Performance Framework
The Reach Higher Together Performance Framework will provide a shared structure for understanding progress through 2030. At its foundation are six Points of Integration — areas of strategic focus that connect work across the university and focus our efforts to advance our four Reach Higher Together commitments. Together, they help align our work with our mission and vision while staying true to our values.
Key Performance Indicators aligned with the Points of Integration will provide evidence of progress and support continuous improvement. The full Performance Framework, including these measures, is currently being finalized.
Points of Integration
1. Advance a values-driven culture that prioritizes our people and fulfills our mission.
What We Mean:
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Values-driven > human-centered and guided by ethical practices
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People > the students, faculty, staff, and partners who shape the institution and are shaped by it in return
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Mission > the shared purpose that guides decisions and actions
2. Grow enrollment and reach while designing for access, elevating student agency and success, and advancing lasting outcomes.
What We Mean:
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Grow enrollment and reach > expand opportunities for more learners across communities, pathways, and learning environments
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Designing > intentionally shaping systems and experiences to support learner success at scale
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Access > reduced barriers to entry and experience
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Student agency and success > ownership of learning and informed choices that lead to sustained progression, achievement, and completion across academic, co-curricular, and student life experiences
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Lasting outcomes > demonstrated value for learners and communities over the course of their academics, careers, and lives
3. Cultivate relevant and transformative academic experiences that support meaningful learning across diverse academic pathways.
What We Mean:
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Cultivate > provide expertise, opportunities, and support
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Relevant > responsive to evolving knowledge, societal needs, innovation, and career pathways
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Transformative > inquisitive, substantive, reflective, and continuously improving
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Academic experiences > full educational journeys across classrooms, communities, and digital environments, shaped by faculty, staff, and mentors
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Meaningful learning > active, engaging, and supportive learning experiences that foster growth, inquiry, and application
4. Foster a future-ready ecosystem where culture, infrastructure, systems, and workflows enable effective teaching, learning, and working.
What We Mean:
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Foster > improve existing and construct new
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Future-ready ecosystem > a learning and work environment that is grounded in the present and forward looking, empowered by modern tools, informed by digital literacy, and adaptable to changing needs
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Enable > proactively drive and support
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Effective > inclusive, collaborative, efficient, thoughtful, and impactful for both individuals and institution
5. Deepen impact through visible and reciprocal community engagement that advances knowledge & innovation, research & application, and the public good.
What We Mean:
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Impact > meaningful contributions that strengthen communities and society
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Visible > clearly demonstrated and communicated
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Reciprocal > built through shared learning, contribution, and value
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Community engagement > collaborative relationships and partnerships
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Public good > outcomes and contributions that benefit society broadly
6. Strengthen a sustainable institution that stewards resources for long-term resilience and vitality.
What We Mean:
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Sustainable > able to support people, mission, and institutional capacity over time through financial, operational, and environmental resilience
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Stewards > intentionally prioritizing, investing, and adapting human, financial, and operational resources
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Resilience and vitality > the continued capacity to fulfill our mission and capitalize on high potential opportunities
Connecting Divisional Plans
The Performance Framework is designed to connect university-level progress with work underway across GVSU. Alongside each Key Performance Indicator, the framework will highlight aligned divisional plans that contribute to that university-level measure, creating a clear line of sight between divisional work and progress toward Reach Higher Together.
Divisions will confirm where their respective plans connect to the Key Performance Indicators, helping ensure that university-level measures are connected to the work and outcomes being advanced across GVSU.
What’s Next
The full Reach Higher Together Performance Framework will be finalized in fall 2026, with implementation continuing in winter 2027.
Beginning in 2027, the framework will support an ongoing rhythm of tracking progress, learning from results, and using those insights to inform decisions and actions across the university. More information about the Key Performance Indicators and how GVSU will track, learn from, and act on progress will be shared as the framework is finalized.