Over the next five years, the Lebanese American University is committed to the following four strategic priorities.

Pillar 1: Enhance LAU’s Scholarly Footprint and Visibility

Driven by its pursuit of research excellence, LAU shall embark on a journey to lift the impact of its research and scholarly activities. In this pillar, LAU shall consider focusing and sharpening its research areas, enhancing the university reputation and visibility, promoting strategic interdisciplinary research, and improving university and subject rankings.

• Goal 1. Attract global talent: Recruit and affiliate with accomplished scholars to enhance our visibility and global footprint.
• Goal 2. Improve research impact and capacity: Develop long-term research strategies and initiatives to improve LAU’s research quality and impact.
• Goal 3. Foster collaborative research and partnerships: Promote international research endeavors through supporting faculty to develop partnerships and collaborations.
• Goal 4. Develop and offer strategic PhD programs: Develop scholars who are well-equipped to undertake research through strategic PhD programs in LAU’s areas of strength.
• Goal 5. Enhance research infrastructure: Improve research infrastructure and resources available to faculty to conduct innovative and impactful research.

Pillar 2: Educate for Impact

Guided by the urgency to prepare our students for the rapid global transformations resulting from the fourth industrial revolution and numerous political issues as presented by the UN SDGs, LAU shall continuously assess and improve its programs starting with the LAU Insignia up to all the existing programs while proposing new ones (undergraduate, graduate, in-person, hybrid, and online).

• Goal 1. Students: Educate for Impact will ensure that our students are specialists in their disciplines, cultured, enterprising and agile thinkers.
• Goal 2. Faculty: Educate for Impact will acknowledge, celebrate, and promote a synergetic culture of teaching and research excellence.
• Goal 3. Internationalization: Educate for Impact will increase strategic partnerships with international academic institutions to provide LAU students with more exchange and study abroad opportunities.
• Goal 4. Innovation for Entrepreneurship: Educate for Impact will instill a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Goal 5. Academic Systems as Facilitators: Educate for Impact will foster meaningful academic partnerships between all the stakeholders.

Pillar 3: Innovate to Inspire

Driven by the continuous change in the way our students learn and the implications for teaching, LAU shall build a culture that promotes innovative approaches to education; incentivizes educators to embrace disruptive thinking; and inspires students to become future leaders of innovation.

• Goal 1. Establish a culture of Innovation: Establish a university-wide culture that enables innovative thinking.
• Goal 2. Promote student engagement for impactful learning: Increase the level of involvement for students in shaping the learning process and provide broad student-engaging activities and opportunities.
• Goal 3. Ensure teacher preparedness to engage in valiant and innovative education: Engage all the LAU faculty members with some pedagogical training which should lead to an improved overall learning experience at LAU; while enabling most of our faculty to innovate in their teaching and learning practices.
• Goal 4. Secure institutional support to enable advance pedagogical innovation: Provide sufficient talent, equipment, and support to enable LAU faculty in advancing pedagogical innovation.

Pillar 4: Advance and Educate Beyond Boundaries

Driven by the current crisis and the fact that LAU is becoming a large institution relative to our shrinking local economy, the University shall establish a meaningful and sustainable presence beyond the Lebanese borders through offering distance education options, creating branch campuses, and cooperating with partner institutions in host countries. LAU will also seek to solidify its external relationships in particular with large local and regional businesses through the LAU Industrial Hub and a business-to-business approach that will improve student recruitment and job placement as well as enhance the University’s continuing education arm.

• Goal 1. Establish physical presence in different countries in the MENA region and restructure the LAU NYC.
• Goal 2. Expand the consulting services of LAU in Higher Education, Healthcare, and Businesses
• Goal 3. Establish an Industrial Hub at LAU that fosters innovation, industry-university collaboration to advance use-inspired R&D with the aim to produce sellable products and services.
• Goal 4. Expand the Academy of Continuing Education (ACE) arm to cater for a wider public locally and internationally with innovative programs/certificates and courses.
• Goal 5. Improve internship and job placement opportunities of LAU students through enhancing local and international relationships and cooperation agreements with relevant entities.
• Goal 6. Establish and expand LAU’s hybrid and online programs through strategic offerings, marketing strategies and university/corporate partnerships.