91¿´Æ¬Íø Moorhead Strategic Framework
91¿´Æ¬Íø Moorhead is a top-ranked regional university empowering a culture of Growth, Innovation, and Belonging.
91¿´Æ¬Íø Moorhead’s strategic framework serves to advance knowledge, innovation, and opportunity to prepare the region’s most sought-after graduates.
At 91¿´Æ¬Íø Moorhead, learning transforms lives and communities. Rooted in the liberal arts and driven by curiosity, we prepare thinkers, makers, and leaders to shape a changing world with purpose and heart.
Our students learn by doing – creating, researching, and collaborating across disciplines to solve real challenges. Guided by our strategic pillars of Academic Relevance, Student Experience, Regional Engagement, and Investment in Place, we connect ideas to impact and knowledge to opportunity.
We’re a community defined by culture and growth, where grit fuels perseverance, curiosity sparks discovery, and heart inspires belonging. Together, we’re shaping the future of our region and beyond.
Built on Vision. Driven by Fire.
Our Mission
91¿´Æ¬Íø Moorhead is a caring community promising all students the opportunity to discover their passions, the rigor to develop intellectually and the versatility to shape a changing world.
Our Vision
To be a university that transforms potential, empowers purpose, and graduates the region’s most sought-after professionals.
Our Values
Grit
We show relentless drive and resourcefulness, pushing forward with purpose and tenacity.
Curiosity
We explore ideas to expand our learning, power our growth and encourage us to think deeper.
Heart
We believe in everyone’s potential by investing in people and championing their growth.
Our Strategic Cornerstones
Growth
Our growth is both a measure and a mindset. We will expand our reach, replace scarcity with confidence, and advance with purpose.
Culture
We are a community of doers and dreamers, committed to serving with purpose, working with dedication, and finding joy in work that leaves a lasting mark on the lives around us.
The future of 91¿´Æ¬Íø Moorhead is more than a plan. It’s a promise. A promise to equip Dragons with the skills, confidence and opportunities to lead in every profession. A promise to build spaces to inspire, connect, and empower. A promise to forge partnerships that expand horizons and deepen our impact. Together, we’re writing the next chapter. One of bold ambition, shared success, and lasting change.
– President Timothy Downs
Our Strategic Pillars
Strategic pillars are focus areas that drive action and create measurable impact for students, the university, and the region.
Academic Relevance
At Moorhead, we provide rigorous and premier academic programs that transform learning and respond to the evolving needs of our students and communities. We prepare graduates to lead, innovate, and make an immediate impact in their fields.
- Institute of Applied AI: Equip graduates across disciplines to navigate and leverage the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) in their professions—explore the Institute of Applied AI.
- Honors College: Create a community of scholars seeking intellectual challenge, meaningful engagement, and boundless opportunity—explore the Honors experience.
Student Experience
At Moorhead, we provide student experiences that engage, inspire, and foster belonging. Rooted in Dragon pride, we celebrate tradition and equip students to build lasting connections with peers and the university — while encouraging them to explore new perspectives, challenge assumptions, and grow through discovery. Here, students lead with purpose, empathy, and joy.
- Dragon Traditions: Unite students driven by curiosity, ambition, and a commitment to excellence in a vibrant learning community.
- Reimagined Career Services: Expand internships, service learning, co-ops, service learning, and global study to ensure every Dragon graduates career-ready.
Investing In Place
At Moorhead, we create vibrant and welcoming spaces that inspire learning, collaboration, and community. We enhance and maintain our campus and facilities to provide an ideal environment for our students, faculty, staff, and community.
- Weld Hall Renovation: Restore the university’s most historic building to serve as a cornerstone for campus and community gatherings.
- Eastside Athletics Facilities: Create a brighter, more welcoming front porch for the university that celebrates champions who excel in competition and in the classroom.
- Welcome Center: Experience all that Moorhead offers in an energetic and welcoming space or prospective students and families.
- Campus Dining: Amplify the dining experience with new eateries, charming spaces and expanded fresh food options.
- Modernizing classrooms within the Paseka School of Business: Refresh classrooms to support collaboration, creativity, and problem solving through technology-rich, interactive learning.
Regional Engagement
At Moorhead, we connect learning with regional opportunities (experiential learning) to strengthen communities and expand what is possible. Through collaboration and innovation, our students learn to lead with purpose and create impact that endures for decades to come. We intentionally engage with our region to understand workforce and community needs, creating a symbiotic relationship where learning and regional vitality grow together.
- Preferred Partners: Create meaningful collaborations that strengthen workforce development, professional growth, and community engagement—explore the partnership.
- Moorhead Scholars: Offer a free-tuition guarantee for Moorhead High School’s top students, keeping local talent in Moorhead—see how it works.
- Center for Engaged Learning: Create opportunities for experiential learning and engagement between students, faculty, staff and our community—discover the opportunities.