At its first meeting last Friday, the recently convened 2010 Strategic Planning Committee received its charge from President Stephen Jordan.

Jordan asked the committee to assess the four goals identified in the College’s 2005 strategic plan, in the context of the “demonstrably changed environment” for higher education in Colorado and the country, to determine whether they’re still appropriate and, if not, how they should be changed.

Jordan exhorted the committee to consider the following factors in conducting their assessment:

•  The results of the 2010 Campus Climate Survey, which he said had yielded much useful information.

• The College’s ability to leverage private funding, both grants and donations.

• The changing state budget situation, potentially laying out goals under worst-case, best-case, and mid-range budget scenarios.

• The important role Metro State plays in the community, both in the “urban land grant” sense and in continuing to enroll and serve historically underrepresented populations.

He also cited advice some committee members received while attending a conference on higher education strategic planning over the summer (“in Denver, so I could afford to send them,” he joked).

First, it is not necessary to have a planning process that has a seat for each constituency group, but rather to select a group of people respected by their peers. And second, have very strong faculty representation, at least 60 percent. Third, use a variety of strategies to communicate with everyone on campus.

Jordan, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Vicki Golich, and Faculty Senate President Kamran Sahami will be participating at the Board of Trustees retreat on Oct. 7 and 8, where one of the agenda items is the strategic plan.

During the meeting, Sahami and Associate Vice President for Communications and Advancement Cathy Lucas, who co-chair the committee, discussed the specific charge of reviewing the 2005 strategic plan, and the importance of acknowledging the efforts of the committee that created it.

The committee’s recommendations are due in 18 months.