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September 9, 1996 Approved hv ADCIL 9/10/1996
TO: The Administrative Council
FROM: Hassan M. Nejad
RE: Creation of a Task Force on “College* s Strategic Plan”
Rationale:
Long-range, strategic planning ( contrasted with short-range, tactical
planning) is the process of determining what goals and objectives to pursue
during a future time period (three-to-seven years) and what actions, policies,
and/or programs are required to achieve those objectives. Planning is
common to both, for-profit and non-profit organizations. There are several
reasons for and advantages to this type of planning, including the followings:
• Planning enables an organization to affect rather than accept the future.
By setting objectives and charting a course of action, the organization
commits itself to “making it happen.” Without a plan, the organization is
much more likely to sit back, to let things happen, and then react to these
events in a crisis mode.
• Planning provides a means for actively involving individuals from all
parts of the organization in setting goals, priorities, and objectives, and in
enhancing their understanding of the organization’s direction.
• Planning improves performance and the overall organizational
collaboration as well as employee morale.
• Planning facilitates the delegation of authority and responsibility and
improves accountability.
• Planning facilitates assessment and improves evaluation of employees’
performance.
• Planning enhances financial responsibility and helps the development of a
balanced budget.
Although the goals and priorities of organizations vary, planning at
educational institutions is generally aimed at remaining or becoming
educationally, intellectually, and financially viable. For Antioch College,
there are a number of external as well as internal factors/reasons which
necessitate the development of a long-range plan. External factors include:
the increasingly competitive nature of higher education, the changing
demographic characteristics, the increasing overhead cost of higher
education, the need for a quality liberal arts education with an affordable
price, and the expectation of career opportunities for and marketability of
the graduates. The internal factors include: continued financial problems,
low and declining enrollment, small faculty-student ratio, underutilized
space, a mission and a governance structure that promise and value wide
consultation and participation in policy- and decision-making processes,
individualized advising, a strong interest in and a need for improving
student services and the quality of student and faculty life, the particular
challenges of Antioch College’s tripartite educational model (classroom, co
op and community), and being the only residential campus in a complex
university system in which inter-campus and campus-to-university
relationships are yet to be clearly defined, agreed upon, and understood.
Planning al Antioch:
In recent years, beginning in 1987, a number of important efforts have been
made to plan for the future and many decisions have in fact been made
through a planning process. But the process has not been complete,
integrated, systematic, or consultative. Most of the plans were the work of
College or University administrators with little input by faculty, students,
and staff. Most have been driven by the “Year 2000 Vision Statement” and
University Priorities (approved by the Board of Trustees in 1991). Almost
all of these efforts have been either of a short-range nature or consisted of
general statements which lack a comprehensive list of action plans,
planning units, accountability, costs, and evaluation mechanism. Yet, there
are many useful ideas and suggestions in all of these documents which
should be looked at and perhaps incorporated in the development of a
comprehensive, strategic plan.
This proposal is an attempt to launch an effort to develop certain long-term
goals ( five-to-seven-years) for the College and to describe the particular
actions, programs, and/or activities required to achieve them with their
estimated costs. The plan will be developed within the context of the
College’s mission, curricular goals, academic program, and its overall
values and objectives as articulated in several documents approved by
ADCIL. These are givens or fundamental assumptions guiding the planning
process. The group responsible for this endeavor will be called “The Task
Force on College’s Strategic Plan” (proposed title), to be appointed by
ADCIL. This task force will develop a process to consult with as many
constituencies within the community, including the Board of Trustees
“Task Force on Strategic Financial Directions of the College,” through
organized informal and formal meetings and will make periodic reports to
ADCIL. A final report will be presented to ADCIL by the middle of Spring
term and subject to its approval, ADCIL will periodically monitor and
evaluate the implementation of the plan.
Proposed ADCIL Charge to the Task Force on College’s Strategic
Plan
The task force should be charged to: developing a strategic plan for the College
in which goals and priorities and their related objectives, action plans, and
cost estimates are set, position(s), group(s), or unit(s) responsible for their
implementation are identified, and a process/mechanism for the evaluation
of the various components of the plan is identified.
Proposed Membership of the Task Force
Faculty: 3-4
Students: 2
Administrator: 1
Emeritus/alumnus: 1 (to be selected by the Alumni Board)
Staff: I
Dean of Faculty Ex Officios: College President and CM
