VISION FOR VICTORYRICE ATHLETICS

2019–2023 STRATEGIC PLAN

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEWWe are pleased to introduce the 2019 Rice Athletics Strategic Plan, which will act as our guide for the coming five years. The plan is the product of months of work and input from over 1,300 Rice constituents. Interviews with more than 70 individuals —spanning coaches, athletics staff, student-athletes, donors and fans — were supplemented by a survey yielding over 1,250 responses. We are thankful to all our constituents who invested their valuable time to help shape the future of Rice Athletics. We also want to thank the Boston Consulting Group for their partnership throughout the planning process.

Our 2019 plan builds off the New Vision for Rice Athletics released in July 2014. Before fully moving to our new plan, we want to take a moment to recap our progress on the 2014 plan, in which we established four pillars to help elevate our program to a place of broadly recognized excellence and distinction. The first was Athletic Competitiveness — winning conference championships and/or finishing in the top 25 national rankings in each of our 16 sports. Since the 2013–2014 season, we have celebrated 19 conference championships across 11 sports while also achieving top 25 rankings in four sports and receiving national poll votes in others. Our second pillar was Academic Success — graduating student-athletes at or above the Rice University rate and increasing the number of student-athletes honored. In 2017–2018, we placed 256 student-athletes on the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll (a school record) and, over the past five years, have consistently achieved among the top 10 graduation rates in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Our third pillar in 2014 was Life Education and Achievement — developing the leadership capabilities and behavioral components necessary for professional and personal success after Rice. We are pleased with the progress we have made, and the outcomes are tremendous — we consistently achieve a career placement rate of over 90 percent. Our final pillar was Rice Values - integrating our efforts with the best interest of the university, achieving the objectives of the Vision for the Second Century, and standing as an example of integrity and fair play. We have continued to achieve a strong compliance record, maintaining our distinction as one of the few FBS institutions to have never committed a major NCAA violation.

These accomplishments were enabled by successful completion of our strategies underpinning the vision. Notable achievements include:

u 45 percent growth in ticket revenue since 2013–2014, including record high season ticket numbers.

u Renegotiation of sponsorship, apparel, pouring rights, merchandise, concessions, and ticketing contracts, creating more than $3 million in incremental value for the department.

u Record highs in annual fundraising dollars and donors.

u Establishment of our first coaching endowment, the Dunlevie Family Head Football Coach, thanks to a generous contribution by Bruce ’79 and Elizabeth Dunlevie.

u Multiple enhancements to our facilities portfolio, including constructing the Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center and substantial renovations at Tudor Fieldhouse, Reckling Park, and the Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field, made possible in large part by our generous donors.

u Completion of a comprehensive brand survey and accompanying refresh of our brand marks.

u Extensive research and analysis regarding appropriate alliances with other NCAA Division I FBS institutions, including participation in the Big 12 Conference expansion evaluation process.

While there are many great accomplishments to celebrate over the past five years, we realize there are many areas for us to improve if we want to realize our potential and achieve a place of broadly recognized excellence and distinction. First, we need to achieve more consistent competitive success, particularly in football, basketball and baseball, which will enable us to generate more resources to support our whole department. Second, we need additional strategic investment in our facilities, focusing first on our football stadium. Third, we need even more growth in our fan and support base and our self-generated revenue, both transactional and philanthropic. Finally, we must continue to improve our student-athlete experience, so we can attract, retain and ultimately graduate the best student-athletes in the world.

With this assessment in mind, we now move forward to our 2019 strategic plan, which is organized into four parts:

u Vision: Our vision describes our aspirational position within the college athletics landscape.

u Mission: Our mission defines why we exist.

u Core Values: Our core values are the guiding principles that dictate how we operate and act as a compass for our decision-making.

u Strategic Priorities, Goals and Initiatives: We will achieve our vision and mission by focusing on three strategic priorities, which are supported by 10 goals and accompanying tactical initiatives.

u Our strategic priorities are the macro areas of focus.

u Our goals define WHAT we will do to accomplish our strategic priorities.

u Our initiatives define HOW we will accomplish our goals.

