A Vision Team is a small (8-14) group of JMU stakeholders whose job will be to form strategies in support of the strategic plan’s pillars. Vision Teams address a specific area of the strategic plan draft, developing strategies to achieve an outcome, considering possible strategies for implementation challenges, or recommending revisions to the current ideas.

Expectations for Vision Team Members

We are looking for faculty, staff or student leaders who:

  • Have a passion for JMU, our students, and for innovation;
  • Bring professional or personal expertise to our vision team focus areas (listed below);
  • Thrive on working collaboratively and creatively with colleagues;
  • Have the ability to set aside department or college allegiance for institution-wide priorities and manage the fast pace of this work;
  • Can be available for research, discussion and multiple meetings January to March;
  • Have the approval of supervisors to devote time to this important university effort.

Volunteer for a Vision Team

This brief application will ask for your contact information, your Vision Team preference, and a brief (200 words or less) explanation of the strengths you would bring to the team. JMU's strategic planning timeline is ambitious, so in order to maximize working time for the Vision Teams please submit your application to volunteer by 11:59 pm November 30, 2025.

Vision Team Focus Areas

This Vision Team’s charge is to address a specific set of questions about two promises made by JMU: A guarantee to students that they will have a positive career outcome within 12 months of graduating, and a guarantee to employers that their JMU hires will come proficient in certain power skills. The team will create recommendations about how to implement these promises and identify barriers—and solutions to those barriers—for success. 

Two sub-groups will be formed to accomplish this team’s charge: An employment guarantee sub-group and an employer guarantee sub-group.

This Vision Team’s charge is to address a specific set of questions that focus on how to achieve student outcomes, specifically the development of power skills, literacy in areas like information, AI, and finance, and civic learning. The team will also consider the logistics of a required first-year multi-credit problem-solving course addressing local and global issues. 

Two sub-groups will be formed to accomplish this team’s charge: A Learning Outcomes group will explore the various skills and learning outcomes identified in the plan (power skills; AI, financial, and information literacy; and civic learning). A second sub-group will explore the design and implementation of a required first-year multi-credit problem-solving course addressing local and global issues.

This Vision Team’s charge is to address a specific set of questions that focus on how to achieve elements of the pillar, including expanding work-based learning opportunities, developing a more robust student work program, and strategizing how to incorporate a coordinated mentorship program into the student experience. 

Three sub-groups will be formed to accomplish this team’s charge: A work-based learning experiences group will explore strategies for increasing the availability of and participation in work-based learning. A student work group will develop strategies for reimagining the student work model at JMU, and a mentorship team will explore ways to create a system of mentoring for all students.

This Vision Team’s charge is to address a specific set of questions that focus on how to achieve elements of the pillar, including defining undergraduate research opportunities and developing strategies to increase opportunity and participation. 

This Vision Team’s charge is to address a specific set of questions on how to achieve elements of the pillar, including developing strategies to increase research expenditures and doctoral degree production. 

This Vision Team's charge will be to address a specific set of questions on how to achieve elements of the pillar, including identifying essential new academic programs to meet workforce needs and strategies to spark economic development opportunities. 

This vision team’s charge is to explore strategies around proposed development and growth, much of which is the physical infrastructure. The team will also be tasked with considering how curricular and co-curricular elements should best be woven into plans for the design of campus buildings and experiences.

If you have a question about the Vision Teams, please contact PAIR.

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