Office of the President
Presidential Priorities
In 2023, President Ruth Ray Jackson, Ph.D., introduced her Presidential Priorities. These priorities have evolved to better guide the university’s work.
The Presidential Priorities
- People
- Programs
- Processes
- Public Relations
- Partnerships
- Performance
- All grounded in our Purpose
These priorities signify the progress the University community is making together. The priorities will serve as a framework for the future, guiding our decision-making and evaluation of progress.
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Presidential Priorities
Langston University’s people are our students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and our community.
The President’s charge to students is to look after each other and care not only for your own success but also for the success of your classmates.
For the University’s faculty and staff, remember that Dear Langston’s commitment is to helping students succeed. Regardless of your role, your length of employment, or the rate of your interactions with students, supporting the retention and success of our students is always an expectation.
The Langston University community is committed to celebrating the success of our students. The institution also holds dear the Town of Langston which continues to grow stronger.
The priority of Programs encompasses Langston University’s dynamic cocurricular programs as well as innovation within the institution’s academic programs. The Division of Student Affairs, Student Government Association, Student Activities Board, and Residential Life and Housing Services do an amazing job of offering programming opportunities for our students.
Within LU’s academic schools, the faculty and deans continue to strive for excellence in the preparation of our students. Advisory boards have been created for all academic schools, engaging industry leaders to better inform what Dear Langston does and how we’re doing it. This approach creates learning opportunities, not only for students, but also professional development opportunities for faculty.
Langston University faculty is engaged in cutting-edge research all over the world, demonstrating that the institution is a leader in sharing new insights and best practices on a global scale. The research, grantsmanship, and service of LU faculty and researchers serves to strengthen the academic outcomes of students who have the unique opportunity to engage in research at the undergraduate level.
The University’s academic programs are constantly evaluated to ensure the institution is hitting the mark for successful career outcomes. The University community’s work is guided through meeting the workforce needs of the future in critical occupations. Our state and our country will need more college-educated workers, not fewer, in the future. As a university who ranks third in research production within the state of Oklahoma, Dear Langston has so much to offer.
The landscape of higher education is changing. There are nearly 60,000 fewer students pursuing higher education in Oklahoma today than there were just a decade ago, but the demand for a college-educated workforce is not slowing down.
The audience has changed and the way in which Langston University does business must also change in significant ways. The institution’s processes are a great place to start.
The Office of Public Relations shares about all the work Langston University faculty, staff, and students do. It is important to remember that Public Relations cannot do their work without the LU community. They are the storytellers of the institution, charged with protecting the brand and amplifying the voices of Dear Langston’s students, faculty, and staff.
With the help of the University community, public relations will continue to elevate the visibility of the LU brand. All community members have a responsibility to protect the brand, share the good things that are happening here at Langston University, and help the institution continue to elevate the work of our colleagues and students.
Langston University has thrived for over 127 years through strong partnerships and relationships with community-based organizations. The institution continues to explore new academic partnerships supporting student outcomes.
Dear Langston will continue to build relationships with corporate and community partners in an effort to bring dynamic opportunities to students and enhance their experience at Langston University.
Performance is an important Presidential Priority. As an organization, Langston University is only as good as the efforts of the collective. Dear Langston’s President is committed to prioritizing performance as a means of measuring the engagement of LU employees and to ensure the institution is maintaining accountability for that engagement. This is part of the shift Langston University employees will see as collectively they continue to improve processes and build a habit of routinely measuring performance.
All of the Presidential Priorities contribute to the overarching purpose of the institution. As one of only nineteen (19) 1890 Land-Grant institutions in the country, Langston University’s mission of educating students and the community through cooperative extension, research, and engagement remains a constant theme of our work. The people, programs, processes, public relations, partnerships, and performance we strive to achieve through these priorities all support the purpose, which is our students and their success.