Salisbury University Strategic Planning Congress

June 6, 2003

Introductory Comments

The governing boards and presidents of most institutions have the legal authority and the presidents the responsibility over all university functions, including planning. University operations and activities are delegated to qualified professionals, and in most university settings, institutional strategic planning is a shared, consultative process that assembles a diverse and representative team for the purpose of planning for a university’s future. Individuals pool their varied expertise and interests to help formulate and finalize a plan that concentrates a university’s efforts into achieving goals and objectives defined by a university’s mission. Salisbury University’s governing structure is consistent with that model and our strategic planning effort in preparation for the 2003-2008 cycle has been and is consistent with that process.

In adopting a shared approach to strategic planning, the President recognizes and embraces the varied opinions and expertise of our multitalented, versatile University community and the value in uniting one another in common vision. While she bears the primary responsibility for University planning and its implementation, and the Provost, the Vice Presidents, and the Deans the executive leadership over the same, it is the collective input from faculty, students, staff, Board members, and other engaged parties that allow us to unite our efforts in common goals and shared vision.

Our objectives for the June 6 Strategic Planning Congress are:

• to finalize a working draft of the SU Strategic Plan 2003-2008 for presentation to the Long Range Academic Planning Committee and the Provost; and,
• to identify and/or discuss primary issues in which there are multiple courses of action, decision, and/or divergent opinions

The temptation in many strategic planning events is to focus discussion on a few primary issues and to resolve collegially as many as is possible in a given period. Although this a valuable exercise, such discussions must be secondary to the primary outcome, in this instance, finalizing a working draft. In order for this to occur, the group must first establish consensus over those planning objectives to which they readily concur are, or should be, institutional priorities (at some stage or perhaps the whole period) during the next five years. Once this is accomplished, time can be devoted to those issues that require discussion that is more intensive.

Important notes about the current draft:

• The fifth iteration of the SU Strategic Plan 2003-08 is the result of the work of the Strategic Planning Team from August 2002 up to now
• The draft plan incorporates input from months of environmental scanning, a SWOT analysis, results from the January 2003 planning workshop, collaborative input from multiple groups and/or individuals, and lengthy SPT discussions regarding the core goals in relation to SU Mission. You may access details here.
• No priority has been assigned to any objective of any goal; key objectives may not yet have been identified and/or included in the draft plan

Helpful Guidelines for the June 6 Planning Congress

1. Please come prepared. You should review the draft document PRIOR to the event.

2. Prior to June 6, identify whether you a) agree with an objective b) disagree with an objective c) agree with qualifications. Your "agreement" or "disagreement" should be based upon your knowledge of institutional issues, and whether or not the objective should be prioritized as a primary outcome of the corresponding goal. If you have issues with the way an objective is worded, you may decide to "agree with qualifications." Additionally, please assess whether, in your informed opinion, this objective is a low, medium, or high priority. Be mindful that this is a five-year plan and that the plan will guide the allocation of current and future resources, and that every objective cannot be accomplished at the same rate. These activities will help us to avoid lengthy discussion over items with which we all agree, allowing more time to identify objectives that have not been included or require more intensive discussion.

3. Write down additional objectives or key issues PRIOR to the event. This will ensure that important discussion issues or items are not forgotten.

4. Please do NOT deconstruct the GOALS. We will not focus our discussion on the core goals.

5. Do not "word smith" in our large-group activities and avoid it in the breakout sessions, if possible. "Wording" suggestions can be submitted in writing to the SPT. We will not use our time debating individual phrasing unless suggestions clarify the intent of an objective.

6. Be prepared to work in small breakout teams and to share in large groups.

7. Objectives will not be included or excluded by a majority vote. Our goal is to reach consensus and to table key issues for discussion later in the day or later in the year.

8. Please keep in mind that this is the Institutional strategic plan. It is a plan for ALL of us. Although nearly every individual comes as a representative of a group and your perspectives are essential to the process, the University as an entity, students as central, and academic excellence as the defining attribute are paramount to special interests.

9. Our mission statement affirms that we have several core purposes. The strategic plan must address those purposes.

10. Not every worthwhile objective will be included in the plan; not every suggestion will be adopted. Keep in mind that we need to develop a plan that is forward-thinking and achievable.

Please note: Strategic planning is dynamic. The plan may need to change over ensuing years in order to respond to external and internal initiatives.

Preliminary Agenda

Salisbury University Institutional Strategic Planning Congress

Scarborough Student Leadership Center, June 6, 2003

Please arrive by 8 am.

