Last fall, Chancellor Joe Steinmetz announced at his State of the University address 10 action items he wanted the university to focus on moving forward. He recently released an expanded explanation of his ninth action item, which makes the case that we "should stimulate the development of what we can call New Arkansans, while doing all we can to retain current Arkansans." The ninth action item can be found here.

As Chancellor Steinmetz explained at his annual address, "The point of this exercise isn't to develop another plan or set of priorities—we have that already and these priorities continue to steer our planning. The purpose here is to shift our focus to 2020 and beyond and to reframe our continual planning efforts at every level.

In the coming weeks, he will release the last action item, concluding the 2020: Focus on the Future series. Each item has targeted a specific action the university needs to take to position itself for continued and future success. Chancellor Steinmetz encourages all supervisors to share with their staff.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among fewer than 2.7 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.