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From: David W. Cox, Chair, Strategic Planning Council Subject: My Commitment and The Strategic Planning Process Date: September 12, 2003 My Commitment In my 30+ years in higher education, I, like many of you, have participated in several strategic planning initiatives. For the most part, the printed outcomes have been excellent rhetoric, but the ownership of the plans has been largely restricted to the top rung of administrators, and the changes as a result of the plans could probably be fairly characterized as “cosmetic.” I am convinced that President Wyatt and his administrative team are committed to a different experience for ASU this time around. That’s why I accepted the invitation to chair the Strategic Planning Council and to work on behalf of the University as a whole. It’s essential that this planning initiative be an authentic search for the brightest future possible for ASU. I’m asking that all parties involved give up fault-finding and set aside personal agendas. No predetermined agenda or outcomes exist. In order to develop sufficient organizational ownership of the strategic plan, whatever it turns out to be, and support for its implementation, the strategic planning process itself needs to mirror the kind of institution we would like to become. I share this with you as background information for presenting the process I intend to use to complement the protocol developed by Dr. Dave McFarland (the external consultant) of Penson Associates. I would also like to use this memorandum to communicate my commitment to the ASU community. I think the University is at a critical crossroads in its development. Change is impacting the University from all sides. The speed of events is triggering multiple opportunities for miscommunication with plenty of blame to go around. We need to find our way “back to the future” together. As chair of the Strategic Planning Council, my focus will be on trying to change the way we come together and talk with one another. The task is to shift the demand for the right answer to the search for the right question. The struggle itself will be part of the solution. The challenge is to bring into a room people who aren’t used to being together and engage them so they find the connections and common aspirations underneath the noise of negotiation. As I work to fulfill the chair’s role, I will be guided by five core values: 1. The foundational theme of my involvement is what I call “deep listening.” As we initiate the strategic planning process, I think our first job is to truly listen to one another (to the person behind the words). This doesn’t mean we always get our way. It means we never lose our voice. 2. I want the process to be as inclusive as is practically and logistically possible. 3. I believe in a collaborative style that focuses on the key question: What can we create together? 4. I want to work with people who have a passion about ASU and who are willing to take responsibility for making it better. I want to work with people who can transcend our special interests and build community by holding ourselves accountable for the well being of the larger organization of which we are a part. 5. I believe that those who step forward to assist in the strategic planning process are the right people, at the right time, volunteering their ideas, talents, and energy. These people will provide all the wisdom needed to do the job of strategic planning and do it well. The Higher Learning Commission raised several questions and issues that need to be addressed in the strategic planning process. Anyone interested in getting involved should read that report closely (go to http://academicaffairs.astate.edu/ and click on HLC-Report). I also want the strategic planning process to help us have new kinds of conversations around specially framed questions such as: Level 1: What are the brutal facts before us? What is currently true about our situation and can we acknowledge “what is” before moving on? What are the negative consequences and costs associated with what now exists? How long have we been complaining this way? And, most importantly, can each of us accept ownership for having helped to create this situation? (Also, what doubts and reservations do we have about this strategic planning process?) Level 2: What is possible for the future of ASU? What are our dreams and visions for its future? (Here’s where the bulk of our energies should be focused.) Level 3: What do we want to create together? (A replacement question for the old pattern of, “How are we going to deal with what they want to create?”) Level 4: What commitments and promises are we willing to make to one another? These conversations can be part of the transformation process and action plan. With these new kinds of conversations, we will already be taking action steps. Implementation of the plan will be underway. I enter this process needing all the goodwill and trust you can extend to me. Please know that my intentions are to serve the total University to the best of my ability. The Strategic Planning Process The Strategic Planning Council is projected to be approximately 30-35 members in size. Every effort will be made to see that all corners of the University are represented and that the composition of the group reflects the diversity at ASU. The Strategic Planning Council will have