DATE: 25 October 2011
FROM: Brian Potter, Co-Chair Committee on Planning and Priorities, Susan Bakewell-Sachs, Interim Provost, and Morton Winston, Co-Chair TCNJ Strategic Planning Task Force
Time Line for Strategic Planning at TCNJ
In her Welcome Back address on 31 August 2011, President Gitenstein announced that this academic year the campus community will be engaging in a thoughtful review and update of our institutional strategic plan. At the same time, we will also be reviewing and updating our Facilities Master Plan. These concurrent and integrated planning processes will engage a wide range of stakeholder groups, both on and off campus, and will be conducted in keeping with the approach to planning that has benefitted us in the past; planning that is organic, responsive, inclusive, transparent, and results-oriented. This memo is the first in a series of regular campus updates designed to keep all members of the campus community informed about these planning processes and how they can contribute to them.
Last spring the Committee on Planning and Priorities (CPP) recommended to the President that TCNJ engage in such a strategic planning process. This recommendation was forwarded to the President’s Advisory Council which met in June and endorsed the proposal. In June President Gitenstein appointed Susan Bakewell-Sachs as Interim Provost and as Co-Chair of TCNJ’s Strategic Planning Taskforce and in July Morton Winston was appointed as faculty Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Taskforce. In August Susan and Mort vetted several candidates for Strategic Planning consultants to help us to design and implement an efficient strategic planning process. We have engaged the services of Tim Fallon and Stacy Zawel of TSI Consulting Partners to guide us through the updated strategic planning process. The firm of Sasaki and Associates has also been engaged to carry out the update of the Facilities Master Plan.
On October 12, 2011 our two consultants met with the Dean’s Council, the Cabinet, President Gitenstein, and with CPP and the members of the Strategic Planning Taskforce and presented a plan for carrying out these two integrated planning processes during this academic year. The attached graphic represents the four main phases of the process that will unfold.
The process provides for two periods in which we will gather and analyze the views of members of various groups of stakeholders, during Phase 2 and again in Phase 4. Phase 2 activities are scheduled to take place between November and January. During the month of November there will be a series of twelve facilitated focus groups involving different campus constituencies. The purpose of these groups will be to gather opinion on the current state of the College, our challenges, and the opportunities and priorities for future growth.
Following the Thanksgiving break, there will also be four large group strategic planning discussions with members of the Faculty Senate, the Staff Senate, the Student Government Association, and members of the Planning Councils. Data from these sessions along with those from the focus groups will be analyzed and executive summaries prepared. In December and January we will also be conducting a series of focus groups and interviews with off-campus stakeholders such as alumni, graduate schools, prospective employers and others. The data gathered from these conversations will also be analyzed and summarized.
All of the input from Phase 2 consultations will form the basis for a strategic planning retreat to be held in February 2012 involving members of the Strategic Planning Taskforce, our two sets of consultants, and members of CPP. In Phase 3 the draft strategic planning map created by the Strategic Planning Taskforce at the retreat will be vetted by CPP, the Dean’s Council, the Cabinet, and President Gitenstein before being presented to the Board of Trustees for their preliminary consideration.
In Phase 4 the draft strategic plan will be shared with the entire campus community and external stakeholders for their comments and suggestions. The Strategic Planning Taskforce will review these comments, recommend revisions to the draft strategic plan, and present the revised draft to CPP for its consideration. CPP will make a recommendation to President Gitenstein concerning whether to adopt the revised strategic plan. At the same time she will receive a recommendation regarding the Updated Facilities Master Plan. President Gitenstein will review both plans, and make appropriate recommendations to the Board of Trustees.
Call for Participation in Phase 2 Focus Groups
As we are currently moving from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of this process, the next step involves gathering input from campus stakeholders. As a first step in that process, we will conduct focus groups with faculty, staff, students and other key stakeholders of the College. These focus groups will give members of the campus community an opportunity to provide input on the current situation of the College, the challenges we face going forward, and the future direction of the College.
In order to encourage broad participation, we have scheduled a number of focus groups for faculty, staff, and students during the month of November. To sign up for a focus group, please click on the link to the appropriate doodle poll, enter your name and email address, and check the boxes for the focus group dates and times you wish to attend. If you are available for more than one of the dates and times please indicate this as it will assist scheduling. You will receive an email confirmation with further instructions about how to prepare for these focus groups.
Faculty
http://www.doodle.com/cr5she4fitwwq3ef
Staff
http://www.doodle.com/35v244ashenhqcca
Students
http://www.doodle.com/5qkfsersvd2hbnvq
Please respond with your preferences no later than Wednesday, November 2, 2011.
Committee on Planning and Priorities Strategic Planning Website
There is also a new CPP strategic planning website that will provide continuous updates and capability for gathering additional stakeholder input. The website also contains a more detailed map of the strategic planning schedule. In order to access the CPP strategic planning website click on the following URL: