The Compact Plan Process “Voices from the Field” Bruce Ingram Mallette Managing Director Statistics & Epidemiology RTI International Adjunct Associate Professor North Carolina State University September 8, 2005 1 Find the UAlbany Voice “In some small towns there is a rule that consultants can’t serve as volunteer firemen. The fear is that they’d drive around setting the fire on town.” The Dilbert Principle, p. 200 (1996) Therefore you must make Compact Planning fit your needs, for your culture, for your public politics, for your finances, for your mission, for your future. 2 Our Journey Today Part - 1 Why Compact Planning Required Reading It’s All About Alignment Yogi Berra and ESPN Compact Planning 101 3 Why Compact Planning? “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.” David Campbell, 1974 “If a man knows not what harbor he seeks, any wind is the right wind.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 5BC-65AD 4 Why Compact Planning? “You may not know where you came from May not know who you are May not have even wondered How you got this far And if you don't know where you're going Any road will take you there.” George Harrison, “Any Road” (2002) 5 Required Reading Spring Faculty Address and Slides President Kermit L. Hall April 27, 2005 http://www.albany.edu/president/speeches/2005 _spring/2005_spring_speech.html http://www.albany.edu/president/speeches/2005 _spring/2005_spring_speech_pp_files/frame.htm 6 The Way Forward What We Need to Do Settle on goals associated with a great public university. Develop and hone our story. Know who we are, what we want, and what matters most. Develop a compelling case. Develop a rational budget process. 7 The Way Forward UAlbany Planning Documents 8 Compact Planning Purpose Provides a framework for campus decisions and actions Compact Planning guides: Who we are now Who we want to be in the future How we get there 9 Compact Planning Outcome Alignment across individuals, groups, structures Maximizes contributions to the UAlbany mission 10 But you are asking, “Is Yogi Berra right?” It’s deja vu all over again. Don’t have time to do this. Won’t be treated the same as other colleges, schools, and offices. My faculty/staff won’t like this. These plans will have no results, collect dust. No room left on my bookshelf for another one. And, if this is Compact Planning 101, when is the drop date to get out of this! 11 This is NOT the ESPN World Series of Poker Cards are dealt from your deck. You are the dealer. You can talk to others first as to what cards you want in your deck. You will place your cards (i.e., initiatives and finances) face up… all of them. All players will do the same. The cards are your best ideas, your vision, your priorities, your choices. 12 It is NOT a Game of Chance It is a collegial process Communication Collaboration Communication Candor Communication and CHOICES. 13 Core Principles Transparency & The Total Economy 14 Transparency & The Total Economy 15 Compact Planning 101 Welcome to Class Big classroom with 180 students A syllabus and handbook Regular assignments Timelines & deadlines Fast-paced & very demanding High expectations 16 Compact Planning 101 NOT Your Typical Class You are not on your own in this class, AND, you have everyone in your department, division, unit, college, school, and office to assist you, AND, it is open book, AND, you will get regular feedback throughout the class, AND, you can talk to anyone outside class to help you on any aspect of your assignments. 17 Compact Planning 101 One Goal This is a class where its full design is aimed at one outcome … success … success for UAlbany is being the best it can be. 18 Our Journey Today Part - 2 “Voices from the Field” Deans, former Deans, Vice Provosts, and former Vice Provosts… all of whom lived to talk about it and are doing very well! 19 Compact Planning vs. Past Planning Efforts Part - 1 Old Planning = then nothing vs. Compact Plan = pathways and priorities. This is real, it is not like past efforts. This will not collect dust. “Oh boy, another exercise that will go nowhere” but… this is a living document, not a make work job, it is a guide to our collective future. 20 Compact Planning vs. Past Planning Efforts Part - 2 Felt my area was considered fringe before but learned I got as much respect as others, including the College Deans. This is more than your own compact plan – it is a culture changing experience. Core principles: Transparency and the total economy. 21 The Basics Part - 1 President and the Provost = investment bankers; develop business plans for your products = initiatives and intended outcomes. Don’t be afraid to think big… then layer the realities and challenges. Must work your Compact Plan toward the overarching campus goals and needs. 22 The Basics Part - 2 The “sweat equity” of 20 years ago doesn’t make it true now; it’s time to sweat again, together. It will take time. This is not a Cliff’s Notes exercise nor an all nighter write-up nor a simple weekend drafting activity. 23 Communication Part - 1 Would have had more meetings with all staff, not just unit heads. You cannot do this by yourself, use your staff at all levels. Engage faculty one on one, plus department heads, plus senior players at all times. Keep staff fully informed of what you are passing forward and what feedback and revisions you have been asked to provide. 24 Communication Part - 2 I didn’t do enough with my faculty, I relied too much on Associate Deans. You want to include staff and faculty now, else you will have no internal advocates when the process is done. Incorporate staff involvement in the Compact Plan design and discussions since they must carry it out; make it part of their job descriptions and evaluation where applicable. 