MiamiRISE

Miami Rise

Act boldly. Succeed fearlessly.
Shatter expectations.

Miami University’s core values have endured through generations. Our strategic plan, called MiamiRISE, anchors our community in those values and blazes a trail forward. It is bold and brave, driving transformational change to guide Miami through unprecedented volatility in higher education. More than 600 members of our diverse Miami community engaged in the plan’s development. Join them as we RISE to the moment.

Miami’s future is about transformation – spanning traditional boundaries to open new paths of discovery and creativity while advancing the mission and purpose that distinguish Miami University.
– Gregory P. Crawford, President

How will Miami University
achieve these goals?

Four circles around the Miami RISE graphic: Research, Scholarship, and Artistry, Innovation, Student Success, and Engagement

We will honor Miami’s legacy of distinguished undergraduate teaching and learning.

We will generate knowledge and scholarship to benefit the world around us.

We will create experiences that empower students to succeed.

We will transform Miami for a new era; standing still is not an option.

We will prepare tomorrow’s leaders with select graduate programs.

We will welcome all to an inclusive Miami community that reflects our core values.

We will RISE to the moment.

Read 2021 Dashboard and Updates

Our Stories

Work+ helps students, local economy

Miami’s commitment to student success shows in the Work+ program at Miami Regionals, which allows students to pursue a degree with a part-time job, earning a salary, and graduating with no debt. Now Work+ is a template for all Ohio public universities to launch similar programs – expanding the regional economy and easing the path to a college degree for students.

Innovation leads to excellence in online teaching

Spouses Norm Krumpe and Jane Keiser, in Miami’s computer science and software engineering department and mathematics department, have set up their own basement studio for online classes, complete with green screen and audio-visual switcher.

“I think I’ll keep using videos so that classroom time can focus on hands-on activities,” Krumpe said. The studio is only one example of how Miami faculty are adapting to online and hybrid teaching to ensure a commitment to student success.

Build a foundation for life on a liberal arts education

Inaara Ladha ’21 knows that language can make her a better global citizen. She studied Hindi in India in spring 2019 and she’ll study Arabic in Jordan in spring 2020.

Ladha is dedicated to the liberal arts with three majors and two minors, convinced that her melting pot of an academic career will build a foundation for pursuing her passions of language and religious studies. “I think language shapes everybody’s experiences,” she said.

Games teach students to think and engage

Bob De Schutter, associate professor of applied game design, designed “Brukel” to recreate the narrative of a WWII survivor – based on his own grandmother’s experience.

He hopes the game will educate players about the impact of war. Miami’s game design program is ranked among the nation’s finest. The Smithsonian Institution is using De Schutter’s first-person exploration game in its American Art Museum Arcade exhibit.

Student-designed app will advance fight against opioid crisis

Bri Clements loves both art and math – and found a way to use both at Miami. The 2019 graduate co-designed a mobile app to show locations of opioid overdoses, then another app that charts infant mortality in Butler County.

Data visualization projects turn pure numbers into images that readers can understand, helping create solutions to society’s biggest challenges. Clements now works at a Columbus partnership that helps companies with analytics and cybersecurity challenges – using the skills she learned at Miami to succeed.

Dive into research early, as early as the first year

Samir Bali encourages Miami undergraduates to dive into research as early as their first-year on campus. Summers are a particularly good time for significant research experience that can result in conference presentations and publication.

Bali and the students on his research team are isolating gas vapors with lasers and producing an environment only one-millionth of a degree above absolute zero – the coldest matter in the universe.

The Strategic Plan Report

The Strategic Planning Steering Committee presented the report to President Crawford and to the Board of Trustees in June 2019.

We also have developed a one-page handout to explain the the context behind the plan and tell stories of Miamians who display the spirit of innovation and creativity that MiamiRISE embraces.

Read the Strategic Plan   Download/print the handout

Add your voice to MiamiRISE

Send your ideas for creative ways to advance our new strategic plan. Your stories and suggestions are welcome.

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