Mission-Aligned Planning (MAP)
Mission-Aligned Planning (MAP) is Academic Affairs’ new approach to aligning academic planning with our institutional mission and strategic goals. By connecting decisions around budget, space, staffing and programs to our Impact 2030 vision, MAP helps us ensure that every resource is used purposefully and responsibly.
As one of the U’s foundational initiatives, MAP equips academic leaders with tools, data and support to make informed decisions that strengthen student success, research excellence and societal impact. It is a long-term strategy for stewarding resources wisely and sustainably.
Why Now?
The university is facing greater expectations with fewer resources. We are being asked to:
- Serve more students
- Grow our research impact
- Improve access to education and healthcare
Meanwhile, state and federal funding are not growing at the same pace. As Utah’s leading public research university, we have a responsibility to steward public funds wisely and transparently. MAP helps us meet these challenges by ensuring we are:
- Aligning our resources with strategic priorities
- Reducing inefficiencies caused by fragmentation and duplication
- Using mission-driven processes to make decisions
MAP is how we ensure long-term sustainability and make thoughtful choices about what we invest in as an academic community.
What Does MAP Include?
MAP stands for Mission-Aligned Planning—a framework that helps academic leaders make strategic, mission-aligned decisions using data, tools and collaborative planning processes. While MAP draws on data to illuminate trends and surface opportunities, it is guided by values—especially our commitment to student success, research excellence and societal impact.
We use data to inform decisions, not dictate them. That means:
- Faculty and academic leaders help shape priorities and interpret data.
- Non-financial factors—like mission fit, research breadth and excellence and student needs—matter.
Examples of key components of the MAP framework include:
- Academic Portfolio Review
- Student demand and employer needs
- Enrollment trends and projections
- Degree completion, retention and placement
- Program cost, margin and modality
- Research Planning
- Infrastructure needs
- Research support service needs
- Graduate student support needs
- Operational Efficiency
- Faculty workload
- Class sizes and fill rates
- Compensation benchmarking
- Space and classroom use
- Resource Planning
- Future hiring needs
- Space and technology planning
- Program growth or consolidation
- New Program Evaluation
- ROI and business plans
- Benchmarking and market alignment
- Cross-unit coordination to avoid duplication
Where We Are Now
Many of the tools and processes that make up MAP (such as academic portfolio analysis, instructional cost data and resource planning) have already been in use across academic units as part of the Academic Enterprise Planning (AEP) process launched in 2023-24. What’s new is how we’re integrating these pieces into a larger, mission-aligned framework.
The broader MAP framework is currently being piloted with the Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) units. We are using the pilot to test how the pieces work together, gather feedback and refine our approach. Insights from the pilot will shape future phases of MAP’s development and inform how we roll it out more broadly.
In 2025-26, you will see:
- Opportunities to weigh in for deans, department chairs, faculty and key staff who hold roles in finance and planning
- Tools and templates to support planning
- Case studies
The MAP pilot is led by a small team in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs:
- Vahe Bandarian, Associate Provost for Mission-Aligned Planning
- Sarah Projansky, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs
- Peter Trapa, Vice Provost and Senior Dean, LAS
- Jason Atuaia, Associate Vice President for Budget and Finance
- Liz Conder, Director of University Analytics
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No. MAP is focused on long-term sustainability, rather than short-term cost-cutting. It’s a way to ensure our academic offerings are aligned with our mission, student needs and the state’s evolving priorities. That includes taking a thoughtful look at existing programs as well as evaluating whether and how to add new ones that add value for our students and communities.
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No. Data is a tool to inform decisions, not a substitute for judgment. While financial and enrollment data help us understand trends and challenges, decisions will not be made based on numbers alone. Faculty expertise, student needs and the university’s mission will all play a central role in shaping any changes. Data will provide a clearer picture of where we are, so we can make thoughtful, strategic choices that align with our academic values.
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MAP allows us to plan intentional cross-subsidies to support mission-critical programs that may not generate strong financial returns but are essential to the university’s academic mission and public service role. Some programs are costly to deliver but vital to meeting workforce needs in Utah and beyond. Similarly, certain programs have relatively low enrollment yet play essential roles in serving our state’s communities. A healthy university depends on this breadth—MAP helps ensure we sustain it responsibly.
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Expanding high-demand academic programs is a shared priority across institutions, industries and communities and one we take seriously as we work to meet the state’s workforce needs. Growth in these areas requires more than raising enrollment caps. Some programs depend on factors like specialized faculty, accreditation requirements and access to hands-on training opportunities (e.g., clinical placements, lab space, specialized equipment, etc.). These resources are often limited and require close coordination among all partners.
MAP takes a thoughtful, data-informed approach to identify where and how we can grow responsibly. This ensures that expansion is not only possible, but sustainable—and that students in high-demand fields receive the high-quality education and preparation they need to succeed.
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The Impact 2030 strategic plan defines our shared destination—what we’re collectively working toward across student success, research excellence and societal impact. Everything else flows from and supports that vision.
Each college’s strategic plan maps its own route toward that destination, grounded in the unit’s mission, strengths and disciplinary goals.
The AEP process is the annual operational planning tool—a way for colleges to identify how current resources (budget, people, space) are leveraged and where additional investments or changes are needed.
Mission-Aligned Planning (MAP) is the broader planning framework in Academic Affairs that ties it all together. MAP supports academic leaders with data, tools and processes to make real-time, informed, values-driven decisions—ensuring that day-to-day resource use aligns with unit priorities and the long-term goals of Impact 2030.
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Stay connected through upcoming leadership meetings, departmental briefings, our blog and future MAP training sessions.
For questions, contact SVPAA@utah.edu or complete the feedback form below.
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