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GU Home > Office of the President > Long Range Strategic Plan > Strategic Plan 2007-2011 > Overview

Overview of the Strategic Plan

Understanding the Strategic Plan

Strategic planning flows from the University's mission and vision and is a means of establishing major directions for the University and its schools and programs. Strategic planning helps to focus attention on a limited number of major directions in order to maximize benefits to stakeholders--those we exist to serve and who are affected by the choices we make. Those stakeholders include students, employers of graduates, funding agencies, and society, as well as internal stakeholders such as faculty and staff. Strategic planning should be about anticipating and shaping the future rather than simply describing what we're already doing well, or preparing for or adapting to the future. Finally, a strategic plan should differentiate the university (school/program) from others. What makes Gallaudet different and unlike no other university?Strategic planning is a process, not an act. All goals and objectives must be regularly and systematically assessed, updated, and revised to address changes in the external and internal environment. This cycle of planning, action, assessment of outcomes, and use of assessment results to revise plans creates a process of continuous improvement in the university's effectiveness in meeting its goals.

Gallaudet University Strategic Plan 2007 - 2011

Contexts for Gallaudet's Strategic Plan

The university's strategic plan sets broad directions for the next five years (2007-2011). The document begins with an analysis of Gallaudet's mission and role, historically and currently, and describes the internal and external factors that impact the future of the University.

Strategic Planning Process

The second part of the document provides background information on strategic planning at the university, the influence of accreditation concerns on the development of the current strategic plan, how the current five goals evolved from three primary sources, and stakeholder involvement in developing and revising the goals and objectives.

Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives, and Indicators

The Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives, and Indicators section is in chart format, and lists the five strategic goals, which are broadly stated and tied to the mission and vision statements. Each goal has accompanying objectives and indicators. The objectives state in specific and action-oriented terms what must be accomplished in order to reach the larger goal. The indicatorsare the tools that will help us know how far we are from achieving our objectives and if we are going in the right direction. They answer the question, "How will be know if we've accomplished this?" Progress on the indicators will be shown through periodic summaries displayed in a user-friendly way.

Benchmarks

Benchmarks compare our current status on the strategic plan indicators to peer institutions and historical performance. The Benchmarking Project creates common definitions of key terms by: a) establishing commonly agreed upon definitions of terms that allow valid comparisons; b) developing a comprehensive base of analysis that permits meaningful comparisons; and c) establishing a set of data that will inform the university in the current year and provide a baseline for longitudinal analysis in the years ahead.

Measures, Baseline Data, Benchmarks, and Targets

Implementation of the strategic plan requires specific details needed to assess progress, such as baseline data on the indicators, benchmarks that compare our current status on the indicators to peer institutions and historical performance, and targets for progress on the indicators.

  1. The numbers in the far left column reference the strategic plan numbers;
  2. Indicators describe what we will look at to assess our progress on a strategic plan objective;
  3. Measure or Document describes where we look to find indicators;
  4. The first row of numbers is the "benchmark", peer context or historical data depending on how you prefer to think about it. The attached benchmarking project report explains what benchmarks are and how many of the strategic plan benchmarks were computed;
  5. 2006/2007 is the Gallaudet University 2006 or 2007 level of activity depending on what was readily available. 2006 data are reported in italics, so we can substitute more recent numbers as we collect them;
  6. The final column is for targets to be met. Most of the suggested targets are at the historic average -- if current numbers are below -- or reflect a desire for some improvement;
  7. Superscripted letters are an important part of the chart. It is simply not enough to put down a number. Each number requires some kind of explanation and that is what the superscripts are for. Consequently, we can have an infinite number of different explanations by simply adding more superscripts.

Action Plans

Action plans describe and prioritize the activities planned to accomplish strategic plan objectives. Action plans also include assignment of responsibility, identification of resource requirements, establishment of a time frame for implementation, and specific benchmarks or targets for each indicator to measure progress.

During AY 2007-2009 years, Goals 1, 2 and 3 are priorities, and action plans for these goals have been developed. During fall 2008, action plans for Goals 4 and 5 will be developed. During AY 2008-2009 departments will also develop their own strategic plans, along with action plans that describe their role in contributing to the achievement of the university's strategic plan goals.

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