Stanford’s Long-Range Vision focused on accelerating university impact

Initiatives that arose out of the university’s Long-Range Vision have been making progress toward the goal of accelerating Stanford's impact in the world. That includes launching new programs to address urgent challenges and expanding our excellence in research and education.

By Amy Adams

The university’s Long-Range Vision launched in May 2019 with a goal of accelerating Stanford’s purposeful impact in the world. Although many of the initiatives have shifted priorities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, collectively they remain focused on accelerating solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, enhancing our knowledge of the world and ourselves, advancing education for our students and supporting our diverse community of faculty, students and staff.

The initiatives that are part of Our Vision amplify Stanford’s contributions through a new model for research universities: not only accelerating the creation of knowledge, but also eliminating the lag time in translating that knowledge into solutions and speeding the transfer of those solutions beyond our walls.

This isn’t the first time Stanford has made strategic decisions to meet a moment. Starting in the 1950s, a focus on “Steeples of Excellence” triggered Stanford’s emergence as a world leader in fundamental research and scholarship. Then, in the 1980s, Stanford focused on enhancing and rethinking undergraduate and graduate education and the experience of students on campus. And starting in the early 2000s Stanford broke down the old barriers between academic fields of study with institutes and centers that advanced discovery at the intersection of disciplines, in the process creating a new model for interdisciplinary learning and scholarship.

Our Vision is the latest evolution of the university’s priorities, one that builds on our academic and educational excellence and leverages a culture of interdisciplinary problem solving to accelerate and scale solutions for urgent challenges facing our health, society and the planet.

Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Solutions

In response to the scale and urgency of challenges facing the world today, Stanford is creating new ways of accelerating solutions and delivering them beyond our walls. Addressing issues like racial injustice, rising health care costs, climate change and unequal learning opportunities will involve rethinking existing ways of conducting research and turning ideas into action.

With that in mind, this theme includes new academic structures and accelerators that foster partnerships with collaborators in the public, private and social sectors to speed the pace at which breakthrough discoveries are translated into solutions for the world’s most pressing problems.

University Affairs

Stanford Impact Labs forges partnerships to tackle social problems

Stanford Impact Labs provides an innovative research and development pipeline for the social sciences, connecting researchers with leaders in the public, social and private sectors to develop evidence-driven solutions to social problems.

University Affairs

School focused on climate and sustainability will amplify Stanford’s impact

In his address to the Academic Council, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced a school focused on climate and sustainability that will help the university address the urgent challenges facing the planet.

Science & Technology

The Innovative Medicines Accelerator turns its focus on COVID-19

Plans for Stanford’s new Innovative Medicines Accelerator arose before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, but now its programs are focused entirely on helping faculty generate and test new medicines to slow the spread of the disease.

Advancing racial justice at Stanford

Several new initiatives within IDEAL address racial justice and anti-Black racism in our communities and our country.

Teaching & Students

Transforming Learning accelerator focuses on science and design of learning

Multidisciplinary teams will address chronic challenges in education by targeting solutions to specific groups of learners.

Advancing diversity and inclusion at Stanford

Stanford is taking steps to demonstrate our commitment to the goal of promoting diversity and inclusion: the publication of the Provost’s Statement on Diversity and Inclusion and the launch of the IDEAL dashboard.

University Affairs

Stanford pivots its Long-Range Vision to contribute to global recovery

At the Academic Council meeting, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne discussed how Stanford is pivoting its Long-Range Vision in light of COVID-19, and announced Stanford is designing a school focused on climate and sustainability.

Science & Technology

Stanford seeking to expand space for COVID-19 research

Stanford is looking to expand the only facility on campus where researchers can work with the virus that causes COVID-19. Once underway, the expansion could be completed in six months and would greatly speed research toward treatment and prevention.

University Affairs

Committee seeks feedback on ways to bridge sustainability research, education and impact

A committee is exploring ways of bridging sustainability efforts on campus and creating new mechanisms for dispersed groups to work together on critical issues like climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development. They are seeking feedback in a series of town halls.

