V. Institutional Effectiveness Plan
Crucial to the effective implementation of the University Plan is an understanding among stakeholders of the connectedness between department, college, and division plans and the University Plan. The planning process has called for prioritization at all university levels, with ongoing conversations and feedback between academic departments and colleges, administrative units and directors, and deans/directors and vice presidents. These discussions have ensured a “living” plan where the best information and insight are available for the President’s Cabinet to make decisions about new initiatives and budget allocations.
Following implementation of the plan, the university moves into the assessment phase. We will maintain our overall theme of open communication and dialog. We realize that assessment is critical to the successful implementation of strategic plans. However, we also believe that the point of assessment is not to gather data and return “results” that support our goals; rather, it is a process where stakeholders and decision makers begin by asking questions, become involved in the gathering and interpreting of data, and use that information to guide the process of continuous improvement.
In order to assist in implementing this kind of assessment to measure progress on our university goals, each college and division submits an annual report to the Office of University Planning and Assessment outlining unit progress on each of the university goals and initiatives. In this way, plans at all levels can be reviewed and revisited on an ongoing basis. A formal review of the University Plan will be conducted every two years to reassess the university’s initiatives and priorities in light of changes in the environment.
In an effort to assure that all areas of the university have an opportunity to review and assess plan progress, as well as to share useful feedback, the following calendar for planning, assessment, and feedback will be incorporated across all departments. It should be noted that all activities listed in the calendar are ongoing and flexible.
Planning and Assessment Calendar
See the attached Planning and Assessment Calendar.
Integrating Planning, Budgeting, and Assessment
An important aspect of integrating planning, budgeting, and assessment is to provide enough information to ensure that all of these processes work well together and support each other. The strategic plans chart a department’s direction, while the budget provides the resources to implement the plans. A strategic plan that ignores fiscal reality will not be realized. Conversely, resource allocation without strategic thinking is shortsighted and will be unresponsive to future conditions.