Process
The university’s strategic planning process is occurring in three overlapping phases:
The USPC is a standing committee that combines the previously separate roles of the Committee to Implement and Prioritize the Strategic Plan (CIPSP) and Strategic Plan Work Group (SPWG). A large group representing all significant constituencies on campus and in our community, co-chaired by the Provost and Speaker of the Faculty, the USPC is responsible for drafting our new strategic plan, to cover a period from late 2017-2025, as well as managing its implementation.
In its initial work, USPC identified three phases of planning and creation of the new strategic plan, roughly outlined as:
- Planning, direct consultations, environmental scan, data gathering, other assessment;
- Open consultations and active feedback, identification of major themes and initial framing of plan, creation of initial draft;
- Review and feedback on draft, consultation and dialogue with campus representatives and stakeholders, posting and review of revisions, culminating in review and recommendation to the President
In Phase 1, the Council has formed six work groups to lead consultation, gather feedback and/or data, perform environmental scans, and more. Additionally, USPC has planned and is working through over 40 direct, in-person consultations with campus representative and governance committees, and other groups. We also performed an internal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, which will be used to help inform feedback received through consultation.
Also, USPC is working closely with the leadership of the Presidential Transition Team and WASC Reaccreditation Team, who have been leading large-scale institutional assessment and dialogue, primarily through open forums and direct consultation. Their reports and data will be fully shared with USPC, as significant sources of primary information for our work. In this way, USPC hopes to increase the value and application of the work of those two important committees and to avoid redundant (and possibly tiresome) campus forums and consultations where the same or similar questions are asked repeatedly.
Phase 2 commences with the campus open forum on January 30 (you may have heard about this somewhere already) and continues through the middle of the Spring semester. During Phase 2, open consultations will occur in-person, as with the open forum; and in a variety of other ways, including electronic surveys and polls, feedback through the website, ongoing direct consultations, and more. Through this phase, the USPC will better be able to determine not only campus and community needs and desires for our institution, but also will gain a sense of priority for those. Once those become clear, writing on the first draft of the new strategic plan will commence.
The last phase of work in the creation of the new strategic plan will start with presentation of the first draft to the campus community and the solicitation of review and feedback across campus and our larger community. As the document is revised, changes will be posted online, and various specific questions may be returned to the campus community for feedback via representative consultation, online feedback, and more. This phase will culminate in the review of the strategic plan by the Academic Senate and delivery of the final draft by the USPC to the President for approval.
Timeline
Throughout the process of developing a recommended strategic plan, USPC will consult broadly and meaningfully with the campus community. Consultation will involve soliciting ideas and feedback concerning campus needs and priorities, strengths, successes, opportunities, and challenges and weaknesses, through multiple means and on an ongoing basis.
The council will post a completed first draft of the strategic plan to share with members of the campus community no later than April 13, 2017.
Members of the campus community will be invited to comment on the draft as individuals or as organized constituents at an open forum on April 17 (tentative), either in-person or electronically.
The President will seek a formal recommendation from the Academic Senate on the Academic Affairs portions of the Strategic Plan.
The final version of the Strategic Plan will be adopted by May 31, 2017.
| Date | Task |
|---|---|
| October 2016 | Council Established |
| November 2016-February 2017 | Phase 1: Creation, planning, implementation |
| January 30, 2017 | Campus Open Forum (in-person and online) |
| February-April | Phase 2: Open consultation, active feedback, framing and writing of plan |
| May - August | Phase 3: Active feedback, dialogue, drafting |
| April 28 | First draft of Strategic Plan posted online at the following link: Strategic Planning |
| May 3 | In-person open forum | 1:00 -2: 00 pm - MSR 130 |
| May 4 | In-person open forum | 1:00 -2: 00 pm - MSR 130 |
| May 15 | Second draft posted online, with call for submission of potential strategies |
| August 14 | First complete draft posted online |
| Fall 2017 |
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Updated: April 02, 2024