This paper critically examines a Catholic, Vincentian university's "Grounded in Mission" strategic plan for 2024. It evaluates the plan's content and format against established best practices for academic strategic planning, assesses alignment with the institution's stated mission and values, and analyzes how the plan addresses community and family engagement. The paper also explores the plan's role in shaping budget priorities and financial decision-making. While the plan demonstrates strong alignment with Catholic and Vincentian values and incorporates clearly defined strategic priorities, the analysis identifies a notable gap: the absence of mechanisms for engaging the broader geographical community and external stakeholders in the planning process.
The university examined in this paper is a higher education institution whose transformative educational programs are based on Catholic and Vincentian values. The institution is committed to providing unequaled education that ensures the success of a diverse community of learners. By providing this education, the university seeks to transform individuals and communities. To achieve its vision and mission, the institution develops strategic plans that focus on different aspects of its operations. These plans are used not only to transform the educational environment but also to enhance the quality of academic programs and offerings. Through this process, the institution ensures that its strategic plans create an educational setting that helps students thrive in their personal and professional lives. This paper critically examines one of the institution's recent strategic plans in terms of its stakeholder engagement, content, and format.
Strategic planning is an important part of this university's operations, as it directly influences its educational programs and activities. As noted by Esteban (2019), the institution has used strategic plans in recent years to transform its educational environment and better prepare students for their personal and professional lives. In essence, strategic plans help to shape the institution's present. When developing strategic plans, the university examines where it has come from and charts the way forward while remaining committed to its core values.
The institution recently developed the Grounded in Mission Plan for 2024, which focuses on its collective effort to promote the success of a diverse community of learners. The plan recognizes that the institution is operating in a changing world and challenges the university to provide a unique educational experience to students. It reflects the institution's commitment to invest in areas of academic excellence and to create opportunities for students to develop the competencies and skills required for success in a multicultural society. Grounded in Mission comprises six strategic priorities and goals that guide the institution's evolution as a mission-driven organization committed to continuous improvement.
The first strategic priority is to strengthen the university's commitment to its Catholic, Vincentian, and urban mission. Under this goal, the institution seeks to support teaching rooted in Catholic and Vincentian identity and assumes responsibility for advancing that mission. The second strategic priority is to establish an engaging, welcoming, inclusive, and diverse campus environment. In this regard, the university seeks to create an inclusive learning environment for all students, foster a respectful and inclusive workplace for all staff, and increase diversity among part-time and full-time faculty (Esteban, 2019).
The third strategic priority is to succeed in preparing all students for global citizenship and success. The institution will focus on preparing students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners, enhance first-year academic success, improve student career readiness and outcomes, and expand its commitment to experiential learning. The remaining strategic priorities include increasing access to high-quality, affordable education, improving academic excellence, and adopting bold approaches to ensure continued financial strength for future generations.
Grounded in Mission is a comprehensive strategic plan that outlines the university's vision for the short-term future through 2024. The plan incorporates six strategic priorities and goals that shape current operations. According to Smith (2011), the purpose of a strategic plan in academic units is to specify the vision of the institution and provide measurable objectives tracking progress toward accomplishing the mission. In terms of content, the strategic plan specifies what the institution seeks to achieve by 2024: promoting the success of a diverse community of learners and becoming unrivaled among urban universities in the United States. The institution seeks to accomplish this through academic programs that integrate ideas with action and theory with practice.
This vision is supported by strategic objectives specified in the plan as strategic priorities. The six strategic priorities not only support the institution's vision but are also appropriate at the departmental level. They are easy to follow and understandable — a critical component of a good strategic plan for an academic unit. Each strategic objective has supportive goals that in turn specify actions or activities to be undertaken by the respective departments. By outlining a vision for the desired future, the plan makes clear what the institution will focus on within the next five years. The vision not only drives the planning process but also defines the institution's key focus areas going forward.
Smith (2011) contends that a strategic plan should be broken down into separate sections including the mission statement, the vision statement, goals, objectives, and ideas for implementation. These sections define a strategic plan template for an academic institution. The university's strategic plan for 2024 is broken down into various sections in line with what it seeks to achieve within the next few years. The plan begins with a vision statement followed by its strategic priorities, with goals and implementation ideas specified within each of the six priorities. While the plan is organized into relevant sections, it does not include a mission statement. The absence of a mission statement at the beginning of the document means the plan does not explicitly describe the purpose of the institution or the reason for its existence.
"How the plan reflects Catholic and Vincentian values"
"Gap in external stakeholder and community inclusion"
"Best practice compliance and budget implications"
Luxton, A. (2005). Strategic planning in higher education. Andrews University.
Smith, S. (2011). Strategic planning in an academic context. Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.24908/pceea.v0i0.3588
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