, critical thinking, cultural competency, and other necessary leadership skills are best developed through a blend of classroom instruction and practical experience. Building on its strengths, in partnership with the worldclass business community we have at our doorstep, students will gain the tools to thrive.
Community Connections
Our community represents exceptional strength to build on:
- Faculty who are pioneering, discovering, and innovating in their fields to advance cutting-edge knowledge and help leaders and organizations around the world compete, break new ground, and maximize impact;
- Staff who are integral to all we do, from supporting student progress, learning, and career preparation, to facilitating research, to engaging all members of our community through events, collaboration, and partnerships;
- An alumni network that is more than 62,000 strong, leading for- and non-profit organizations and serving the public from Minneapolis to Mumbai and Shanghai to London; and
- An unparalleled business community of world-leading corporations, entrepreneurs, and local businesses, along with thriving non-profit and community organizations.
These faculty, staff, alumni, and business community members have excelled in their pursuits and facilitated the development and success of our students. We celebrate their work and count on their leadership, knowledge, mentorship, and support. And these areas of excellence cannot operate in isolation. We need our best talent working together, and we all need to embrace the full potential of our alumni and corporate relationships. We can be greater than the sum of our parts.
Now is the time for us to be clear about what we’re better at than anyone else and build a mindset, a culture, and a set of choices that is unique about what we do.
Collaboration, Serendipity, Innovation
By focusing at the intersection of our individual efforts—the point at which collaboration, serendipity, and innovation become not just possible but a regular occurrence—we will engage more alumni while better leveraging our advisory boards. We will coordinate an approach to corporate engagement seeking transformative partnerships. And we will build a “one Carlson” culture and mindset that promotes school-wide collaboration.
We are better together. We aim to deliver higher-level and broader-reaching results, while continuing to adapt to the ever-10 changing world around us.
Strengthen passion for the school among alumni.
Tactics
- Scale mentoring and guest speaker programs to reach more alumni in key areas
- Connect with alumni through all levels of engagement (e.g., through programs, centers, Carlson School, University of Minnesota)
- Grow career-focused mentoring programs to pair alumni with current students
- Enhance coordination and maximize advisory board engagement
Categories for Metrics
- Increase number of highly engaged alumni
- Broaden engagement with alumni in key regional markets in the United States and around the world
- Increase the number of graduating students who attribute meaningful alumni engagement to helping them achieve their goals
- Facilitate regular, periodic interaction among leaders of advisory boards
Foster a school-wide approach to achieve transformative corporate partnerships.
Tactics
- Establish outcomes and baseline measures for corporate engagement
- Develop shared goals and processes
- Create clear lines of communication among departments and units for collaborative approaches to corporate partners
Categories for Metrics
- Expand the number of engaged corporate partners in all areas of the school
- Increase the reach and impact of corporate partnerships
Empower a “one Carlson” mindset.
Tactics
- Facilitate relationship-building and incentivize collaboration
- Launch Innovation Fellows program and complete program initiatives
Categories for Metrics
- Increase across-school collaboration on strategic initiatives
- Increase event attendance and engagement levels among faculty and staff
- Generate positive movement in employee engagement survey
Carlson School of Management students—the leaders and workforce of tomorrow—and countless other beneficiaries excel as a direct result of the partnerships, mentorship, guidance, and opportunities provided by our entire community. Leveraging already existing strengths among our business community, alumni network, and faculty and staff, we will elevate the impact of our efforts by working together in new and more effective ways.
People-Powered Growth
Our world is in the midst of an artificial intelligence (AI) and technological revolution that will disrupt every industry in unexpected ways. But human beings still possess unique gifts, talents, and traits that will endure: effective communication and relationship-building, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, cultural competency, adaptability, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. These characteristics are needed across every industry and organization now more than ever.
The wider your lens, the better your answer… That’s the nature of this moment: possibility keeps regenerating—if you’re bold enough to chase it. In this time, speed is free. Direction is priceless.
The Fusion of Human and Technical Skills
At the Carlson School, we choose to invest in the leadership economy. That doesn’t mean we ignore AI and other advancements. Instead, we focus on people-powered growth—teaching, research, and outreach that develops leaders who will successfully navigate and leverage the technological transformation. We champion an approach that utilizes the enduring source of value that only people can contribute. We will do so through transformative student learning and community connections. Our faculty experts create and disseminate knowledge across a range of disciplines to support people-powered growth. We will identify and promote opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and shared interests, such as developing talent as a competitive business advantage. We will also create a bench of executives who can support and supplement leadership development in our programs. We are committed to equipping graduates to make a positive and principled impact in the organizations, communities, and societies they serve.
Advance expertise in developing leaders grounded in theory and practice, who embrace uniquely human skills to navigate change.
