The Strategic Planning and Resources Council is working to identify specific action steps to take over the next five years that are in line with goals in the strategic plan and the concerns of the Higher Learning Commission.
One of the first steps that has been taken to implement the plan is the hiring of a consultant to determine the needs of the office of institutional research, and to make sure that all offices have access to accurate and useful data, said Mike Schaefer, professor of English and chairman of the SPARC committee.
“Once those needs are identified, the action steps in subsequent years will be to fill those needs,” he said.
Schaefer has been inspired by the way everyone has stepped up and pulled together to create and to implement the strategic plan.
Students from Michael Rubach, Dan Fisher and Susan Myers’ marketing classes have given suggestions to the SPARC committee on how to incorporate the mission of the committee into a brief statement that can be put on SPARC’s websites, stationary and emails. Schaefer said that the goal of this is: “Reminding ourselves and informing everyone else of the aims that unite us and make us distinctive.”
In February 2010, various groups across campus began to develop a strategic plan that examines the university’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. A series of forums were held to receive input from each of the six colleges, staff and students.
A list of initiatives was developed from the feedback.
The goal of strategic planning is to:
- Identify the various forces acting on the university as a whole–including finances, public perceptions and expectations, demographics, and technology.
- Assess the resources of various types the university has at its disposal for carrying out its planning.
- Examine and articulate the mission and vision of the university–our sense of our purpose and our aspirations for the future–which will be informed by the core shared values of the university community.
- Identify particular attributes of the university that set us apart from our sister institutions and that thus constitute our distinctive strengths.
The UCA Board of Trustees approved the strategic plan on May 6.