8 am – 8:15

• Introduction of Participants and Agenda
• Light Continental Breakfast Available

Today’s Outcome:

1. A working draft of the SU Strategic Plan 2003-2008
2. Identification of any issues deferred for discussion

8:15 – 8:25

• Overview of process to date: PowerPoint
• Instructions to guide discussions

8:30 – 9:30

• Breakout sessions: Goal 1 (Academic Goal)

9:30 – 9:40

• Break between sessions

9:40 – 10:40

• Breakout sessions: Goal 2 (Student-Centered Goal)

10:40 – 10:50

• Break

10:50 – 12:00

• Large Group: Discussion of Goals 1 & 2

1. Identify similarities
2. Focus: Identify differences of opinion and discuss
3. Focus: Identify new initiatives not previously considered

12:10 – 12:50

• Lunch: Bistro

1:00 – 1:50

• Breakout Sessions: Goal 3 (Diversity Goal)

1:50 – 2:30

• Breakout Sessions: Goal 4 (External Community)

2:30 – 2:45

• Break

2:45 – 3:45

• Large Group: Discussion of Goals 3 & 4

1. Identify similarities
2. Identify differences of opinion and discuss
3. Identify new initiatives not previously considered

3:45 – 4:30

• Discussion of Tabled Issues/Conclusion

Note: There will be four breakout teams and sessions. Each team will be facilitated by at least one Strategic Planning Team member.

Salisbury University Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission

Salisbury University’s mission is to cultivate and sustain a superior, student-centered learning community where students, faculty and staff are viewed as both teachers and learners, and where a commitment to excellence permeates all aspects of University life. We recruit exceptional and diverse faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students and support them as they work together to reach the University's goals. Serving Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region, we are concerned participants in responding to the educational, economic, cultural and social needs of our community and believe that service is a vital component of civic life. Our highest purpose is to empower our students with the knowledge, skills and core values that contribute to life-long learning and active citizenship in a democratic society and interdependent world. (1996)

Values

The core values of Salisbury University are excellence, student-centeredness, learning, community, civic engagement, and diversity. We believe these values must be lived and experienced as integral to everyday campus life so that students make the connection between what they learn and how they live. (1996)

Vision

Salisbury University will continue as a premier regional university that is recognized nationally for excellence by its peers and regionally for its commitment to model programs in civic engagement. Undergraduate research, service learning, international experiences, and co-curricular activities will continue to enrich the traditional academic curriculum and enable students to connect research to practice, theory to action. The University will provide graduates who will be recruited by the best employers and graduate schools, and who will contribute to the economic vitality of the State and the Nation. The University will continue to enhance the quality of life for its students, the State, and the region, and will explore opportunities to provide doctoral programs in areas of need. (MFR, 2001)

Draft Preamble to the Strategic Plan 05/23/03

Derived from the Salisbury University mission and reflecting institutional values, the core goals and primary objectives of the Salisbury University Strategic Plan 2003-08 guide the University’s priorities. The plan affirms that students are central, with academic excellence the defining attribute.

Our primary purpose is education and, as a community of life-long learners, we invest in the continuous development and support of our students, faculty, and staff, and particularly those activities that advance successful living in an increasingly global society. We uphold the diametric values of inclusiveness and diversity. We recognize, respect, and embrace the innate similarities, differences, and perspectives among groups and individuals. We are dedicated to the intellectual, professional, cultural, personal, and social growth of our students and University community. Moreover, in all of our endeavors, we hold fiscal prudence as fundamental and intellectual confrontation, academic excellence, and altruism as paramount.

Salisbury University Strategic Plan 2003-2008

Working Draft: 5th Iteration for the June 6 Planning Congress

Goal 1:

The University will enhance an academic and learning environment that promotes intellectual growth and success.

1. Maintain and advance academic excellence as the defining attribute of all academic programs and student learning.

• Action: Demonstrate student learning through the continuous assessment of program-relevant student learning outcomes.
• Action: Support continuous program improvement through rigorous, ongoing academic program review.

2. Support General Education as the necessary foundational experience for students. (Student Learning Goals to be attached as an appendix in final draft document)

(Note: this objective affirms the values and benefits of General Education regardless of a student’s entering status)

3. Involve each student in experiential learning, including but not limited to: service learning; civic engagement; volunteering; internships; student research; study abroad; and community outreach activities.

4. Provide resources that foster the library’s role as a learning center and that position it at the top of its performance peers.

• Action: Reinvent the library as a collaborative, community enterprise

(Note: Where is the library in comparison to peers? Is establishing an objective that "positions it at the top of its peers" too lofty a goal in a five-year period given other priorities? BP)

5. Establish funding for endowed chairs and professorships in order to foster academic distinction.

6. Assess the viability of current and potential undergraduate and graduate programs and adjust support for these programs as appropriate.

7. Provide effective and reliable classroom and computer lab technology and campus telecommunications infrastructure.

8. Promote student technology fluency in all academic disciplines, as well as faculty and staff development in the use of technology in teaching and services.

9. Develop and implement equitable and reasonable faculty workload standards.

Alternate: Develop and implement equitable faculty workload standards that are comparable to University peers.

10. Develop and implement mechanisms for enhancing faculty rewards and support.

Alternate: Develop and implement mechanisms for enhancing faculty rewards and support that reflect the goals of the University.

11. Strengthen available resources for scholarship, research, sabbatical leaves, professional activities, and other faculty development opportunities.

