NE North Dakota News

Two years have passed since the launch event for the UND LEADS Strategic Plan, and significant progress has been made in implementing its concepts. The introduction of the LEADS Activity Inventory last November provides a comprehensive overview of this progress.

By January 1, 148 items were added to the activity inventory, each associated with one or more LEADS Core Values. These values help identify which areas of the plan are well-represented. Currently, "Learning" and "Service" dominate with 30% and 27% of items respectively. In contrast, "Equity," "Affinity," and "Discovery" range between 13% to 16%.

The data from the Activity Inventory depends on submissions received. Therefore, it may not fully represent activities related to Equity, Affinity, and Discovery if they haven't been reported yet.

Additionally, initiatives within the inventory vary in scope. Some impactful initiatives may disproportionately influence overall campus work despite being fewer in number.

The inventory uses a three-tier system to categorize activities by origin: division level for broad institutional coordination (e.g., Academic Affairs), middle level for units like colleges or HR, and department level for individual offices. Almost half of current activities originate at the middle level; departments account for nearly 40%, while divisions coordinate about 12%.

This distribution suggests that smaller-scale activities skew towards Learning and Service connections but may be more evenly distributed across all Core Values than statistics indicate. Furthermore, department-level engagement in LEADS work is consistent with initial plan development involving broad participation.

Continued commitment to LEADS indicates sustained investment in its success over time. More insights will emerge as implementation continues.

The LEADS webpage offers guidance on submitting contributions to the Activity Inventory—a simple process that highlights ongoing work at UND.

Ryan Zerr is a Professor of Mathematics and Associate Vice President for Strategy & Implementation at UND.