Strategic Plan

Gaylord College Strategic Plan

In support of OU's "Lead On" Strategic Plan, Gaylord College has updated its Strategic Plan. The updated plan, presented below and adopted in 2025, reflects a year-long collaborative process that engaged faculty, staff, students and alumni. It will continue to be updated annually, as needed, to align with campus and college priorities.

Our Vision

We will be the college of choice for change makers who creatively push the boundaries of media innovation.

Our Mission

Gaylord College cultivates an experiential and welcoming learning environment that inspires ethical storytellers and scholars to shape the future of media and become leaders on a local, national and global stage.

Dean Hans Butzer shakes hands with a construction science student in graduation regalia.

Our Values

Community:

Cultivating a people-centered environment

Collaboration:

Achieving more through teamwork

Innovation:

Pursuing transformative ideas

Integrity:

Upholding transparency, respect, and professional conduct

Creativity:

Pushing boundaries to inspire thought and emotion

Critical Thinking:

Engaging varied perspectives with research and reasoning

Pillar 1

Build Community and Culture

1.1 | Comprehensive Recruiting Plan– Students, Faculty and Staff

Tactic/Success Measure 1.1a | By the end of the 2025-26 academic year, create and begin to implement measurable plans for student (recruitment committee), faculty (leadership team) and staff recruiting (leadership team).
Tactic/Success Measure 1.1b | By end of 2025-26 academic year hire seven leading scholarly assistant professors from R1 universities.

1.2 | Comprehensive Retention Plan – Students, Faculty and Staff

Tactic/Success Measure 1.2 | By the end of the 2026-2027 academic year, create and begin to implement measurable plans for student, faculty and staff retention.

1.3 | Training, Workshops and Events to Build Community and Increase Engagement

Tactic/Success Measure 1.3a | Area heads and staff leads develop opportunities for engagement, collaboration and support by end of AY 2025.
Tactic/Success Measure 1.3b | Increase the college Gallup participation and positive engagement numbers to at least 50% participation rates and increase engagement number by 5%.

Pillar 2

Navigate Industry and Societal Challenges through Community Impact and Civic Commitment

2.1 | Build and Strengthen Industry/Professional Networks and Partnerships

Tactic/Success Measure 2.1 | By the end of the 2025-26 academic year, areas will create one new strategic network/partnership in their respective majors after identifying gaps (AI).

2.2 | Grow Knowledge Base to Meet Industrial, Curricular and Societal Challenges

Tactic/Success Measure 2.2 | Create faculty programming surrounding issues facing our industries including AI and changing business models to inform teaching and research.

Pillar 3

Strengthen Student Experiences, Support and Opportunities

3.1 | Increase/Strengthen Experiential, Collaborative Learning Opportunities, Equipping Students to Thrive in an Industry Rapidly Shaped by AI

Tactic/Success Measure 3.1 | By the end of the 2025-26 academic year, areas will create or expand on one experiential learning opportunity in their respective majors or programs.

3.2 | Expand Career and Internship Resource Offerings

Tactic/Success Measure 3.2 | Expand and execute a consistent fall career event for December graduates (student services).

3.3 | Build and Strengthen Student Support Services Academically, Financially and Socially

Tactic/Success Measure 3.3 | Prioritize fundraising for academic scholarships, student emergency fund and the student experience fund.

Pillar 4

Grow Alumni, Friends of the College, Industry Engagement, and Reputation

4.1 | Build and Strengthen Alumni Networks and Partnerships

4.2 | Increase Alumni and Industry Engagement Opportunities

Tactic/Success Measure 4.2 | By end of spring 2026, execute at least three out of town alumni events to reengage alumni.

4.3 | Fundraise for College Priorities (i.e., Experiences, Scholarships, Equipment, Research)

Tactic/Success Measure 4.3a | By the end of the 2025-26 academic year, the college (dean and development officer) will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive college fundraising plan that identifies fundraising needs and prioritizes them based on strategic initiatives.
Tactic/Success Measure 4.3b | Work on a successful fee increase plan in AY 26-27 to help with equipment replacement and maintenance in order to fund that 3-year replacement plan and to better reflect and sustain industry standard equipment and processes.

Pillar 5

Lead in Research, Creative Activity, and Innovation

5.1 | Use Expertise and Leadership to Share Future Direction of Industries and Professions Blending Human Creativity and Artificial Intelligence

Tactic/Success Measure 5.1 | Work to create/fund/renovate a “lab” space that mixes industry practice, research and creative activity and teaching/learning spaces.

5.2 | Increase Funding Through Grant Production, Contracts, Philanthropic Fundraising, and Industry/Foundation Grants to Improve Infrastructure and Success

Tactic/Success Measure 5.2a | By the end of the 2025-26 academic year, the college (Faculty Development and Research & Creative Activity Grants Awards Committee) will create internal programming to assist in grant writing and collaboration.
Tactic/Success Measure 5.2b | Increase overall college external grant research output by 10 percent and develop interdisciplinary research grant partnerships to better contribute to the university’s research mission and AAU aspirations over the next five years.

5.3 | Develop Collaborative Partnerships

A faculty member speaking to a group of students.

Pillar 6

Create Dynamic Curriculum

6.1 | Implement Evolving Technologies and AI into Curriculum

Tactic/Success Measure 6.1a | Create AI competencies and College Point of View/Ethical Guidelines by end of 2026.
Tactic/Success Measure 6.1b | By the end of the 2026-27 academic year, areas will introduce an evolving technology (i.e., AI) course in each major's curriculum (as appropriate).
Tactic/Success Measure 6.1c | Create and put in place a 3-year plan to replace outdated, end-of-life equipment that is critical to the pedagogical mission of experiential education and contributes to the college’s number one media program ranking by January 31, 2026.

6.2 | Increase Online Strategy

Tactic/Success Measure 6.2a | By the end of the 2025-26 academic year, the college (graduate program) will identify and begin creating one additional online master’s program.
Tactic/Success Measure 6.2b | Develop curriculum to meet student and workforce demand by exploring additional undergraduate online and 90-hour degrees by end of AY 26-27.

6.3 | New and Revised Degrees and Minors, Collaborative Classes

Tactic/Success Measure 6.3a | In the 2025-26 academic year, the college’s faculty (Curriculum committee, Ad & PR area heads) will begin working on a strategic communication minor.
Tactic/Success Measure 6.3b | Identify cross-campus curricular partnerships (Colleges of Business, Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, Dept. of Film and Media Studies, Gaming & E-Sports)

6.4 | Experiential, Collaborative Learning Opportunities

Tactic/Success Measure 6.4 | In the 2025-26 academic year, each area will identify one course to be a collaborative learning opportunity with another area in the college.