Walking across campus, you see the building blocks of TCU’s future. Cranes on the horizon. Concrete pouring. Steel going up. And yes, even new parking garages.

In many ways, our strategic plan looks the same. A lot happening at once, in different stages, and real progress, even if it’s not always obvious how it all connects.

That’s led to a couple of questions I hear regularly:

“How do all 45 initiatives fit together?” and “Why 45?”

Let me answer both - and like construction - the answer makes more sense when you look at the entire structure rather than a single beam.

Pillars Guide. Initiatives Run.

The four pillars of our LEAD ON: Values in Action plan define where we are going. They set our long-term direction and are not designed to shift with every headline or budget cycle.

The initiatives are how we get there. They assign resources, clarify responsibility and turn priorities into work you can schedule on a Monday. One initiative on its own might seem narrow. Taken together, they create the framework that allows the plan to move.

Forty-five initiatives may sound like a lot, but it reflects the work required to enhance student success, strengthen teaching, grow research, support student-athletes, deepen community partnerships and invest in campus. It's also useful to note that not all initiatives are the same size, just like the construction activities across campus.

Some initiatives are transformative, multi-year efforts. The “New Programs” initiative launches new degree programs in high-demand fields across colleges and departments and needs curriculum, faculty, facilities, accreditation, enrollment, etc. Other efforts are intentionally narrow and focused. Our “Government Relations” initiative is one new dedicated office doing coordinated, high-value work. Both count as initiatives. Both impact our future. Both belong in the plan. But they require very different levels of time, expertise, people and resources.

Not Everything Everywhere All at Once

To borrow the title from the movie: Are we really trying to do everything, everywhere, all at once?

No. We don't have infinite time or infinite resources, and pretending otherwise would be the fastest way to accomplish nothing.

The 45 initiatives are phased. Some are time-sensitive and are near-term priorities. Others are sequenced to follow, building on the work already underway. TCU’s bold strategic plan requires prioritization. It requires saying "this first, that next" instead of "all of it, immediately." And it requires being honest about what we can actually get done with the time, people and resources we have. That discipline is what turns a long list into a plan and a plan into impact.

How the Pieces Actually Connect

Most initiatives don't live inside just one pillar. Career Services is the easiest example, and one I wrote about a few weeks back. It sits under Student-Centered Growth, but Mike Caldwell and his team also feed directly into Research (helping students translate their work into careers), Athletics (preparing student-athletes for what's next) and Community Engagement (through our expanding employer partnerships). One initiative, four pillars in motion.

That pattern repeats. Investments in research facilities lift academic reputation and open doors for students. Corporate Partnerships strengthen both our institutional footprint and student outcomes. The plan is built to compound. Progress in one area pulls others along with it.

Structure Behind the Scenes

Each initiative has a named owner, defined milestones and a regular review cadence. That's not there to generate meetings. It's there because strategy without execution doesn't produce results, and execution without structure doesn't hold up over 10 years.

The plan is also built to evolve. Year to year, conditions will change. I often say the plan is built on 10-year goals with year-by-year execution. The world changes. Technology changes – just look at AI. Workforce needs change (again – look at AI). Some initiatives will finish. Others will get rewritten. New ones will show up. That's not a flaw in the plan. That's the plan working as designed. Stable in direction, flexible in execution.

The TCU Plan

If you haven't looked at all 45 initiatives lately, take a few minutes to review: https://www.tcu.edu/strategic-plan/initiatives.php

In the end, success isn’t measured by the number of initiatives, it’s measured by what they produce. Student success. Research impact. Athletics excellence. Community engagement. That’s our path and these initiatives are how we move forward.

That work is underway, and like the construction on campus, you can see it all around you. Thank you for everything you're doing to build it.