Two pre-planning sessions were held on campus in April 2022 outlining the pre-planning work underway for the Strategic Plan:
- What is the purpose of creating a plan like this?
- We can imagine Catawba’s future consistent with our mission and values, where “mission” is “what we do and to what end we do it,” and “values” are “what we believe and how that informs everything we do.”
- Allows us to develop a focused way of thinking and doing for our future
- Guides us to develop a plan that is achievable including the necessary resources to implement the plan.
- On the backend of creating a plan we will renew our campus master plan (to address needs for use of space, facilities, equipment, and technology) and develop a new comprehensive campaign (to secure resources for future needs)
- How many years does the plan cover?
- We will develop a five (5) year plan moving us toward a 10-year horizon.
- The 10-year horizon constitutes a vision of what the college will look like in 10 years, helping us to focus on what we want to do and what we want to do better
- The 5-year plan will involve a strategic plan and an operational plan so we can organize to implement our priorities
- Who will lead the process?
- We will have a steering group with co-chairs appointed by the President.
- The steering group, comprised of faculty, staff, students, and alumni – approximately 9 members – is responsible to steer the process.
- We will have a facilitator to guide the process.
- We will have an outside strategist work with us at key points throughout the process.
- Who else will be involved in the process?
- Much of the campus community including faculty, staff, and students.
- Parents and families.
- Alumni
- Community members.
- We are looking for hundreds of individuals to give input and feedback through surveys, focus groups, and committees.
- Who decides what is in the plan?
- The steering group will:
- ask for input from the campus and surrounding communities
- The Cabinet and Board of Trustees will review the drafts of the plan at certain points and suggest edits.
- There will be a rough draft in November; another in March that is more complete; and a final in May.
- A final draft will be presented to the Board next May/June for approval.
- What is the timeline?
- We will begin work this summer, focusing on designing the process this summer
- We will have forums set through the fall and into next spring.
- There is a Board of Trustee retreat May 2022 to begin the process:
- Who are we?
- Where should we be in 10 years?
- How will we ensure the plan is implemented?
- We will have several groups created to move elements of the plan forward. Some will work in an ad hoc fashion to answer particular questions or created certain parts of the plan. Two will work alongside the Steering Group for the duration of the process:
- Sustainable Resource Team – will determine what resources we need (financial, space, people, etc).to accomplish elements of the plan
- Operations Team – will establish how the implementation of priorities and goals needs to be done, using the ARCI model of managing projects
A (Accountable) – One person, typically a Cabinet member, is accountable to ensure a priority or goal is being accomplished
R (Responsible) – One person is responsible to lead the work of accomplishing a priority or goal
C (Consulted) – A select group of people who possess certain expertise or knowledge, who are affected by the priority or goal, or who have a significant part in accomplishing the work, are consulted in the process of developing a priority or goal
I (Informed) – Some in the community (or all) are informed so that we are transparent about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and what progress we’re making
10. We will develop metrics and markers so we can assess our progress.
11. How will we know if the plan succeeds?
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- Progress updates about elements of the plan will occur three times a year, including a check-in with the Cabinet and Board of Trustees
- We will also have a dashboard on our website highlighting the different areas of the plan indicating how they are moving forward (green for those moving ahead as planned; yellow for items with concern or stalled; red for those that are not progressing).
- There will also be an annual review of the plan (each June)