25 Getting Started Part - 1 Dump a list, then refine it. Fling the mud and let it stick, then question it. Balance what you need to achieve in the short term with what you must achieve in the long term, and never lose sight of the larger realities that face your area. 26 Getting Started Part - 2 Be realistic but stretch to reach your vision. Deputize your #2 as a significant player in the collection of information and ideas, you will need a sounding board (more than one and often). 27 Getting Started Part - 3 Write a clear and simple statement of who and what you are. Why are you there? Who do you serve? What is your “Statement of Significance”? What can you do to shape your college without money or help from anyone else. Develop a “strategy to be a center of influence.” 28 Various Approaches Part - 1 Consider what is high leverage vs. just new to be new. We chose to “boldly drive straight up the mountain” to where we need to be. “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” Wayne Gretzky Used it to make our College a “Center of Influence” in our discipline and challenged the faculty to identify what those should be. 29 Various Approaches Part - 2 Used it to get: – the organizational structure correct, – the attitude correct, and – the vision well understood Faculty drove it, I tweaked it, they made the right decisions. We moved from an overly steep hierarchical pyramid to a matrix that generated more avenues for ideas, creativity, and synergies. 30 Tips Part - 1 Provoke the big questions, the real big questions: – state funds = seed money, other sources of funds really make initiatives go – understand that disciplines are changing – identify who (e.g., people, institutions, businesses) is responding best to new issues in field. 31 Tips Part - 2 Focus on science and the disciplines, not just management issues. It will feel compressed, but you must keep moving forward, the iterative process permits revisions and on-going development of your core ideas. Every college and office is a network of social networks; be highly interactive, intersect with all of them. 32 Developing Your Initiatives Find the “exemplars” in your college/office and put them in front of others; find champions for the cause. Leadership is about taking the 60 initiatives that surfaced and narrowing to 5 core requests… with your faculty in support. If you can’t talk about your department within the context of the college… you will fail. 33 The Iterative Process 3 Rounds: Dialogue, Prioritization, & Choices Provides a chance to assess feedback and reconsider. Makes it a living and breathing document. Transparency! Vice Provosts and Deans had the opportunity to read all draft Compact Plans and comment thus finding areas of intersection; might see codicils where the authors did not and have insights to streamline or make the initiative more effective. 34 Compact Plans & Resources People, $$, Space Colleges/units must consider internal reallocations of existing resources to leverage new ideas and new resources to equal the “Big Bang” impact. Budget spreadsheets – master them – be realistic – be complete 35 Codicils Cross Discipline & Cross Office Initiatives Fostering internal and external partnerships. – think honestly about outside resources – think creativity who can help you that you have not used in past – think outside of the box of comfort Understand the mutual financing options. 36 Collaboration Matters The sum of the parts is greater than the whole 37 Assessment Part - 1 Assessment = accountability both internally to campus and externally to your public constituents. Provides trend data comparisons over time and further priority setting. Any assessment variables must be understood as to: – why they matter – how they will be collected – what will be done with the data. 38 Assessment Part - 2: Peer Comparison Variables (Sept 2005) Know Thyself – Total Enrollment: Campus, Fall – Student FTE: Campus, Fall – % of Matriculated Out-of-State Undergraduates – % of Matriculated Multicultural Undergraduates – % Full-Time Matriculated Undergraduates – Receiving Financial Aid – Graduation Rate of Student-Athletes – NCAA Academic Progress Rate – First-Year Retention Rate % – First-Year Retention Rate % – Graduate Students: % of Total Enrollment, Fall – % of Multicultural Graduate Students – New Freshman Applications, Fall – New Freshman Enrollment, Fall – New Traditional Freshman Mean SAT – New Freshman Median SAT – % of Traditional Freshman in Group 1 – New Transfer Enrollment, Fall – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Faculty Headcount, Full-time, Fall Faculty Headcount, Part-time, Fall % of Full-time Women Faculty % of Full-time Multicultural Faculty Student/Faculty Ratio Total Externally Funded Research (in thousands) Science & Engr. R&D Expenditures (in thousands) Patent Applications License Income (in thousands) All Funds Revenue (in thousands) State Appropriation as % of All Funds Revenue Annual Full-time In-State Undergraduate Tuition Annual Full-time In-State Graduate Tuition % of Alumni Giving Endowment (in thousands) US News and World Report Ranking 39 Assessment Part - 3: Your Peers Know the dashboard of your peers. - Albany - FSU - Binghamton - Riverside - Santa Cruz - UConn - Delaware - UMass Amherst - Buffalo - Stony Brook - Santa Barbara - Kansas - Nebraska - Oregon 40 And Remember… “Sailing a ship across the Pacific is no different from organizing a college or university for performance improvement. In both instances, it is immensely helpful if we can come to some agreement on which way to aim the pointy end.” Dan Seymour, “Once Upon A Campus,” p. xix (1995) 41 Enjoy Your Journey May the Force Be With You You have a choice… Darth Vader or Yoda 42 And Spring Will Be Here Soon! 43 Thank you! 44