According to the University Global Coalition, because issues underpinning the Sustainable Development Goals are so complex, lasting solutions require multidisciplinary, cross-sector, collaborative approaches. Universities have long worked across borders, helping expose students to different cultural, social, and economic realities and conducting research in distant locations. The world needs people with new ideas, new capabilities, global outlook, and leadership skills who can find and implement new solutions, and because of their unique missions and resources, universities are essential to developing the new ideas and human leadership potential.

JMU and other signatories of the University Global Coalition agreement made the following five commitments:

1. Increasing students’ understanding of the most pressing challenges facing the world today as articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals, and inspiring students to play an active role in driving change and finding new solutions
2. Developing the global competence and leadership skills students need to effectively collaborate across cultural and national boundaries and across disciplines and sectors in creating a more sustainable future 
3. Engaging in actionable research, knowledge sharing, and innovation in collaboration with other local and international organizations in pursuit of novel approaches to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
4. Engaging with private and public actors in leading, guiding and supporting local, national and global responses to the Sustainable Development Goals
5. Recognizing the impact that our own operations have on important sustainable development issues and acting responsibly to address them and serve as an example to others