Superintendent's Letter

 August 29, 2019

Faculty and Staff,

As we prepare to begin another academic year, I want to update you on an important planning process helping to guide USNA’s future.  As many of you are aware, the Naval Academy Strategic Plan has shaped many of our programs and facility upgrades throughout the years.  Much of our excellence and the superb reputation we enjoy are the result of deliberative planning efforts set forth by our Strategic Plan.  USNA programs and facilities such as the Stockdale Center, the Center for Cyber Studies, Hopper Hall, renovations to Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the Center for Academic Excellence, distinguished visiting professors are the result of previous strategic planning efforts. 

Strategic Plan 2020 – our most current version – has achieved most of its objectives, and it is now time to begin updating and revising our plan with a view toward the Naval Academy of 2030 and beyond.

The world has changed dramatically and, undoubtedly, will remain in flux.  USNA must continue to develop officers of character who possess the core values of the Navy: honor, courage, and commitment.  But we must also ensure that the Academy experience prepares our graduates to meet the changing roles and missions of the naval service in keeping with our evolving national defense strategy.

Though our mission differs from civilian institutions, we must remain competitive with our Nation’s finest universities by attracting the best of academia, and not just the top students, but individuals who possess the academic talent, physical ability and personal character to be developed into future leaders in our Navy and Marine Corps.  The entire Naval Academy experience – our admissions outreach, our academic programs, our physical development programs, our character and leadership programs, our facilities – must continue to compare favorably with the best institutions in the country.

The process by which we’ll update our strategic plan involves assessing the current state of USNA, to include validating our mission and vision, analyzing the social, technological, economic, political and environmental trends, and evaluating our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.  We will seek input from a variety of sources internal and external to USNA during this assessment.  

Like Strategic Plan 2020, our revised strategic plan will ultimately identify a number of specific strategic objectives USNA should strive to obtain to continue fulfilling our mission and remain our Nation’s premier institution for developing future naval leaders.

A 14-person strategic planning committee, representing various USNA cost centers, began its efforts in June with a goal of presenting Naval Academy leadership with a completed draft plan by April 2020.  This committee will seek input from a variety of sources internal and external to USNA during this assessment, to include faculty, staff and alumni, and provide them with periodic updates on the planning process throughout the year. I welcome and encourage your active participation in this process.

I am very pleased with the Naval Academy’s overall direction.  Our challenge is to periodically assess our program and through proactive and creative thinking, make necessary adjustments to ensure we remain on course and are prepared to meet our vision for the future.     

Sean S. Buck
Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy
Superintendent