Shaping a Strategic Plan: A Community-Wide Effort

By Anne-Marie Kent

On March 10, the University Planning Council presented its preliminary ideas for UMass Boston's next five-year plan at an open meeting for the university community.

The response was overwhelming; an overflow crowd of faculty, staff, and students filled the Provost's Conference Room to learn about the council's progress and offer suggestions.

The meeting began with brief presentations by Provost Paul Fonteyn and Associate Provost Peter Langer. Fonteyn presented an overview of the planning process, emphasizing that the plan would help shape the campus priorities for the next five years. Langer then discussed the work of the council thus far. He distributed a working draft of the plan with the dual emphases of "serving our students" and "serving the public."

On behalf of the council, Theresa Mortimer, David Cesario, and Gary Siperstein presented some of their current ideas on how to move the campus forward in the areas of teaching and learning, program development, campus life, research, and community service.

Questions and comments from the floor took up the majority of the meeting, with substantial discussion taking place on what facets of campus research and service should be developed as particular areas of strength. Two that have been tentatively identified as centers of excellence are policy studies and environmental/sustainability studies.

Comments from the audience included observations that the sustainability initiative is a strong link to the campus's urban mission, and that faculty development, cultivation of alumni, and community partnerships should all be elements of the strategic plan.

The strategic plan, to be completed by June 2003, will indicate action priorities for the next five years. Each action will be assigned to an accountable party for completion according to a timeline and with measurable indicators of achievement. The plan will be reviewed yearly and plans modified in light of progress made.

Materials presented at the meeting are online at the Planning Council's website: www.umb.edu/faculty_staff/academic_affairs/sp/index.html, where there is also a discussion forum.

Associate Provost Langer encouraged all parties to comment on these drafts and make suggestions on the forum. Already, there have been postings to the online forum. Members of the university community are encouraged to log on and add their voices to the discussion.

There will be additional open meetings in the spring, as the council moves toward forming more specific action plans.

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