To the Salisbury University Community:

Emphasizing four strategic goals and over thirty primary objectives, the Salisbury University Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives: AY 2004 - AY 2008 establish a cogent course for Salisbury University for the next five years. Produced during an intensive 16-month process involving every campus constituency, the Plan targets objectives to maintain and advance institutional strengths, to meet institutional challenges, and to exploit opportunities for enhanced excellence, academic growth, and advancement. Driven by our institutional mission and vision and framed by our core values, the Strategic Plan affirms academic excellence as our defining attribute and reinforces our belief that student learning is central. 

I would like to thank the hundreds of individuals who contributed in this broad-based planning effort. Special thanks to the Strategic Planning Team, participants in the campus-wide and representative planning events, and the many governance and leadership groups that provided valuable comment and guidance. These efforts were essential in informing the Vice Presidents and me as we met to discuss and finalize the Strategic Plan. Comments, documents, resolutions, and suggestions from the Faculty Senate, the Student Government Association, the Staff Senate, the Provost's Council, the Academic Deans, the Strategic Planning Team, and individuals were all critical to this effort.

In order to involve all levels of the SU community in moving toward the specific objectives of the Strategic Plan, formal responsibility, often referred to as accountability, will be assigned to appropriate campus leaders. Action plans or strategies are and/or will be developed to accomplish each objective. Concurrently, definitive milestones and timetables will be identified to indicate when an objective has been accomplished. The Plan is to be used by all academic and administrative units to guide budgeting, academic, student support, and external, mission-appropriate initiatives.

All objectives, simply by their inclusion in the Strategic Plan, are important. After careful consideration of the input and the insight of the campus community, the Vice Presidents and I have chosen several objectives within each goal as "Objectives for Emphasis." Several of the objectives have been recognized as both immediate and long-term initiatives that may last well beyond the life of the current Plan. Other objectives are shorter term, will be staged into a priority status as time progresses, and may be accomplished within the life of the Plan. At all times, planning will remain dynamic, with the institution cognizant of external and internal pressures that propel change. Consequently, the campus community, and particularly the campus governance groups, remain essential constituents of any dialogue that leads to institutional change, informing priorities and defining institutional vision.

The recently completed Salisbury University Facilities Master Plan provides a vision for facilities and institutional growth for the next ten years that connects well with the Strategic Plan. Institutional effectiveness efforts in student learning and administrative support further unify our planning and improvement efforts. To underscore how these collective planning initiatives further the mission and vision of Salisbury University, the phrase Learn/Live/Lead will be used in publications and around campus in the coming months.

I am grateful to the entire Salisbury University Community for your involvement in our extensive planning efforts. Together we will move forward to make the Strategic and Facilities Plans a reality.