Tactics
- Create a groundbreaking and relevant interdisciplinary model to nurture leaders who grow inclusive organizations
- Infuse leadership and teamwork frameworks into all parts of the student experience
- Position the school at the forefront of a crucial shift: embracing AI while advancing uniquely human aspects of leadership
- Support the integration of AI literacy throughout the curriculum and across disciplines
Categories for Metrics
- Implement a clear model of leadership development
- Assess students’ competency in uniquely human leadership traits through capstone and experiential learning
- Increase thought leadership and engagement with the business community and among higher education peers
- Complete curricular reviews by end of Academic Year 2026-27
Deepen the bench of business community executives who engage with student leadership development.
Tactics
- Reinvigorate the Executive Leadership Fellows program
- Offer executives a menu of potential engagement points with students
Categories for Metrics
- Integrate a cohort of Executive Leadership Fellows
- Increase the number of engaged executives
Find and promote interdisciplinary areas of shared interest.
Tactics
- Identify opportunities for and promote interdisciplinary collaboration
Categories for Metrics
- Increase interdisciplinary teaching, research, and outreach in areas of shared interest
- Add partnerships and philanthropic opportunities as a result of shared interest collaboration
The revolution driven by AI and other technologies will permanently shift the way we approach business across all industries and sectors. But one thing is certain: the skills and interventions only human beings can provide will become even more essential. By investing in people-powered growth, we will become a source of agile leaders who are not just ready to navigate the ambiguity and constant change ahead but who will thrive and deliver what organizations will need most to grow their organizations and improve the world.
Outcomes
Elevate Our Impact
We cannot rest amidst an ever-evolving world. We will combine our talented people, programmatic strengths, and locational advantage to catalyze a renewed spirit of excellence. We will act with courage and curiosity, seeking to advance business education, research, and outreach. Why? To better serve our students, alumni, and business community and enhance the Carlson School’s standing nationally and internationally.
Strengthening Belonging
The Carlson School is connected through community and recognizes we can achieve more together than by going it alone. We will strengthen our identity as one Carlson School while engaging more deliberately across the University, the Twin Cities and region, and our network of alumni, partners, and supporters worldwide. We will pursue inclusive actions, strengthen our identity, and create a greater sense of belonging for all. Why? To clear the way to success for those who work here, those who come to learn and grow with us, and all those we support through education, research, and outreach. We are part of a broader ecosystem and are dedicated to improving the world around us.
Process for Identifying Carlson’s Strategic Priorities
At the start of the 2024-25 academic year, the Carlson School of Management launched its strategic planning process, called “Elevate,” by forming a Steering Committee, comprising faculty, staff, and a member of Board of Advisors, to oversee the process. The School also engaged the higher education consulting firm Kennedy & Company to support this initiative. Key to the effort was the goal of combining new insights with institutional knowledge to develop a shared vision and actionable plan for the future of Minnesota Carlson. The Kennedy & Company process consisted of six phases aimed at assessing the School’s current state, identifying opportunities and alternatives, establishing priority areas and objectives, and developing metrics to measure impact and progress.
Following a Strategy Assessment, measuring Carlson’s strengths, areas for improvement, and factors in the external environment (such as regional demographic and labor market trends and national trends in management education), a community-wide survey launched. This survey, along with discovery interviews with over 150 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and leadership, allowed for the collection of qualitative and quantitative data on Carlson’s mission, current capabilities, and future aspirations. Relevant survey findings include:
Insights from the Strategy Assessment phase helped inform the creation of four areas for further investigation – categorized above – in the Facilitated Visioning phase. To explore these areas, 108 individuals representing several constituencies were selected to serve as innovative, forward-thinking members of the Elevate Strategic Planning initiative.
As the strategic plan was coming into focus, the leadership realized that the current mission and vision no longer reflected the full purpose and mission for Minnesota Carlson. As a result, a team of faculty and staff worked over the winter to draft a new purpose statement and to revise the mission the vision, purpose, and values. The leadership codified those new statements in January. Throughout the Defining Strategic Direction phase in January and February, the group evaluated and refined the priority areas and goals previously identified to fit under the stated mission, vision, and purpose statements. The group also identified overarching outcomes—Elevate Our Impact and Strengthen Belonging—underscoring the institution’s commitment to addressing stakeholder needs identified through engagement during the Strategy Assessment. Ultimately, the Steering Committee and leadership team decided on a “strategy house” with three strategic priorities for improving Minnesota Carlson:
To carry out the next phase of the planning process, project leadership organized working groups for each strategic priority during February of 2025. Working group members were charged with detailing the comprehensive and achievable actions, strategies, and quantifiable metrics needed to set the priorities in motion.
Using these, the groups developed a long list of potential programs and initiatives that would move Carlson forward in each area, which were then reviewed and consolidated by the Steering Committee and leadership team. Dean Prenkert hosted an Elevate Strategic Plan town hall to debut the plan with faculty and staff in March 2025.