NMSU's Strategic Direction
New Mexico State University is charting its course for the decade ahead. Since Fall 2025, President Valerio Ferme and system leadership have been developing a strategic direction to guide NMSU's next chapter as a nationally recognized R1 land grant university, shaped from the start by the campus community through small-group listening sessions and campus-wide town halls.
At its center is a culture of excellence across every level of NMSU, defined through four goals: student success, faculty success, staff success, and organizational success. These goals serve the mission that has defined NMSU from the beginning: educating the citizens of our state and nation, advancing research and innovation, and deepening public service across all 33 counties we serve. Three commitments shape how we will pursue this work: sustainability, data-informed decision making, and leadership growth at every level.
The strategic direction is designed as a living framework, reviewed regularly and refined as conditions change, so it remains responsive to the people it serves. As the plan is finalized, more details will be provided.
If you have questions or feedback, please share that with us through Ask NMSU.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. President Ferme and system leadership have been working on the framework since Fall 2025, and it was shaped by small-group listening sessions and campus-wide town halls across that period. The draft reflects what leadership heard: the emphasis on compensation, professional growth, and belonging came directly from those conversations.
NMSU LEADS 2025 concluded last year. In an ever-changing landscape, President Ferme’s strategic vision holds NMSU's mission constant while allowing for priorities to be adjustable.
Existing work continues. The framework is designed to align and prioritize effort, and much of what units are doing already advances these goals. Where it will make a difference is in helping the university decide what to invest in, what to sequence, and what to sunset, with transparent criteria.
Every priority will have a responsible owner, measurable outcomes, and an annual review through the President's leadership structure. Progress will be assessed and reported each year, and initiatives that are not producing results get revised or retired.
Not at all. The framework is organized around the land grant mission NMSU has carried since 1888: educating the citizens of our state and nation, advancing research and innovation, and serving communities in all 33 counties. What changes is how deliberately we align resources behind that mission.
The framework is a system effort, and it commits NMSU to operating as a true system of higher education, responsive to the distinct needs of each community it serves while aligning around shared priorities. System leadership has been part of this work from the start.
The listening phase shaped the framework; the implementation phase is where most of the university's work now happens. Goals will be carried out through colleges and units, and that is where faculty and staff expertise matters most: shaping how priorities take form in your area, and surfacing what is working and what is not through the annual review cycle. The framework also remains a living document, so it will keep adjusting to what implementation reveals.
Comments can be submitted anytime through the strategic direction webpage.