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Indiana University Northwest

Office of Academic Affairs

Strategic Planning and Process Committee

The Strategic Plan

To: IUN Community

From: Chancellor Elect Bruce Bergland and the Strategic Planning Process Committee

Kelechukwu Brnfre, student in Arts and Sciences
Don Coffin, Dean of Business and Economics
Jackie Coven, Technology Training, Computer Services
Christina Jiminez, student in Business and Economics
Janice LaReau, Assistant Professor, Allied Health Sciences
Dan Lowery, Adjunct; Quality Consultant, Center for Management Development
Patricia Lundberg, Associate Dean, Arts and Sciences
Jim Tolhuizen, Associate Professor, Communication; Chair of the Faculty Organization
Marilyn Vasquez, Interim Vice chancellor, Academic Affairs
Patty Woosley, biweekly staff, Registrar's Office; Union Representative

Date: April 19,1999

Creating a Shared Vision of Indiana University Northwest's Mission, Vision, and Values

A Planning Process to Position IUN for Success in the Competitive Environment of the Twenty-First Century and Within the Community College

Dynamic strategic planning requires a clear mission statement and understanding of the vision and values that drive campus goals. It entails developing a shared vision and continuous assessment of the campus's past performance, current conditions, and action plans for success in the future. While creating a strategic plan for Indiana University Northwest (IUN), we must keep in mind how we affect and are affected by the outside environment: locally, regionally, statewide, nationally and globally. All constituencies- campus and community- will be involved in the strategic planning process. Planning should be seen as a process of generating beneficial change, not reacting to change for change's sake. The process will be directed by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will also have the responsibility to collect and analyze data, form task forces and focus groups, share results with constituents, invite continuous feedback throughout the process, revise mission, vision, and values based on feedback, and prepare drafts and final reports.

By 5/14/99
1. Create the Steering Committee
A. We recommend a committee of 24 in order to represent campus and community constituencies. Faculty will constitute over 50% of the membership of the committee. The committee members must be willing to commit to attending meetings and dedicating all the time and effort necessary to accomplish the work within designated timeframes. We recommend that the Committee be co-chaired by a representative from the administration and a representative from the faculty. We recommend that the Steering Committee be comprised of:

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Vice Chancellor for Information Technology
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Chair of the Faculty Organization
Dean of the Division of Arts and Sciences
Dean of a second Division (chosen by the Chancellor or Academic Council)
2 student leaders (chosen by Student Government)
2 community leaders (chosen by the Chancellor)
1 professional staff (chosen by the Professional Staff Organization)
1 biweekly staff (chosen by the staff union leadership in consultation with biweekly staff groups)
12 faculty selected by a method determined within each division: 1 from each of the following academic units: Allied Health, Dental Education, Business and Economics, Education, Nursing, SPEA, Social Work, Medical Education and Library; and 3 from Arts and Sciences.

B. Committee members must be given appropriate support by the administration to accomplish the work within the designated timeframes:
Students will be compensated for their services;
Faculty will be compensated for service when not on contract;
Staff will be given release time or temporary assistance and compensation if appropriate.

C. Recommend that a facilitator (preferably someone not employed by IUN) be hired.

D. The Chancellor's hands-on involvement throughout the process is critically important.

2. The Steering Committee will develop a statement of work for the development of the mission, shared vision, values, goals, capacity (resources) and alignment issues.

3. The Steering Committee will develop guiding principles and ground rules.

4. The Steering Committee will develop communication plans:

  • After each briefing by the Committee, the Chancellor will be requested to provide structured responses that state three things he appreciated about what he heard, what he would like developed more, and one direction for further study.
  • The Steering Committee will be committed to a continuous dialogue with all constituencies and will use newsletters, meetings, email, listservs, and other means.
  • The Chancellor or his designees will brief the Board of Advisors, Trustees and other external constituencies and seek their input.
6/1/99-8/1/99
5. The Steering Committee will draft new IUN mission, vision, and values statements, using gathered relevant information, to determine who we are and what we want to be. It will consider historical data, which will include but not be limited to the President's Internal Review Task Force Report of 1998, Program Self-Studies and Divisional Situational Reports of 1996, recent Marketing and Communications Reports, the Noel-Levitz Reports, surveys, and focus groups.

7/1/99-9/24/99
6. The Steering Committee will seek constituent input and evaluation throughout the drafting process.

9/24/99-11/5/99
7. The Steering Committee will review and revise drafts based on feedback received. Once consensus is reached the Committee will prepare and disseminate the shared vision.

8. With input from the Chancellor and other constituencies, the Steering Committee will form task forces (not Steering Committee members) to address the alignment issues identified in the shared vision and to prepare evidence-based recommendations for implementation and pilot projects. The Committee will seek continuous input and evaluation from constituents and revise recommendations based on feedback.

9. The Steering Committee will prepare the final plan, incorporating reports of the task forces.

11/5/99-1/1/00
A. Preliminary Draft, including a system of evaluation with measurable and qualitative outcomes.

1/1/00-2/15/00
B. Campus Review and Revised Draft

2/15/00-3/10/00
C. Final Approval

10. After final approval of the plan, the Steering Committee will forward the plan to the Chancellor for implementation, thereby concluding the work of the Committee.

11. The Chancellor should institute a permanent campus Strategic Planning Committee.