2019-2023 STRATEGIC PLAN 1

VISION To be the institution of choice for elite student-athletes who become champions at Rice and beyond.

MISSIONRice Athletics provides an incubator for student-athletes who crave competitive success and lessons in leadership, teamwork and grit on their path to becoming self-actualizing, proud alumni.

CORE VALUESWe embrace the Rice values of Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence. In athletics, we also seek to embody three complementary core values:

u GRIT: We approach everything we do with passion and perseverance. In the face of adversity, we maintain our determination. When we get knocked down, we get right back up. We embrace the process in our quest for success.

u CURIOSITY: We are coachable and embrace a growth mindset. We are vulnerable and ask questions in pursuit of the best idea. We are willing to try new approaches and to fail forward when necessary.

u TEAMWORK: We believe that achieving the best results requires working together. As good teammates, we are willing to practice both leadership and followership. We sacrifice our own needs to step up and serve when others need our help. We always build each other up.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES, GOALS AND INITIATIVESTo achieve our mission and vision, we will focus on three strategic priorities:

u Promote academic, professional and personal development .

u Improve athletic competitiveness.

u Raise the prominence of the Rice Athletics brand.

Realizing that our success in achieving these priorities lies in strong execution, we defined 10 goals and accompanying initiatives to support the priorities. The following section provides an outline of our strategic priorities and accompanying goals, and subsequent sections outline tactical initiatives we will execute to achieve each goal and ultimately each priority.

2019-2023 STRATEGIC PLAN 3

PROMOTE ACADEMIC, PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT u Goal 1— Support academic excellence: Invest in our student-athletes’ academic success and implement strategies to more closely align the athletics federal graduation rate with the overall university rate.

u Goal 2 — Provide opportunities for professional and personal growth: Support the development of personal characteristics through the athletic experience and the investment in career and life skills programming that will fuel our student-athletes’ success at Rice and beyond.

u Goal 3 — Foster student-athlete participation in all that Rice has to offer: Create an environment that encourages our student-athletes to experience Rice’s opportunities, adding to an already vibrant campus and supporting a comprehensive college experience that builds stronger connections with the broader student body.

IMPROVE ATHLETIC COMPETITIVENESS u Goal 4 — Optimize performance through a holistic, science-based approach: Employ a comprehensive approach to maximizing athletic performance, addressing both the physical and mental from preperformance to recovery, in collaboration with strategic partners.

u Goal 5 — Attract and retain elite coaches and staff: Develop a systematic hiring process for coaches and staff, and increase retention through professional development and a growing culture of appreciation.

u Goal 6 — Identify, recruit, and retain top prospects: Improve the process of identifying and attracting talented, high-potential recruits that are a fit for Rice, and improve retention rates through a targeted student-athlete development strategy.

RAISE THE PROMINENCE OF THE RICE ATHLETICS BRAND u Goal 7—Expand community outreach: Leverage technology and invest in key creative positions to increase quantity and quality of information generated to reach new fans.

u Goal 8 — Engage former student-athletes: Develop new strategy for letter winner engagement, starting with strong database management and enhanced programming.

u Goal 9 — Enhance the fan experience: Strategically invest in facilities (football stadium first) and leverage technology and customer data to improve the game day experience.

u Goal 10 — Increase self-generated funding: Generate new resources through transactional (tickets, sponsorships, rentals) and philanthropic (annual giving, endowments) sources.

For each strategic priority, we provide concrete metrics for how we will measure success. We hope to meet these

metrics by 2023, upon completion of the term of our plan. Realizing the fast pace of change in college athletics

though, we will take time annually to review the appropriateness of our initiatives and metrics. If we successfully

accomplish our goals, we will be well-positioned for alignment with peer NCAA Division I FBS institutions as college

athletics evolves.

FURTHER DETAIL FOLLOWS.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIESAND GOALS

2019-2023 STRATEGIC PLAN 5

STRATEGIC PRIORITY:

PROMOTE ACADEMIC, PROFESSIONALAND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

We have defined the following goals that we believe will help us promote academic, professional and personal development among our student-athletes.

