What is a Big Idea?

Big Ideas are transformational, build upon the university’s strengths, and could come from any corner of campus.  They are future-focused and forward thinking and they positively impact the world. More specifically, big ideas:

• Are inter-disciplinary, with a focus on areas where the University has a unique capacity to lead
• Incorporate four or more key characteristics of a great university, developed through the University of Nebraska Visioning Day:
• Learner-focused and experientially infused
• Relentlessly focused on student success
• Research relevance
• Diversity: promoted and encouraged
• Talent leveraged throughout the system
• Local and global relevance
• Purposefully and creatively changing the world
• Are bold and build on existing programs to dramatically change an approach or create new levels of collaboration. Big Ideas are not about incremental improvements.
• Can come from any area of the University, not just STEM or research fields.

Big Ideas are not:

• Simply bundling related ideas
• Capital projects that are not critical to deliver on the core initiative