LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 72

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72

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

•

In the spring of 2023, with the approval of both the CUS
board and the Synod Board of Directors, Concordia began
the process of purchasing a furnished, 115,000-square-foot
building with a parking structure and lots for 700+ vehicles
on 6.6 acres of land just 3 miles from the current campus.
This represents an increase in classrooms, offices, and meeting spaces of 40 percent to our current campus. This building
will house our School of Health and Human Sciences. At the
time of this report, the purchase negotiations are ongoing,
but very favorable! We hope and pray to celebrate this news
at the 2023 LCMS Convention!
Michael A. Thomas, President

R14.3

Concordia University, Nebraska
Greetings from Concordia University, Nebraska, where we
strive to faithfully equip men and women for lives of learning,
service, and leadership in the church and world. During the past
triennium, Concordia has launched its new Salt and Light strategic
plan. The vision driving the current strategic plan is to “cultivate a
community of academic excellence grounded in the Word of God
and the Lutheran Confessions to be SALT and LIGHT in the home,
church, and world.”
Concordia’s new strategic plan includes five priorities:
•

Enrollment – Establish a clear and compelling picture and
plan for undergraduate and graduate enrollment that enables
us to achieve a predictable and manageable overall enrollment.

•

Philosophy of Christian Higher Education – Distinguish
a shared educational philosophy that explains and clarifies
what is distinct and shared about a Concordia education and
that clearly communicates what prospective and current students can expect.

•

Outreach – Communicate a clear and compelling picture
and plan for living out our mission while reaching, serving,
and blessing audiences beyond the campus community with
the knowledge, wisdom, and gifts of the Concordia community.

•

Lifelong Faith Formation and Flourishing – Demonstrate
a clear and compelling picture and plan for ongoing, community-wide faith formation, workplace culture and climate,
and professional development that equips us to strengthen
our impact and ability to boldly, faithfully, and effectively
live out our mission.

•

Financial Strength – Devise and implement a financial
model that creates greater strength and stability from which
to live out the university mission while removing financial
barriers for students to attend and graduate without debt that
would hinder their life and callings post-graduation.

Within priority one, Enrollment, is a focus upon strengthening and building on our commitment to Christ-centered academic
excellence, establishing distinct, inspiring, and holistic academic
communities in areas such as music, church work, our honor’s program—the Luke Scholars Program, the classical liberal arts, and a
forthcoming Timothy Scholars Program focused upon preparation
of faithful service and excellence in healthcare professions, agriculture scholars, and business scholars. Other priority areas will
2023 Convention Workbook

emerge as the plan moves forward and funding is secured to launch
new efforts.
A second aspect of priority one of the strategic plan is refocusing our graduate and online programs with the primary audiences
of Lutherans serving in Lutheran organizations, Christians serving
in Christian organizations, and Christians serving elsewhere who
want a truly and distinctly Christian graduate education. As such,
one objective under priority one of the plan is to offer meaningrich, academically rigorous, and Christ-centered graduate programs that address the needs of Christians in the church and world
and regularly serve at least 825 or more graduate students annually
by 2027 with a term-to-term retention rate of 90 percent and a graduation rate of 65 percent. The first new program launch with this
renewed focus, based upon in-depth feedback from leaders in Lutheran schools, is a new Graduate Certificate in Advancement for
Christian Schools, providing guidance on fundraising, recruitment,
Lutheran mission and identity, and the distinctions of marketing
and communication a Christian school.
The second priority of the plan, Philosophy of Christian Higher Education, is an intentional effort to clarify the shared convictions and commitments of faculty regarding why, how, and what
we teach. The goal is to come to an agreement on shared “signature
practices” that embody this shared philosophy and enable us to
make the stated vision a reality.
The third priority, Outreach, involves the creation of new outreach arms of the university in the form of institutes. This includes
strengthening and expanding the impact of existing institutes while
adding new ones as well. Each institute is expected to align with
the university mission, have an audience beyond the campus that it
seeks to serve and support, engage current undergraduate students
in the work of the institute, and operate with a self-sustaining financial model. Current institutes include the Institute on Aging and
the Family, the Institute on Rural and Small Town Ministry, the
Institute on Religious Education, the Center for Liturgical Arts, the
Institute for Ethical Leadership, the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Trinity Academy—a new, intentionally small
Lutheran high school in the classical liberal arts tradition, scheduled to launch in the fall of 2023. Additional centers may launch in
the near future, but that is dependent upon securing funding.
The fourth priority, Lifelong Faith Formation and Flourishing, focuses on ensuring that faculty and staff are well-supported
and provided with opportunities for ongoing professional development and Lutheran catechesis that assists each person in joyfully,
confidently, and faithfully living out their callings as they support
the mission and strategic plan of the university. This has already
included the launch of a one-year Mission, Vision, Values, and
Promises program, a course required of all new faculty and those
serving in other leadership roles. Lessons will be learned from the
first-year pilot and used to refine subsequent offerings. We anticipate expanding to a robust and wide array of learning opportunities
for faculty and staff. All of this is inspired by the conviction that
we must continually learn and grow in order to fully and faithfully
equip students for lives of conviction, character, courage, and compassion as they embrace callings to be a blessing in their families,
churches, communities, workplaces, and world.
The fifth priority, Financial Strength, focuses on ensuring a
financial model that adds strength and stability to the university and
helps remove financial barriers for students. Concordia has been
blessed by generous donors for many years, as evidenced by the
completion of our most recent fundraising campaign that exceeded