We will know we have been successful at promoting academic, professional and personal development if we:

u Improve our athletics federal graduation rate to more closely align with the university rate.

u Continue to achieve a postgraduate placement rate of more than 90 percent.

u Provide every student-athlete the opportunity to pursue their career or field of choice.

u Provide every student-athlete the opportunity to go abroad once during their time at Rice.

u Increase participation in personal enrichment programs both in athletics and on campus.

u Deepen relationships that student-athletes have with the general student body.

u Win the Conference USA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Cup.

GOAL 1 / SUPPORT ACADEMIC EXCELLENCEWe will invest in our student-athletes’ academic success and implement strategies to more closely align the athletics federal graduation rate with the overall university rate, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Ensure all student-athletes are increasingly equipped to graduate at high rates.

u Support student-athlete access to all available majors, ensuring the ability to take the

classes necessary for their major.

u Formalize and increase access to an athletics summer bridge program for incoming freshmen.

GOAL 2 / PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL GROWTHWe will support the development of personal characteristics through the athletic experience and the investment in career and life skills programming that will fuel our student athletes’ success at Rice and beyond, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Invest in a student-athlete development position.

u Support an exceptional development program to ensure our student-athletes have personal

and professional growth opportunities similar to the general Rice student body.

u Identify new student-athlete development opportunities (e.g., study abroad, leadership development, etc.)

and seek funding as necessary.

u Foster a robust career development program, supporting a wide array of career

opportunities, including Olympic development programs and professional sports.

GOAL 3 / FOSTER STUDENT-ATHLETE PARTICIPATION IN ALL THAT RICE HAS TO OFFERWe will create an environment that encourages our student-athletes to experience Rice’s opportunities, adding to an already vibrant campus and supporting a comprehensive college experience that builds strong connections with the broader student body, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Collaborate with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to identify how student-

athletes can better contribute to and participate in the vibrancy of campus.

u Develop strategies to support student-athlete access to and involvement in campus activities.

2019-2023 STRATEGIC PLAN 7

STRATEGIC PRIORITY:

IMPROVE ATHLETIC COMPETITIVENESSWe have defined the following goals that we believe will help

us improve athletic competitiveness.

We will know we have been successful at improving athletic competitiveness if we:

u Increase the number of conference championships and NCAA appearances to the most in any five-year period in Rice history.

u Improve our standing in the Learfield Directors’ Cup to the highest in the last 10 years.

u Achieve consistent participation in football bowl games.

u Achieve milestones of competitive success in every program.

GOAL 4 / OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE THROUGH A HOLISTIC, SCIENCE-BASED APPROACHWe will employ a comprehensive approach to maximizing athletic performance, addressing both the physical and mental from preperformance to recovery, in collaboration with strategic partners, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Conduct more rigorous preperformance assessments to determine the optimal training program for

both the individual student-athlete and the team.

u Research and incorporate biofeedback devices to monitor and maximize student-athlete recovery.

u Explore and implement performance-dining option to fuel student-athletes throughout the year.

u Evaluate sports psychology and mental health capabilities, and grow as necessary.

u Ensure adequate training space in support of high-performance goals.

u Align with strategic partners in support of high-performance goals.

GOAL 5 / ATTRACT AND RETAIN ELITE COACHES AND STAFFWe will develop a systematic hiring process for coaches and staff, and increase retention through professional development and a growing culture of appreciation, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Develop general candidate profiles for coaches and staff, ensuring we target those who have an

understanding of and embrace what Rice stands for; tailor to individual positions for hiring.

u Create a hiring process that ensures the inclusion of a diverse constituency.

u Improve and standardize onboarding process to ensure smooth ramp-up of new employees.

u Create a formal program to grow assistant coaches aspiring to be head coaches.

u Develop mechanisms to reward extraordinary employees.