12. Enhance private fundraising for capital initiatives and other priorities identified in the Facilities Master Plan.

Alternate: Enhance private and public fundraising for capital initiatives and other priorities identified in the Facilities Master Plan

13. Maintain or improve faculty and staff ratios, salaries, and benefits to levels that are comparable to our peers.

Alternate: The University will maintain its commitment to having the vast majority of its instructional staff consist of tenured and tenure-track faculty, and will strive to provide healthcare, pension, and other benefits to all faculty members.

Goal 2: The University will advance a student-centered environment.

1. Increase the level of funding for need- and merit-based undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

2. Create a "Student Learning and Enrichment Center" to assist the academic achievement of students of all abilities.

3. Maintain and improve the high quality of advising, individualized for undergraduates and graduates.

• Action: Establish faculty/advisee ratios at levels consistent with BOR policies and school guidelines
• Action: Ensure that a full-time advising coordinator is on staff in all schools

4. Encourage the acquisition of "soft-skills" (i.e. non-competency-based general education skills and attributes) by supporting student portfolio development.

• Action: Encourage more faculty involvement via advising and the selection of evidence or artifacts for student portfolios

5. Improve student access to healthcare and wellness services, programs, and facilities.

6. Facilitate student access to administrative campus services through the development of a campus web portal or other IT mechanisms.

7. Examine and implement, where feasible, alternative scheduling options and support services to meet the needs of our students.

8. Sustain the national caliber Division III Athletics Program while affirming academics as the highest priority in the life of student-athletes.

9. Provide classrooms and a classroom setting that fosters effective faculty-student connections and engaged, interactive student learning, and optimizes student to faculty ratios.

Alternate: Ensure that class sizes are reasonable in order to provide effective faculty-student connections and engaged, interactive student learning in the classroom.

10. Develop and implement a more comprehensive orientation program for transfer students with the goal of deepening their connection with their peers and the University and to aid their transition and performance.

Goal 3:

The University will foster inclusiveness as well as cultural and intellectual pluralism.

1. Provide multicultural and sensitivity training for the campus community and encourage the integration of all students into governance, social, and academic support programs.

2. Recognize, develop, and implement criteria that affirm multiple admission factors including: grade point average, academic recommendation, enhancement of campus diversity, civic engagement, extracurricular activities, leadership opportunities, written essays, standardized test scores, interviews, faculty contacts, and other factors deemed essential by the academic community.

3. Foster the growth of a student and employee population that is more reflective of regional diversity and SU’s Values.

4. Enhance and/or create more extensive support programs to increase the retention and graduation rates of minority and international students to levels that surpass our peers.

Alternate: Enhance and/or create more extensive support programs to increase the retention and graduation rates of minority and international students to levels that are comparable to the entire student body.

5. Increase visibility and accountability of specialist staff and programs campus-wide.

6. Expand academic and social practices/support for the integration of international students into SU and the local community.

7. Establish SU linkages to existing immigrant services, specifically assessing needs of immigrant populations.

8. Reorganize existing funding with an emphasis on competitive salaries to target potential diverse faculty to special/endowed positions.

9. Promote international educational opportunities as a means of broadening life experience and cross-cultural understanding for students and faculty.

Goal 4:

The University will utilize strategic collaborations and targeted community outreach to benefit Maryland and the region.

1. Audit all SU strategic collaborations and targeted community outreach activities for the purpose of organizing these activities in line with institutional priorities.

2. Perform a "Regional Needs versus Institutional Capabilities Gap Analysis, including regional business, economic, community, and workforce development needs in all subject areas

3. Develop and implement a comprehensive University marketing plan that targets all internal and external audience segments.

4. Encourage and support the development of grant and sponsored research projects and programs that support the University’s mission.

5. Encourage and support the development of continuing education programs as revenue sources.

6. Establish the roles of students, faculty, and staff involved in (SU) strategic collaborations and targeted community outreach activities, and recognize and reward their contributions in line with our institutional mission and BOR priorities.

7. Establish or enhance collaborations with schools, community, government, and non-government organizations.

• Action: Respond to State "Teacher Education" initiatives by partnering with multiple communities while pursuing enhanced public/private support of those initiatives.
• Action: Respond to State "Nursing" workforce initiatives by partnering with medical professionals and local communities while pursuing enhanced public/private support of those initiatives.
• Action: Respond to State "Information Technology" workforce initiatives by partnering with regional industries and businesses while pursuing enhanced public/private support of those initiatives.

Glossary

Goals: core purposes or outcomes to which the University directs its endeavors in order to accomplish its mission. Goals directly reflect the primary purposes identified in the University’s mission and vision statements.

Objectives: quantifiable and measurable initiatives to which the University directs its priorities in order to accomplish its goals. Primary objectives are direct outcomes of University goals and should be both measurable and time-constrained.

Actions: specific steps or strategies that are necessary to accomplish objectives. Actions are vital to the annual planning process and implementation phases of a strategic plan.

Accountability: responsibility. A necessary process that identifies the individual(s) or group(s) most responsible for specific objectives. Accountability is usually assigned to the highest possible levels, i.e., divisional leaders and/or key groups, and is necessary to ensure that the plan guides institutional priorities and the resource and allocation process.