A group of almost 90 faculty, staff, students, community members and University administrators have started work on recalibrating the 2007 \u201cDirections\u201d strategic plan document.<\/p>\n
Dr. Jamie Barlowe, professor and chair of the Department of Women\u2019s and Gender Studies and co-convener of the newly formed strategic plan committee, said looking at the University\u2019s strategic plan again needs to happen now because so much has changed since the 2007 document.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are no longer going through a merger, our country has a new president, our state has a new governor, and we have a set of global economic conditions we couldn\u2019t have anticipated,\u201d Barlowe said. \u201cThere is a large set of internal and external circumstances that impact the way this institution operates, and we need to be constantly aware of how those things define our strategic direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chuck Lehnert, vice president for facilities and construction and co-convener of the committee, said the recalibration will look at updating and changing the 2007 plan to better position the University to be a leader in the excellence of its academic programs, the depth of its research, the availability of its world-class health care, and the reach of its global engagement \u2014 among other areas.<\/p>\n
To meet these needs, the 90-person committee has divided into nine work groups \u2014 six focused on creating goals and measurements for obtaining those goals, and three looking at broader issues of distinctiveness, a University land-use plan and finances. Each goal-oriented group will decide which goals from \u201cDirections\u201d they will keep, revise or delete, and which goals they will newly create.<\/p>\n
The work groups will look at setting goals in the following areas before the next meeting of the full committee at 8 a.m. Monday, Feb. 22, in the Dana Conference Center:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Undergraduate Academic Programs<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u2022 Graduate and Professional Academic Programs<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u2022 Research and Technology Transfer<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u2022 Student Centeredness and Campus Directions<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u2022 Health-Care Access and Delivery<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u2022 Community Outreach and Global Engagement<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u2022 Land Use<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u2022 Distinctiveness<\/a>; and<\/p>\n \u2022 Finances<\/a>.<\/p>\n A big change from the 2007 document, Lehnert said, will be including measurements and implementation procedures for the prescribed goals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have that before,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was nothing in \u2018Directions\u2019 that said, \u2018Here\u2019s how we\u2019re going to measure this.\u2019 But it\u2019s an important aspect to include because we need to be able to see how we\u2019re doing two or three years down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n Barlowe and Lehnert said participation from every member of the University community will be essential to the success of the revised strategic plan, and several avenues have been established to help constituents easily get their voice heard and thoughts added to the process.<\/p>\n Marcie Ferguson, administrative assistant for strategic planning, has revamped the strategic planning Web site (Utoledo.edu\/strategicplan<\/a>) to hold comprehensive strategic planning information. Videos, minutes, schedules, presentations and more from every meeting are available to view, and feedback on those items is accepted and encouraged. A UT strategic plan Facebook page<\/a> and Twitter profile<\/a> looks to engage the University community in weekly discussions about topics important to the shape of the document.<\/p>\n Interested parties also can join the committee and the work groups to be more intimately involved in the process, Barlowe said, adding that after a draft of the revised plan is compiled at the end of April, input will be sought far and wide.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are absolutely determined that every University stakeholder be included in this process,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need students, we need faculty, we need community members and administrators \u2014 part of what shapes a great strategic plan is input from a vast group of diverse people.\u201d<\/p>\n Lehnert said getting large numbers of individuals to influence a grand plan that will position the University as a regional, national and global leader is no small task, but a necessary and accomplishable one.<\/p>\n \u201cThese issues are broad and our goals are big, but we can\u2019t afford to be overwhelmed,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re hungry and you have an apple, you don\u2019t look at it and say, \u2018Well, my mouth isn\u2019t that big, there\u2019s no way I can swallow that whole thing.\u2019 You take bites. If you don\u2019t start by taking bites, you\u2019re going to starve to death.\u201d<\/p>\n