student, faculty, staff, administrative, and community representation. It’s probably a given that somebody will feel “their corner” is not represented. We will work hard to minimize that feeling. Five task forces (listed below) will be working on both broad and specific issues facing ASU. We are looking for students, faculty, staff, and administrators who care first and foremost about the future of ASU and who appreciate that multiple viewpoints (i.e., conflict) can lead to creative, breakthrough ideas. If you are interested in getting involved, please communicate your interest to Dr. Lynita Cooksey (lcooksey@astate.edu), Strategic Planning Coordinator, or me (dwcox@astate.edu). If you step forward, please do so with the understanding that your first job will be to listen. Before task force members deliberate as a group, we want them first to go out and establish listening posts all over campus. Set up focus groups and forums and approach people you normally associate with and ask questions raised by the Higher Learning Commission and those outlined earlier in this memo as Level 1-4 questions. Then bring back what you have heard for task force deliberations. The task force chairs can then bring their reports to the Strategic Planning Council. The process is initiated with deep listening at the grassroots level throughout the entire campus. The flow of ideas is bottom up from the edges and roots of the organization to the central oversight Strategic Planning Council. Listening and recommending are separate events. The theme at all levels will be on listening, listening, listening. The ultimate goal is to use a process that will produce “a document that will define our ambitions, and which also will advise our successors about our wishes for their subsequent development of the university we will leave to them.” (President Wyatt, First Friday, September 5, 2003) The strategic planning process for the Jonesboro Campus of ASU was delegated by President Wyatt to the Academic Affairs division. All task force chairs will be faculty members who will also serve on the Strategic Planning Council. They will be appointed by me in consultation with other members of the Strategic Planning Council. The two ASU-specific task forces (Graduate Education/Research Initiatives and Governance) were recommended by the external consultant after reviewing the Higher Learning Commission Report. Our thinking to date is that they will be aligned with current committee structures. The current committee members would be welcome to serve on the task force, but the task force may be broader than the current committee membership. The five task forces are as follows: (1) Environment/Institutional Scanning and Driving Forces · Determination of external and internal driving forces · What factors or trends will significantly impact the institution’s future? · Prepares a report on the implications of these for the future of the University · Validates report with the ASU community and prepares a final statement (2) Governing Ideas · Mission – purpose, scope, and capabilities – What we do? (How include expanding graduate education and research initiatives?) · Vision – desires or aspirations (that are brief, understandable, inspiring, imaginable, focused, feasible, and flexible) · Core values – fundamental principles, common values that guide decision making · Strategic directions – intended directions given mission, vision, and core values · Prepares a paper and validates with the ASU community · Makes recommendations to the Strategic Planning Council (3) Institutional Distinctiveness · What are the concepts, criteria, and process for identifying “distinctiveness” or “pockets of vitality”? (Distinguishing strengths or attributes that are so unique and significant that they allow us to stand out from our peers) · Involves the ASU community in validating the criteria · Advises on opportunities for developing increased institutional distinctiveness horizontally (attract students to all programs) and vertically (attract students to particular programs) · What are comparative advantages for ASU versus major competitors? (4) Graduate Education and Research Initiatives · How will the mission of ASU accommodate the expanding doctoral programs and the Biosciences Institute? · How can ASU enhance its graduate education programs and research initiatives? · How can ASU assure that graduate education enhances the total institution, including undergraduate education and service to our region? · How can assessment and program evaluation be incorporated into graduate education? (5) Governance · How can the institution develop a common understanding of “shared governance?” · How can a collaborative model be used to build ownership, increase achievement, and pursue excellence? · How can everyone’s ideas be heard while simultaneously becoming an even more agile and responsive institution? · How can gaps in communication of goals, plans, and directions in the operations of the university be addressed?
The invitation to contribute to the future of ASU is now officially extended. Please let Dr. Cooksey (lcooksey@astate.edu) or me (dwcox@astate.edu) hear from you as soon as possible. Other routes of volunteering are to alert your department chair, your dean, the student government association, faculty senate, staff senate, etc. Please specify the task force in which you are interested and include your email address. |