The building blocks for a Strategic Plan
Our Strategic Plan should state our reason for being, the kind of University we are trying to create, the principles on which we operate, our goals, and our actions. It should be a document that serves as a backdrop for academic plans and for administrative plans.
Our reason for being is another way of describing what often has been referred to as a mission statement. Based on all I have heard over this past year, it could be summarized as:
Helping people make a better world through education, scholarship and engagement.
There may be other ways of stating this, but words of this type summarize why the University of Windsor was created. We are here to educate and support students, and to make a better world.
The notion of what we are trying to create is a more personalized way of expressing what might often be referred to as a vision statement. It expresses how our University, in its own unique way, wishes to fulfill its reason for being. Again, based upon what has been heard in the many, many consultations to date, the following statement is one that identifies what the University of Windsor is trying to create:
The University of Windsor will be a progressive student-centred University, where the social, technological and environmental challenges of a world in transition are foundational to the education we provide, the research we do, and the creative endeavours we pursue.
There may be other ways of saying it, and there may be other things that need to be said. What we cannot forget is that a university first and foremost must be about the student.
There are in addition principles that should permeate all we do. They express a commitment to certain things that will define our behavior as an institution. We must express them clearly in our Strategic Plan, as a constant reminder of those things that we should not compromise. For example, we could not succeed unless the student experience on our campus is central to all that we do and unless we are committed to the highest academic standards we can achieve. Similarly, as a principle we should always benchmark ourselves, with empirical data wherever possible, against other universities to ensure that we are competitive in what we do and distinctive in what we aspire to. Another principle must be a commitment to collegiality, meaning among other things that decisions get made wherever possible through consultation and consensus. Yet another principle must be that we will be accountable and fiscally responsible in all that we do. If we were a business, our principles would state clearly the business we are in and the uncompromising commitments we make to our stakeholders.
And then of course there are our strategic goals. In order that everyone can feel they can contribute to the future of the University, the goals, as much as possible, should be ones that cut across the University. A compact list of goals is needed if they are to be the basis on which we set a course for the University of Windsor. More than five or six would begin to dilute our resolve to focus on those things that will move us forward. Based upon the broad aspirations that were articulated in the University of Windsor’s previous Strategic Plan, To Greater Heights, and the many discussions and consultations that have occurred over this past year, there already emerge five strategic goals:
- Provide an exceptional and supportive undergraduate experience that emphasizes teaching, independent learning, interdisciplinary opportunities, flexibility in degree completion pathways and successful year-to-year transition
- Be a more research-intensive university with high quality graduate programs that build on academic strengths and professional expertise
- Recruit and retain the best faculty and staff
- Engage the community in partnerships that will strengthen the economy, quality of life and well-being of the Windsor-Essex region
- Promote international engagement through curriculum development, student recruitment, student and faculty exchanges, and partnerships that complement our teaching and research strengths
These goals should highlight what we are committed to with respect to our students, our scholarship and the community around us.
Beneath each of these goals we then need to identify actions we will commit to take and to which we direct resources. For example, if we state that one of our actions will be to create an exceptional undergraduate experience that will set a pathway to degree completion, steps we identify might include the development of curricula that allow for greater flexibility of program options, and the facilitation of smooth entry for students from other post-secondary institutions. A workable Strategic Plan should probably list no more than seven or eight actions that will be taken under each strategic goal. To list more could create unachievable expectations.
