PROGRESS ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
Presented to the Board of Trustees
November 20, 2009
At each September Board of Trustees meeting, a comprehensive report will be presented on the
progress of the strategic plan implementation. Those reports will include both positive
developments, additional pertinent action steps that have been taken or planned, areas for concern,
and items in the plan that may require adjustment due to external conditions or other factors. That
schedule is subject to change should there be significant developments requiring revisiting one or
more major elements of the plan, or if the board desires a different reporting process. In addition,
the committees of the board will receive information on plan implementation in the reports of the
provost, vice presidents, and directors, and these will be discussed in the board’s committee
meetings.
That schedule notwithstanding, this meeting of the trustees marks the one-year anniversary of the
board’s formal adoption of the new plan. As such, I thought it would be useful to provide a brief
review of the major implementation steps taken to date and some commentary on each of the plan’s
goals.
SIGNIFICANT UNIVERSITY-WIDE IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS
Resources
The budget approved by the Board of Trustees at the February 2009 meeting provided funding for
the first two years of strategic plan implementation. More than any budget in recent history, both
the revenue and expenditure dimensions of the plan were linked explicitly to the goals and objectives
of the strategic plan.
Shorter-term objectives
Along with the current budget, the board reviewed a strategic plan implementation report that lists
specific action steps and objectives to be accomplished during the first two years of the plan. As
such, this document provides a basis for both transparency and accountability in the work done to
advance the goals of the plan.
Accountability
The Strategic Plan Measurement Project Team, reporting to the president, was formed July 15, 2009,
and is charged with developing tracking and reporting mechanisms for measures identified by senior
leadership to determine the extent to which the goals and objectives of the strategic plan have been
achieved. It has members from across the campus and includes leadership from the Strategic
Planning Steering Committee. The project team meets regularly to discuss the optimal universitywide reporting mechanism for progress on the plan, consider updates and refinements of measures,
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examine data gathering and analysis techniques, and discuss modes of communicating with the wider
community.
Unit Plans and Related Activities
In addition to the objectives set in the Strategic Plan Implementation Report, which affect every
division of the university, individual schools and colleges have submitted their plans to the provost
and he will review each of these over time with the Academic Affairs Committee of the board.
Additionally, a comprehensive facilities plan is under development, guided by a university-wide
committee chaired by representatives from the provost’s and vice president of finance divisions.
This plan will also be used as the basis for the formal campus plan that must be submitted to the
District of Columbia for approval in 2011. The senior leadership of the Office of Campus Life will
review plan implementation regularly, and Athletics and Recreation has developed its own plan as
well. The two-year objectives for Development and Alumni Relations and University
Communications and Marketing are set forth in detail in the Strategic Plan Implementation Report.
SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS RELATED TO EACH GOAL
Transforming Goals
1. Scholar-Teacher Ideal
Signs of Progress:
ƒ 300 full-time faculty gathered in late October in a first-ever offsite retreat to review and
discuss key elements of strategic plan;
ƒ Revision of Faculty Manual underw ay to better align formal policies with goals of the
plan;
ƒ Searches for additional tenured and tenure-track faculty underway;
ƒ Workshops on development and promotion for associate and assistant professors;
ƒ Various actions to strengthen infrastructure for teaching and research, professional work,
and art.
Challenges:
ƒ Increasing faculty productivity in selected areas to levels on par with comparable
institutions;
ƒ Balancing scholarly, teaching, and service expectations.
2. Unsurpassed undergraduate education and experience
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Size, quality, and composition of fall 2009 entering freshman and transfer classes;
ƒ New formats and emphasis on Convocation and New Student Orientation programs;
ƒ Planning underway for One-Stop Shop to deal with bureaucracy frustrations related to
core financial and registration student services;
ƒ Comprehensive review of General Education Program launched;
ƒ Identification of AU Rhodes finalist.
Challenges:
ƒ Maintaining success in recruitment of highly qualified, diverse, and versatile
undergraduate students;
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Maintaining and improving services in face of increased demands on Office of Financial
Aid;
Sufficient physical space to accommodate increase in campus activities.
3. Distinction in graduate and professional education
Signs of Progress:
ƒ The fall 2009 entering graduate classes have exceeded targets by more than 10 percent;
ƒ Strong results from SOC accreditation process and rankings for KSB and WCL
programs;
ƒ Graduate research facility due to open in space shared by SIS and the library;
ƒ Planning for new, innovative interdisciplinary graduate programs;
ƒ Search for a new executive director of professional development and training under way.
Challenges:
ƒ Highly competitive and increasingly local market for professional master’s degree
programs;
ƒ Cost and competitiveness of doctoral programs.
4. Engage the Great Issues through Research, Centers, and Institutes
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Development of Center for Latin American and Latino Studies;
ƒ Task force on improvements in grant and contract infrastructure;
ƒ Human rights cross-disciplinary initiative (here or under social responsibility.)
Challenges:
ƒ Securing adequate external funding for research and programming on great issues.
5. Reflect and Value Diversity
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Composition of entering freshman class, including near doubling of Pell-eligible
students;
ƒ Recalibration of financial aid policies to increase percentage of need met for entering and
continuing students;
ƒ Redesign of Fredrick Douglass Scholars program;
ƒ Faculty workgroup, with support from Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning
(CTRL) and senior vice provost, to examine recruitment, retention, and promotion of
minority faculty;
ƒ Participation in Yellow Ribbon Program and coordination of services to assist post-9/11
veterans.