GOAL 6 / IDENTIFY, RECRUIT AND RETAIN TOP PROSPECTSWe will improve the process of identifying and attracting talented, high-potential recruits that are a fit for Rice, and improve retention rates through a targeted student-athlete development strategy, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Design and pilot an evaluation tool to identify what makes a “successful” Rice student-athlete and make

available to coaches in the recruiting process.

u Create a special fund for extraordinary recruiting expenses.

u Develop a strong student-athlete development program to increase satisfaction and retention of student-athletes.

u Create stronger connections among the student-athletes and the student body to enhance the sense of

community on campus, working with the Student-Athlete Advisory committee to develop a plan.

2019-2023 STRATEGIC PLAN 9

STRATEGIC PRIORITY:

RAISE THE PROMINENCE OFTHE RICE ATHLETICS BRAND

We have defined the following goals that we believe will help us raise the prominence of the Rice Athletics brand.

WE WILL KNOW WE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT RAISING THE PROMINENCE OF THE RICE ATHLETICS BRAND IF WE:

u Achieve season ticket records in all six ticketed sports.

u Increase digital media impressions by 50 percent.

u Increase earned media mentions by 50 percent.

u Increase licensed merchandise sales by 15 percent.

u Increase Owl Club to record levels of dollars raised and participation.

u Increase letter winner give rate to 20 percent.

u Increase athletics endowment value to $100 million.

u Achieve record student-athlete community service hours.

GOAL 7 / EXPAND COMMUNITY OUTREACHWe will leverage technology and invest in key creative positions to increase the quantity and quality of information generated to reach new fans, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Implement a new CRM to better manage fan information and communications.

u Grow our investment in marketing staff (creative and digital) and marketing budget (mass marketing focus) to better tell the Rice Athletics story and raise awareness.

u Invest in key segments to build the future pipeline of Rice fans, including K–12 groups (in collaboration with campus partners) and the 20s/30s young alumni demographic.

u Create a specific Rice campus engagement strategy, supported by an advisory group.

u Focus on effectively highlighting the importance of Rice’s profile in Houston.

u Invest in nonathletics programming (movie nights, fun runs, etc.) to engage new fans.

GOAL 8 /ENGAGE FORMER STUDENT-ATHLETESWe will develop a strategy for letter winner engagement, starting with strong database management and enhanced programming, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Develop a process to update and keep current the letter winner contact list.

u Create and disseminate an annual letter winner survey to identify ways to better serve the group.

u Develop a specific engagement strategy for young alumni to connect early and often.

u Formalize our letter winner/student-athlete mentorship program.

u Create letter winner social events in Houston to provide connection and networking.

u Create a former letter winner ambassador program

to disseminate messages from Rice Athletics.

GOAL 9 / ENHANCE THE FAN EXPERIENCEWe will strategically invest in facilities (football stadium first) and leverage technology and customer data to improve the game day experience, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Renovate Rice Stadium: seating (premium focus), shade, concessions, bathrooms and concourses.

u Assess and implement fan-enhancing upgrades at other athletic facilities.

u Explore and implement the addition of co-branded social zones within venues.

u Explore and implement new in-venue technologies aimed at improving the game experience.

u Increase student attendance by creating an annual strategic plan and considering upgrades to student sections, collaborating closely with the Rally Club.

u Invest in band, cheer and dance to grow participation and integration into game experience.

GOAL 10 /INCREASE SELF-GENERATED FUNDINGWe will generate new resources through transactional (tickets, sponsorships, rentals) and philanthropic (annual giving, endowments) sources, focusing on the following initiatives:

u Grow our season ticket base across ticketed sports by 50 percent.

u Grow sponsorship dollars by 25 percent.

u Grow outside event rental revenue by 50 percent.

u Grow the number of Owl Club donors by 50 percent, including doubling the rate of letter winner giving to athletics.

u Grow athletics endowment to $100 million through coaching, scholarship and program endowments, with consideration of an endowment-based investment fund.

2019-2023 STRATEGIC PLAN 11

Questions or comments?Please feel free to contact our office at 713.348.6957.

Visit our website:www.riceowls.com

Rice Athletics–MS 548

P.O. Box 1892

Houston, TX 77251-1892