Science & Technology

New Stanford seed grants create pathways to sustainability

The sustainability initiative that arose out of the Long-Range Vision has awarded 17 seed grants providing one year of funding to faculty pursuing groundbreaking ideas for sustainability solutions.

University Affairs

Update on IDEAL and racial justice initiatives

In a message to the community, Provost Drell givers an update on some of the efforts the university is taking to advance diversity, inclusion, access and racial justice.

Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Knowledge

Our Vision includes initiatives that will expand Stanford’s excellence in research and scholarship by attracting and supporting outstanding faculty and researchers from diverse backgrounds and providing cutting-edge tools and shared resources to empower discovery and creativity across the arts, humanities, social sciences, science and engineering.

These initiatives will generate new knowledge and new ways of thinking that underlie advances, including technologies and innovations, policies and solutions to societal challenges, and arts that transform and enliven us.

These initiatives also explicitly embed ethics in innovation to ensure that discoveries and ideas born at Stanford produce benefits for the world and bring humanities to the fore, because a rapidly changing world requires us to continually reinterpret the human experience.

Humanities

Changing Human Experience grants explore society’s most challenging problems

Anna Grzymala-Busse and Gavin Jones co-lead the Changing Human Experience initiative, which recently awarded Cultivating Humanities grants to fund collaborative teams tackling issues of public concern.

Science & Technology

Stanford Science Fellows program announces first cohort

The program is a fundamentally new type of postdoctoral training focused on attracting diverse and exceptional scholars from around the world to cultivate new directions in foundational scientific research.

University Affairs

Stanford University launches the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence

The new institute will focus on guiding artificial intelligence to benefit humanity.

Science & Technology

Democratizing access to resources for Stanford researchers

Stanford Vice Provost and Dean of Research Kathryn Moler wants all research resources to be as readily available as books in a library. This model would enable faculty and students to pursue the most innovative research in flexible, collaborative teams.

University Affairs

Ethics, Society and Technology Hub embeds ethics in teaching and research

The Ethics, Society and Technology Hub aligns expertise across the humanities, social sciences, sciences and engineering to address the social and political impacts of scientific discovery and technological innovation.

Teaching & Students

Stanford pilots data science fellowship program

Students in the Data Science for Social Good fellowship program develop data-driven solutions with social impact.

Awards

New quantum science fellowship

Five fellows comprise the first cohort of Stanford’s new Bloch Fellowship in quantum science and engineering. The fellows program is a central component of the Stanford-SLAC initiative known as Q-FARM, which aims to advance a second wave of discovery and innovation in quantum mechanics through interdisciplinary collaborations.

Science & Technology

Hoffman-Yee research grants focus on AI

The Hoffman-Yee Research Grant Program seeks to harness artificial intelligence to build a better future for humanity.

Science & Technology

AI and gene-editing pioneers to discuss ethics

Two pioneering scientists who transformed the fields of artificial intelligence and gene editing discuss the impacts of their technologies and the ethics of scientific discovery leading up to a public talk later this month.

University Affairs

Changing Human Experience Design Team focuses on arts, humanities, social sciences

The Changing Human Experience Design Team is one of eight faculty teams developing research initiatives under Our Vision, Stanford’s long-range planning process.

Campus Life

Makerspaces at Stanford

Dozens of spaces at Stanford help students and faculty – and, in some cases, staff and community members – explore their inner maker while also supporting those who are experienced creators.

Science & Technology

Q-FARM initiative to bolster quantum research at Stanford-SLAC

The newly launched Quantum Fundamentals, ARchitecture and Machines initiative will build upon existing strengths in theoretical and experimental quantum science and engineering at Stanford and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Stanford launches new master’s degree program in education data science

Stanford launched a new master’s program in education data science, the first program of its kind to focus specifically on the use of data to solve educational challenges. The program arose out of a university-wide focus on data science as part of the Long-Range Vision.

Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Education

Initiatives centered on education will enhance the experience of undergraduate and graduate students on campus and support our diverse students who are determined to make a difference.

