Lehigh Advances Into Year Three of Its Strategy With a Focus on Sustaining Success

“This is Lehigh’s Best Moment”

President Joseph J. Helble ’82 opened the Nov. 10 Town Hall by acknowledging the challenges facing higher education nationally while emphasizing Lehigh’s strong progress and position. “We are in a challenging moment for higher education,” Helble said. “Yet I genuinely believe this is Lehigh’s best moment. We are executing as a campus community consistently, collaboratively and with a deep sense of purpose.”

Helble highlighted university-wide accomplishments from Year Two, including:

• Major research momentum, including two new university research centers: the Center for Community-Driven Assisted Technology (CDAT) and the Center for Advancing Community Electrification Solutions (ACES), alongside last year’s Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience.
• Achievement of R1 research status, a 50% increase in research expenditures and continued progress toward the goal of doubling Lehigh’s research footprint and funding within a decade.
• Academic innovation, including the launch of the inter-college Integrated Business and Health program with plans for a similar program in the future between the College of Health and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.
• Completion of both a campus plan and a Community and Economic Impact Report that highlighted Lehigh’s $1.4 billion annual impact on the Lehigh Valley economy.
• Student success gains, including improved campus belonging, stronger student retention and welcoming the largest-ever first-year class and achieving gender parity.
• Dramatically expanded graduate student applicant pools and celebrated multiple major faculty awards and recognitions.
• Achieving community and institutional milestones such as surpassing the $1 billion mark in the Go Beyond campaign, reopening the Clayton University Center five months early and under budget, celebrating 100 years of Lehigh University Art Galleries , and the elevation of women’s wrestling to Division I status.

Helble also emphasized the importance of thoughtful AI adoption, noting that AI should free more time for “the deeply human parts of our work.”

He closed by recognizing the campuswide effort behind the progress: “Given this moment in higher education, I am proud of where we are as a university and how we continue to engage in and execute our strategy together.”

Year Two Progress and the Road Ahead

Interim Vice President for Strategic Planning and Initiatives Mark Erickson highlighted how alignment among the university strategy, Go Beyond campaign, brand campaign and campus plan is driving measurable progress toward university goals. “These efforts are aligned, and that alignment is driving results,” Erickson said. “The progress we’ve made comes from focus—and from working together.”

Year Two Implementation Highlights
Erickson and Provost Nathan Urban emphasized several additional areas of progress:

• Launch of the first Explore Lehigh cohort, now approved as a three-year pilot as well as launch of the FYRE pilot program for first-year engineering students.
• Continued development of doctoral career training, with a completed white paper and new tracks in development for 2026.
• A 94.3% first-year retention rate, nearing the 95% target.
• Significant graduate enrollment gains, including increases of 60% in applications, 50% in admitted students and 20% in first-year graduate and professional enrollment.

For a complete list of Year Two progress and accomplishments, access Lehigh’s Year Two Progress Report.

Erickson noted that “we still have silos and policies that work at cross purposes,” and said addressing these will be essential in year three.

Looking Ahead: Year Three Priorities

The top action items for the coming year include:

• Ensure Lehigh and its graduates are AI ready.
• Maintain external federal research funding and increase non-federal external support of research by 25%.
• A 25% increase in domestic first-year graduate enrollment.
• Reach retention targets of 95% (first year), 97.5% (second year) and 98.5% (third year).
• Advance Mountaintop activation, including increasing daily users by 15% and assessing potential graduate housing.

The Annual Roadmap for academic year 2025-26 has been posted for details on specific objectives, projects and progress.

Erickson also highlighted expanded engagement opportunities, including Future Maker Forums, presidential dinners and the Strategy Champions Awards. “Our mantra for year three is simple: sustaining success,” he said. “It’s easy to lose focus in year three. Many strategic plans stumble right here. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Employer Expectations for AI Skills

Provost Nathan Urban discussed the increasing importance of AI fluency—not AI model-building—for students entering the workforce. “Employers are clear,” Urban said. “They’re looking for applied fluency with AI, not model building. They want responsible use, data literacy and the ability to critically evaluate AI outputs.”

Findings from interviews with 15 employer organizations conducted by the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) revealed consistent themes:

• Applied AI fluency
• Responsible and ethical use
• Chatbot prompt engineering and design
• Critical evaluation of AI results
• Strong data literacy and storytelling

To support students, CCPD has launched AI Ready, a new learning initiative designed to help Lehigh students stay ahead in an AI-driven world.

Urban also outlined how AI can strengthen the university by improving learning, enabling greater administrative efficiency, accelerating research, supporting growth in graduate programs and helping regional partners adopt AI through the Enhance the Shared Bethlehem Experience initiative. But he emphasized the need for caution. “AI doesn’t automatically make everything better,” he said. “We must assess privacy, ethics, safety, potential negative consequences and sustainability, including the energy footprint of AI data centers.”

Future Maker Grants for AI Enhancement

Urban showcased the five awardees of the 2025 Future Maker Grant: AI Enhancement, noting that the projects illustrate targeted ways AI can advance operations, student support and institutional effectiveness.

• A Conversational AI for Unlocking Institutional Data — Kimberly Williamson
• AI Enhancement for Contract Review Process — Heather Stoelzl, James Monek
• Generative AI Tool for a Consistent Brand Voice — Audra Berner
• Individual Development Plan Assistant Chatbot — Kate Arrington
• Office of International Affairs AI Enhancement Proposal — Jessica Kingston

Developing Lehigh’s AI Principles

Vice Provost Dominic Packer closed with an overview of the draft AI principles designed to guide institutional decision-making. “Policies tell people what to do,” Packer said. “Principles help people reason through gray areas. They endure as tools and institutions evolve.”

Lehigh’s Six Draft AI Principles Summary:

1. We will use AI where and when it demonstrably strengthens our students’ learning
2. We will lean on Lehigh’s interdisciplinary DNA to help our students grapple with all sides of AI - enabling them to use it thoughtfully, creatively, and responsibly.
3. We will take advantage of this moment to enhance what makes education uniquely human - real conversations, connections, care, and mentorship.
4. We will prioritize AI tools and innovations that increase equity and access.
5. We will safeguard data, privacy, and academic integrity.
6. We will continue to innovate and adapt as AI tools evolve.

These principles are a living document,” Packer said. “They are meant to evolve. We want AI to amplify, not diminish, what makes Lehigh Lehigh.”

For More Information

• Town Hall Recording
• Year Two Accomplishments
• Year Three Action Items
• Future Maker Grants
• Strategy Engagement Opportunities