The Office of the Vice President for Statewide Strategic Development (SSRD), established July 1, 2006,  is responsible for strategic leadership in three broad areas:  (1) the University's statewide economic development initiatives, as well as strategies for regional, national, and international development programs; (2) the generation of increased financial return on University assets; and 3) select University-wide interdisciplinary academic initiatives. Primary emphases within economic development currently include strategic planning for real estate, and commercialization of technology and intellectual property, in conjunction with the Office of the Vice President for Research. 

The focus on statewide strategic resource development supports the University’s strategic positioning goal of being among the top three research universities in the world.

Carlson’s focus includes the University of Minnesota’s contributions to regional economic development in the state as well as the broader role of the land grant institutions in economic development across the nation.  She contributes to the University’s development of a strategic plan for UMore Park, a 12-square-mile site 25 miles south of the Twin Cities at the suburban-rural interface, near Rosemount, Minnesota.

Prior to her new appointment, Carlson served as Assistant Vice President of Agricultural Policy and Chief of Staff of the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences for six years.

From 1996 to 2000, she worked at the University’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs as Associate Director of the Orville and Jane Freeman Center on International Economic Policy.  At the Freeman Center she focused on issues relating to agriculture, international development and rural development in Minnesota.  She came to the University of Minnesota in 1996 from her position as Assistant Director of the Board on Agriculture at the National Academies-National Research Council in Washington, D.C.  Prior to her 10 years at the National Research Council, where she focused on national policy issues relating to agriculture, food and natural resources, she worked as a science reporter and editor for news organizations in the Washington, D.C., area.

Carlson is the higher education liaison to Minnesota Rural Partners, the state rural development council, and serves on the executive committee of the Minnesota Regional Economic Development Group and the University’s Council on Public Engagement.  She holds undergraduate degrees in biology and journalism and a masters degree in liberal studies.