NDSU is leading a bold transformation, tackling challenges while leveraging its strengths to enhance its reputation for excellence. Guided by President David Cook, strategic councils are driving innovation, supporting student success and fostering a welcoming community. Many of these efforts are deeply rooted in our land-grant mission and a commitment to innovation and progress. Together, we are positioning NDSU to lead and excel in a rapidly evolving world.

Strategic Plan

Through its land-grant mission, NDSU serves the state and the region through student education, service to the state, and research and creative endeavors.

President’s Council on Retention

The President’s Council on Retention is an outgrowth of the University Retention Committee, which elevated the importance of coordinated advising practices and retention activities, and provided thoughtful definitions, goals and recommendations during the 2021-22 academic year. The role of the Council is to deploy strategic tactics across the university to improve and support student retention.

President’s Council on Faculty Research

Consisting of members appointed by President Cook in Fall 2022, the Faculty Research Council will create priorities for a new, modest internal funding program that will result in proposals reviewed by the Council. These efforts will support President Cook’s priority of maintaining our Carnegie R1 classification and helping nurture a thriving and mature R1 research culture on campus.

President’s Council for Diversity, Inclusion and Respect

The President's Council for Diversity, Inclusion and Respect was formed in July 2020 as part of a commitment to ensuring that this pillar of NDSU’s strategic plan will be factored into institutional decision making. The council helps provide NDSU administration with guidance on how to make NDSU a better community for historically underserved populations and to operationalize the diversity and inclusion goal of the strategic plan.

President’s Council for Campus Well-being

The President’s Council for Campus Well-being was formed to support the academic mission of the university by taking a holistic approach to increasing and sustaining all aspects of campus well-being. The council brings together a multi-disciplinary group of NDSU faculty, staff, students and community partners to address a range of social and environmental factors that strengthen the health and well-being of our campus community.

President’s Steering Committee on Budget and Financial Operations Enhancements 

NDSU is embarking on an effort to re-envision aspects of our University budget model to incentivize financial growth via a new tuition incentive model and financial operations assessment.