Purdue University Northwest Strategic Plan
Excellence Evolving: PNW 2025-2030
Our strategic plan summarizes who we are, what we value and the key goals we’re striving hardest to achieve.
Transforming Lives…That’s Powering Onward
Mission and Vision
Our Mission
Purdue University Northwest is a diverse, student-centered university that transforms lives and serves our region through innovative education, impactful research and community engagement.
Our Vision
To cultivate leaders, inspire excellence and impact our world.
Purdue University Northwest’s Values
Our values reflect our commitment to Respect, Innovation, a Student Centric university and Excellence (RISE), which guide us towards an evolving and bright future.
Meet the Contributor Behind the Logo: Nerissa C. Fezler
We embody a culture of respect.
- Treating every member of the campus community with compassion, civility, integrity and dignity
We transform lives through innovation.
- Driving progress where creativity and forward-thinking thrive with cutting-edge technologies, curriculum, pioneering research and community collaboration
- Investing in creative resources and partnerships that promote out-of-the-box thinking and solutions that meet the needs of students and globalization
We believe our students are at the heart of everything we do. We prioritize a student-centric approach.
- Meeting students where they are today
- Developing leaders through experiential learning, student-centered pedagogy and celebrating student success
- Prioritizing student well-being inside and outside the classroom through innovative programming and campus resources
We commit to evolving excellence and meeting the needs of our students, our institution and our region.
- Intentionally reevaluating our progress to ensure the highest quality in education, research, operational standards and service
- Recruiting and retaining top-tier faculty, staff and administrators who are dedicated to our student-centric mission and vision
- Setting and upholding rigorous academic standards that inspire innovation and challenge our campus community
Our Goals
1. Strengthen Community and Global Partnerships
We cultivate solid and strategic relationships with regional, global and community organizations to create opportunities that expand student success, foster innovation and drive economic growth.
2. Foster Academic Excellence
We achieve academic excellence by offering quality programs that are interesting to students and relevant to the needs of industry and society.
3. Enhance Quality of Place
We build a thriving campus community by investing in our most valuable asset (our people): students, faculty, staff and alumni.
4. Advance Student Success
We cultivate informed, skilled and resilient individuals poised to make positive contributions to society and achieve social mobility.
5. Cultivate Innovation and Transformative Research
We foster a dynamic environment for innovation and transformative research that propels PNW to the forefront of academic excellence and societal impact through the integration of faculty expertise, student engagement and community partnerships.
A Community Effort
PNW’s Strategic Plan was developed over many months with significant participation from students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. Their valuable input helped guide PNW’s commitment to RISE and Power Onward to a promising future for our students and the greater community.
Hundreds of PNW students, faculty and staff members participated in lively discussions about our shared future at both the Hammond and Westville campuses. The input from these engaging sessions helped form the basis of the university’s Strategic Plan.
Focus-group sessions extended from day-long, open-house-style planning workshops to small-scale discussions with units across the university.
Participants explored what makes Purdue University Northwest unique—and how we can define those qualities in a meaningful mission and vision.
Purdue University Northwest Chancellor Chris Holford participated in the conversations along with students and employees representing a diverse spectrum of backgrounds, viewpoints and experiences.
Beyond developing the core of the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan: Excellence Evolving, the planning sessions offered a chance to celebrate the campus community we share. Attendees were able to show their pride in PNW...and identify opportunities to make our campuses even stronger.
Thanks to everyone who shared their time, perspective and passion for Purdue University Northwest!
Strategic Implementation and Action Committee
Marie T. Mora
Committee Co-Chair
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Rebecca Stankowski
Committee Co-Chair
Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Emily McGuire
Strategic Project Administrator
Goal: Strengthen Community and Global Partnerships
Katie Holderby
Director, Alumni Engagement
Ramesh Neupane
Director, International Programs and Partnerships
José Sánchez
Dean, College of Engineering & Sciences
Rebecca Stankowski
Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Goal: Foster Academic Excellence
Jessica Ivy
Thomas Ray Crowel Endowed Professor of STEM Education, Chair of Faculty Senate
Dave Kozel
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Patti Ludwig-Beymer
Professor of Nursing; Faculty Senate Representative
Marie Mora
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Goal: Enhance Quality of Place
Rachel Krcmarich
Campus Planning Administrator
Committee Champion
John Durocher
Nils K. Nelon Endowed Professor of Integrative Human Health; Director, Integrative Physiology and Health Sciences Center; Faculty Senate Representative
Courtney Locke
Senior Associate AD – Compliance, PNW Athletics
Colleen Robison
Director of Benefits and Wellness, Human Resources
Goal: Advance Student Success
Sandy Steele
Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management
Committee Champion
Jesus De La Cruz
Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Technology
Lyndsey Schaap
Director of Academic Advising and Student Success
Catrina Terrell
Assistant Director of Student Coaching and Mentoring
Goal: Cultivate Innovation and Transformative Research
Jeff Schieb
Director, Institutional Research
Committee Champion
Niaz Latif
Associate Vice Chancellor of Commercialization and Research
Kristin Sarver
Associate Director, Sponsored Programs
Nicolae Tarfulea
Professor of Mathematics