Members absent: Alexander, Balogh, Bellaver, Cunningham, Hanson, Kinghorn, McKenzie, Motloch, Ober, Park, Prater, Smith, Tietz, Weaver
(Note: Because of the snowstorm, a number of task force members were unable to attend.)
Dr. Frank Sabatine convened the meeting at 7:40 a.m.
Announcements: Dr. Sabatine explained that the list of "Planning Priorities" has been reviewed by the President's Cabinet, and President Gora has provided some directions to the task force. The Vision, Mission, and Goals will remain, but the Planning Priorities will serve as the Objectives under the three Goals. Units will then identify action steps that will achieve these Objectives, and those actions should be measurable. Unit action plans will be due in early April.
Minutes:
Approval of the minutes of November 18, 2005, was postponed because of the lack of a quorum.
Planning Priorities: Dr. Sabatine distributed the Mission and Goals statements to use as a point of reference in discussion of Planning Priorities. The group then discussed the President's Cabinet Recommendations of November 29, 2005, for Planning Priorities linked to appropriate Goals. (Cabinet changes to the Planning Priorities are in boldface.) Generally, task force members agreed that Nos. 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, and 13 were acceptable and that they were identified with the correct goal. Other comments were as follows:
2. Support targeted growth in academic programs and other strategic units. (Goal 2)—The group decided that this priority could be aligned with all three goals.
5. Guarantee access to significant experiential learning activities, such as immersion experiences, research opportunities, and study abroad, for every student. (Goal 3)—It was decided to list this priority with Goal #1 rather than Goal #3.
6.
Develop alternative revenue sources. (Goal 3)—This priority should be aligned with all three goals.
8. Establish and maintain innovative, best practice use of technology in learning, scholarship, and community engagement. (Goal 1)—This priority should be listed with all three goals.
10.
Develop and pursue innovative approaches to environmental sustainability. (Goal 2) —This priority should be listed with all three goals.
12. Implement innovative ways to attract, support, and retain high-quality, diverse faculty and professional staff. (Goal 2)—This priority should be listed with all three goals.
In addition, it was noted that Item #13 now has
academic inserted before "distinctiveness" and that
"Strengthen professional activities for faculty" has been dropped. There was no objection to these changes, but a concern was raised that those priorities that cut across all three goals might be perceived as carrying more weight. Because Item #5, for instance, relates to only one goal, people may think it has a lesser significance. Someone also raised the question about whether or not everything has to "grow"; sometimes in strategic planning, it might be important to identify valuable programs or activities worthy of ongoing support and maintenance.
Discussion ensued about whether or not these planning priorities could be termed "objectives" because many are not measurable. If these priorities are to be termed "objectives," they will have to be put into verbiage that makes them measurable. There was a concern that faculty would not be able to "get past the terminology" because the meaning of "objectives" is very specific for many academicians; moreover, it will be difficult to give department chairpersons direction unless the terminology is clear to them. However, someone cautioned that the listing of "objectives" is a framework; it does not override individual units' ability to think creatively.
One suggestion was that the task force should meet next semester to work on an implementation guide that will help create a common understanding among the units. Another suggestion was to recommend to the Cabinet that the Planning Priorities be called "sub-goals" and to ask departments to write measurable objectives along with action plans. The consensus was that Tom Kinghorn and Tom Taylor should relay the concerns raised during today's meeting to the Cabinet and suggest the idea of "sub-goals."
Before adjourning the meeting at 9:00 a.m., Dr. Sabatine announced that the next meeting of the Strategic Planning Task Force will be on call.
RELATED LINK:
Agenda for December 9, 2005