Ball State University has launched the next iteration of its strategic plan, Destination 2040: Our Flight Path, extending its vision and momentum to guide the institution's priorities over the next five years.
Approved by the Board of Trustees in June, the 2025-30 Strategic Plan reflects the input of more than 7,000 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members through surveys, working groups, and open forums.
Launched in 2019, the first iteration of Destination 2040 set five long-term goals for the University. These goals—Undergraduate Excellence and Innovation; Graduate Education and Lifetime Learning; Community Engagement and Impact; Scholarship and Societal Impact; and Inclusiveness and Institutional Effectiveness—have driven measurable progress, including enhanced student success, expanded high-impact learning, deeper community partnerships, and strengthened research and creative activity. The 2025–30 plan keeps those goals and adds new strategic imperatives in purpose exploration, relationship-rich education, and the integration of artificial intelligence in teaching, research, and operations.
“Destination 2040 has delivered significant results across our University, from enhancing student success to deepening our engagement with the community,” said Rick Hall, chair of Ball State’s Board of Trustees. “This next iteration of the plan builds on that momentum, challenging us to reach even higher levels of excellence and innovation as we prepare our students for fulfilling careers and for meaningful lives.”
The plan’s development followed the same inclusive approach as its predecessor, with a year-long consultative process that engaged the campus and community in shaping the University’s future.
“I am grateful to the members of our strategic planning committee and to the thousands of people—faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners—who shared their perspectives during this process,” Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns said. “This plan reflects our enduring values, our shared vision for the future, and our unwavering commitment to serving our students, our community, and our state.”
“The strategic plan is more than a document—it’s a roadmap for how we will align our people, programs, and resources to achieve measurable outcomes,” said Dr. Charlene Alexander, Ball State’s chief strategy officer. “Our office will work collaboratively across the University to ensure that every strategic imperative is implemented effectively.”
The 2025–30 plan reaffirms Ball State’s mission to empower graduates to contribute meaningfully to their communities and professions, while enhancing the economic, environmental, and social vitality of the community, state, and world. It also reinforces the University’s pledge to hold itself accountable for the goals and imperatives it has set—continuing what President Mearns has described as the University’s “flight path to a very bright future.”
The full plan is available at
bsu.edu/strategic-plan.