The focus includes increasing access to a Stanford education with financial aid, expanded professional advising, and programs to create community and support students throughout their academic journey. It also includes new approaches to ensure all undergraduates receive the benefits of a liberal education.

Campus Life

ResX Task Force releases final recommendations

A report released Tuesday provides the task force’s proposals for the future of the undergraduate residential experience, which have been accepted by the president and provost.

University Affairs

Trustees set 2020-21 tuition, again expand financial aid for middle-income families

Beginning in 2020-21, Stanford will provide scholarship support to cover the price of undergraduate tuition for parents with annual incomes below $150,000, up from the current $125,000 threshold.

University Affairs

Q&A: Two proposals reimagine the future of Stanford undergraduate education

As an outgrowth of Stanford’s long-range planning process, the Future of the Major and the First-Year Shared Intellectual Experience and Exploration design teams have proposed changes to the undergraduate curriculum, upon which the faculty will now deliberate.

Teaching & Students

Faculty Senate approves measures renewing undergraduate education

The Faculty Senate approved measures designed to renew undergraduate education, and heard updates on various campus issues from President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell.

University Affairs

Design teams shift their focus to developing recommendations to implement Stanford’s vision for the future

To foster community engagement, the university will create a vision to transform the White Plaza area into a vibrant town center.

Campus Life

Envisioning a vibrant ‘town center’ at Stanford

In recent town hall meetings, Matthew Tiews, associate vice president for campus engagement, presented the Stanford Town Center Design Team’s recently completed vision document.

University Affairs

Stanford makes strides to improve online learning in pandemic environment

Sarah Church, vice provost for undergraduate education, discusses issues identified in a student survey, including academic calendars and policies, financial assistance, and mental health and well-being.

Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Community

Stanford’s foundation has always been our people, which is why Our Vision includes initiatives focused on attracting and supporting curious and innovative faculty, students and staff.

Our Vision also recognize that achieving our goals requires diverse ideas and perspectives, and embedds equity and inclusion across initiatives supporting our community.

University Affairs

Brave Spaces engages Stanford staff in discussions of anti-Black racism and inequality

The series of virtual forums, which has completed a pilot program, is part of the IDEAL initiative on inclusion, diversity and equality.

University Affairs

Stanford commits to 12-month funding for all PhD students

Provost Persis Drell is allocating funds to enable all doctoral students in good academic standing to receive 12 months of funding for up to five years.

University Affairs

Megan Swezey Fogarty named Stanford’s associate vice president for community engagement

Megan Swezey Fogarty, deputy executive director of the Haas Center for Public Service, has been appointed Stanford’s inaugural associate vice president for community engagement by Martin Shell, vice president and chief external relations officer. She will begin March 1.

University Affairs

Affordability Task Force digging into needs of various communities

Teams focusing on the needs of individual groups within the Stanford community have been hard at work collecting input and data. Development and refinement of recommendations comes next.

University Affairs

Stanford President Tessier-Lavigne appoints co-chairs of Community Board on Public Safety

President Marc Tessier-Lavigne has appointed Patrick H. Dunkley, deputy athletic director, and Claude M. Steele, a professor emeritus of psychology, as co-chairs of the Community Board on Public Safety, which is expected to hold its first meeting in early fall quarter.

University Affairs

Affordability a key aspect of new benefits set to launch in 2020

The Affordability Task Force (ATF), established in fall 2018 as part of the university’s Long-Range Vision process, is now concluding work to develop recommendations that address some of our regional affordability challenges.

University Affairs

Stanford adds workforce and postdoc housing in Redwood City

Stanford’s acquisition of the Elan Redwood City apartment complex will provide affordable and transit-oriented housing near both its main and Redwood City campuses, while further connecting Stanford with the city.

Second phase of employee grant program launched

The Employee Emergency Assistance Fund (EEAF), originally approved as part of the Affordability Task Force, launched June 15 to provide grants for benefits-eligible Stanford employees who are experiencing a short-term financial emergency or hardship.