President Lyons launches Strategic Directions and appoints a Steering Committee to direct the planning process. The committee uses feedback from the campus community to revise mission and core values statements, which are approved by the Board of Trustees on February 8. The committee then drafts a new vision statement and five strategic directions to guide the university's planning efforts during the next five years. These are approved by the Board of Trustees on April 30.

The president sponsors workshops and open forums to identify strategic initiatives. Several task forces draft five-year action plans for potential initiatives. The Executive Council prioritizes four institution-wide strategic initiatives in May and charges administrative areas to address unit-specific initiatives.

Committees led by co-chairs from different divisions are appointed to develop project plans for implementing the institutional initiatives. Each committee holds an open forum to solicit feedback from the campus community, and each drafts a work plan for the next academic year.

Committees further define their proposed work plans, begin work on the year's objectives, and launch projects during the year. Committees are charged to incorporate existing funds and resources into their plans as much as possible. Each committee begins to develop a website. Administrative teams address unit-specific initiatives within their areas.

Committees continue to develop their action plans and progress through the project cycle. The International Center opens in Serra Hall, the President's Advisory Board for Inclusion and Diversity is established, and a new strategic initiative for Sustainability is launched in response to student demand.

Collaboration among the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture, the Romero Center for Catholic Faith in Action, Community Service-Learning/CASA, and the Center for Christian Spirituality provides programming on Catholic Social Thought for the campus community. Programs for First Year Experience and Second Year Experience are co-sponsored and jointly supported by Student Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Administrative entities established to support the institutional initiatives continue to be assimilated into the university's overall organizational structure. A new Center for Inclusion and Diversity, with co-directors from Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, replaces the President's Advisory Board for Inclusion & Diversity.

President Lyons announces a new cycle of Strategic Planning at the Fall Convocation in September. She appoints a Core Team of faculty, administrators, and students to collect and consolidate strategic ideas from the campus community.