The Strategic Planning Committee has begun work on Metro State’s new five-year Strategic Plan, using a six-phase timeline and process that was approved by the Metro State Board of Trustees at its Oct. 8-9 retreat.

Among the feedback provided by the trustees was that the plan should address several key areas:

• Accessibility as a top-line goal
• Financial stability
• Workforce readiness of graduates
• Emphasis on how the community benefits from Metro State graduates
• Link P-12 and P-20
• Ensure academic programs are delivering quality outcomes

According to Committee Co-Chair Kamran Sahami, the strategic planning timeline is based on a model designed specifically for higher education institutions by Academic Impressions, a firm that serves solely higher education professionals in tackling key strategic issues.

The timeline is as follows:

Phase I – Getting Organized, Summer 2010
Among the key elements to this phase were establishing the Strategic Planning Committee and communicating the importance of strategic planning to Metro State’s future.

Phase II – Data Gathering and Engagement, Fall 2010
Now underway, Phase II includes the charge to the committee and training for committee members. In addition, the committee has begun the process of assessing the previous plan’s outcomes, based on its four goals and the objectives for each.

Phase III: Making Sense of the Issues, January – April 2011
Phase III will involve dozens of interviews throughout the campus, After a review of the findings, the committee will establish five to eight strategic themes and produce concept papers about each theme.

Phase IV: Vision Building, April – May 2011
This phase calls for a one-day meeting with external stakeholders (trustees, alumni, community and business leaders) to discuss the concept papers and gather input, after which a vision statement will be drafted. The committee will then provide this information back to the internal stakeholders for review and refinement.

Phase V: Goals Building, June – September 2011
A new set of institutional goals will be created in Phase V using the vision statement. These goals will be submitted to the Board of Trustees at their October 2011 meeting. Once the goals are confirmed by the BOT, an action plan for each goal will be devised by the committee.

Phase VI: Implementation, October 2011
In this phase, the plan will be implemented; however, the committee will continue its work by periodically reconvening to review actions and assessment, provide updates to the trustees as needed, and provide an annual update on the plan’s direction to the College community.

“This is an aggressive timeline,” says Sahami, who is president of the Faculty Senate. “Our next goal is to have our assessment completed within the next few weeks so that we can provide an assessment report to the Board of Trustees at their Dec. 1 meeting.”

Adds Co-Chair Cathy Lucas, associate vice president of communications and advancement: “In this economic environment, it is even more important that we keep looking forward and plan what it is we want to accomplish in the next five years and how we will achieve our goals.”

A Strategic Planning website is under construction. In addition, @Metro will provide regular updates as the committee’s work proceeds.