Challenges:
ƒ Competition for highly qualified minority students, faculty, and professional staff.
6. Bring the World to AU and AU to the World
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Strong study abroad enrollments;
ƒ Work under way on additional dual degrees with international partners;
ƒ On-campus speeches by visiting heads of state;
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Strong international enrollments in regular degree and short-term programs.
Challenges:
ƒ Determining the proper level of assistance to American-style universities abroad;
ƒ Geopolitical instability and volatile regulatory environment.
7. Act on Values through Social Responsibility and Service
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Ongoing commitments to local, national and international service, including Freshman
Service Experience, assistance to District schools and residents, D.C. Reads, Teach for
America, Peace Corps, and alternative breaks;
ƒ Family Leave Policy enacted by Faculty Senate and approved by provost;
ƒ New sustainability initiatives related to the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, including
completion of carbon inventory;
ƒ Focus on human rights programming in multiple schools and colleges.
Challenges:
ƒ Maintaining an accurate inventory of the full range of service activities performed by
faculty, students, staff, and alumni;
ƒ Respecting and examining the wide range of opinion on what constitutes social
responsibility.
8. Engage Alumni in the Life of the University
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Increases in alumni events and participation;
ƒ Increases in alumni donors to the university.
Challenges:
ƒ Building and maintaining the appropriate program and staff infrastructure for alumni
activities.
9. Encourage Innovation and High Performance
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Results of Middle States periodic review process;
ƒ Web redesign and major increase in access and use;
ƒ Commitment to program review process to supplement external accreditation of schools
and colleges;
ƒ Numerous individual awards, recognitions and program rankings;
ƒ Student Health Center candidacy for accreditation by Accreditation Association for
Ambulatory Care;
ƒ Office of Human Resources survey of faculty and staff satisfaction with employee
benefits;
ƒ One-Stop Shop program (noted above).
Challenges:
ƒ Ensuring organizational and incentive structures promote development and adoption of
innovative ideas and techniques.
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10. Win Recognition and Distinction
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Multiple awards, distinctions, and rankings for faculty, staff, and students from all
divisions of the campus;
ƒ Selections for leadership positions in professional associations;
ƒ Web redesign recognized with two national awards, one from professionals in the field
and the other from users;
ƒ Board of Trustees selected for inclusion in Association of Governing Boards Project on
successful transformation and performance;
ƒ Branding project moves to agency stage for direction of campaign;
ƒ Exceeded annual media placement goal by 17 percent as of October 31 and likely to
break last year’s record coverage.
Challenges:
ƒ Ensuring all influential parties are aware of the university’s performance and strengths.
Enabling Goals
1. Diversify Revenue Sources
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Campaign for AnewAU in final stages;
ƒ Recent performance of endowment;
ƒ Strong emphasis on increasing grant and contract funding;
ƒ Planned diversification of short-term Washington-based program offerings.
2. Employ Technology
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Improvements in technology infrastructure, services, and security;
ƒ Higher levels of university participation in Educause;
ƒ Increases in numbers of Web sites;
ƒ Extensive training program by CTRL to enable faculty to maintain course schedules in
light of possible H1N1 disruptions;
ƒ Software enhancements in Campus Life to improve case management, summer
conference management, communications in residence halls, and communication with
Student Health Center.
Challenges:
ƒ Maintaining the proper balance between Web innovations, consistency, and security;
ƒ Increased reliance, expectations, and cost.
3. Enhance University Library and Research Infrastructure
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Physical changes in library space and patterns of use;
ƒ Increase hours of operation;
ƒ Strong focus on user services, information access, and “library as the place;”
ƒ Efforts to redeploy hard copies to alternative and easily accessed locations;
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Developing the concept of the library as an “intellectual hub” actively linking faculty
across the campus with similar content interests.
Challenges:
ƒ Increased demands for service and hours of operations.
4. Forge Partnerships
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Multiple, mutually beneficial partnerships with visible national and international
institutions and organizations, including: Newseum, National Museum of African
American History and Culture, National Archives, and American University of Nigeria,
as well as more than 100 other international universities for study abroad and joint
programming.
Challenges:
ƒ Selecting appropriate partners and ensuring mutual benefit.
5. Model for Civil Discourse
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Faculty retreat;
ƒ Faculty Senate and deans’ roundtable;
ƒ Planned town meetings on facilities master planning;
ƒ Continuation of Eagle roundtables, board town meetings, and vice presidents and
directors interactions with faculty, student, and staff organizations.
Challenges:
ƒ Maintaining civility in sessions devoted to highly controversial topics.
6. Align Facilities with Strategic Goals
Signs of Progress:
ƒ Kogod addition opened and operating, SIS building on schedule; plans for SOC home
progressing;
ƒ Work of the task force on facilities planning and ad hoc Real Estate Committee of the
board;
ƒ Inventory of needs provided by provost, vice presidents, and directors;
ƒ Schedule for facilities master planning and Campus Plan process established.
Challenges:
ƒ Balancing large needs with limited resources;
ƒ Maintaining open and positive relations with the university’s neighbors in the
surrounding community.
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