Strategic Planning Meeting Updates

Strategic Planning Monthly Update – November 2, 2015

The purpose of these monthly updates is to regularly share the work of the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) with the college.

Progress with regard to our timeline: October was designated as a month to “collect input and gather data.” Specifically, we intended to collect input from the college community about our mission, vision, and values and begin gathering data for our environmental scan. The former serves as the foundation for our strategic plan, and the latter informs the development of the goals in our next strategic plan. These organizational activities have been completed:

• Several “constituency” sessions were held with students, faculty, support staff and administrators to explain and seek input on this year’s strategic planning process.
• Several all-college sessions, plus sessions with the Alumni Council and Board of Trustees, were held seeking input on the college’s primary purpose, our aspirations and our guiding principles (mission, vision and values).
• The SPC met twice this past month.
• We reviewed Strategic Plans I, II, and III and began discussing the structure of our next strategic plan. We agreed that the next strategic plan will be written to maximize its usefulness for decision-making about the college’s programs, activities and resource allocation. We also recognized the need to better understand the college’s progress on the goals in SP III. Outcome: Working with division heads, we are gathering and compiling data to prepare a concise report for the committee’s use and to share with the college on whether or not each of the goals in SP III has been accomplished.
• We began to review the feedback we received at the all-college sessions. The feedback we have focused on thus far is how best to engage the community in this strategic planning process and the questions, opportunities, and concerns that this process raises. Outcome: In response to several comments that the all-college sessions might not always be best for engaging the community and seeking ideas and input, the SPC decided that we would go directly to campus constituencies in November. Specifically, we are asking department chairs to collect input from their departments, we will reach out to students in the library and HUB, we are asking division heads to purposefully engage support staff and administrators in their divisions, and we are creating a public webpage on the college’s strategic planning process for alumni and parents. The SPC has created a feedback template for departments, groups and offices to share their ideas regarding the specific questions the committee is now considering.

Upcoming work:

1. Writing the college’s mission, vision and values. In November, the SPC will consider the feedback we’ve received at the Oct. 7-9 all-college sessions and craft the college’s mission, vision and values. We ask that any additional feedback or suggestions regarding our mission, vision and values be sent to the committee by Friday, Nov. 13. The SPC will then provide a draft of the mission, vision and values to the college community by Dec. 1 for review and discussion.
2. Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis. The next step in the strategic planning process is completing an environmental scan, which involves two types of analyses. First, we will be looking externally to identify key trends and issues in the social, demographic, technological, political, legal and competitive realms. Second, we will be evaluating the college’s own resources and capabilities that enable (or inhibit) our work. The SPC will synthesize these two forms of analyses to create a list of the college’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). Then, the SWOT analysis will be shared with the college and used to identify the strategic priorities for our next plan. Several individuals and groups have already sent reports and information to the SPC to help with the environmental scan. We ask that any additional ideas, reports or information related to external trends and/or internal resources be sent to the committee by Tuesday, Dec. 1.
3. Thematic sessions. Several themes—including intellectual life and academic research, global education, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, civic engagement and student life—have begun to emerge from feedback provided to the SPC as core aspects of the college. In November, as more feedback is shared with the SPC and, possibly, more themes emerge, the committee will schedule sessions for all interested to further explore core themes and connect them to the strategic plan.

Reminders and Announcements:

The SPC welcomes input from groups and individuals; please send your ideas and questions to us at planning@dickinson.edu. Departments, groups and individuals are encouraged to use the feedback template that is now available for providing input regarding our mission, vision, and values and the environmental scan.

On Saturday, Jan. 30*, the SPC will hold an all-college workshop to review the environmental scan and SWOT analysis prepared by the SPC and, together, write a first draft of the strategic priorities and goals for our next strategic plan. More details regarding this workshop will be coming soon.  We hope that the opportunity to participate in drafting the college’s strategic priorities will excite people and motivate them to attend.

*Please note that this meeting has been cancelled.