The Ithaca College Board of Trustees and President Tom Rochon plan to announce a strategic visioning process that will be carried out during the 2008-9 academic year. Its purpose is to identify a short list of priorities that constitute our next steps in the journey toward excellence in our educational mission.
Richard Chait, Harvard professor of education and a leading authority on strategic planning, has said that "formulating strategy is the process by which an organization wrestles a vision of the future into the realm of reality." Together, as a community, Ithaca College is embarking on a strategic visioning process in order to clarify our vision of academic excellence, and to identify the steps we must take to make that vision a reality.
Unlike an institutional plan, strategic visioning does not attempt to map the entire College by specifying goals for each school, program, office, and division. Instead, the strategic visioning process will lead to identification of several areas of action in which an additional investment of energy, resources, or perhaps just focused attention will enable us to better embody the "standard of excellence for residential comprehensive colleges, fostering intellect, creativity, and character in an active, student-centered learning community."
The strategic visioning process is a community effort. The entire Ithaca College campus will be invited to participate in a series of "listening sessions" at which all are invited to share their insights. In addition to College-wide listening sessions, there will also be meetings organized to hear exclusively from students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, and members of the local community. The product of these sessions will be a clarified understanding of the imperatives of our mission, and of the key tasks we must undertake in order to better embody our aspirations.
President Rochon will personally attend each listening session as the "chief listener." He will be assisted by approximately 10 "colisteners" drawn from various constituencies on the Ithaca College campus. The work of the colisteners is not to formulate a strategic plan, but rather to assist each other in fully understanding and synthesizing the vision of excellence that comes from the College community.
In order to jump-start our College-wide thinking on the challenges in higher education and the steps we might take to advance toward excellence, the strategic visioning process will begin with the College hosting one or two nationally prominent observers and thinkers in our field. Our first guest will be Jeff Selingo '95, editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Mr. Selingo will be on campus October 7 to discuss "Higher Education of the Future: Navigating the Key Challenges Ahead." There may be a second speaker to follow.
The listening sessions will begin in late October and will continue through the end of the fall semester. Based on the input of the campus community through these listening sessions, President Rochon will work with the deans and vice presidents to produce a draft strategic vision that identifies areas in which we have an opportunity to reach for a higher degree of accomplishment. Each area identified will be closely tied to the academic vision and mission of the College.
After review by the trustees at their February meeting, there will be a second series of meetings during the spring semester at which members of the campus community will have an opportunity to comment on these priorities and how they might be achieved. The board of trustees will be asked to ratify the resultant strategic vision at its May meeting.
For a period of three to five years following approval of this strategic vision, we will make every effort to advance our level of accomplishment in the identified areas. Specific programs for advancement will be developed and, where necessary, supported with additional funds or personnel. Measures of achievement and quality will be identified for each priority area, and the success of each program innovation will be gauged.
Any student, member of the staff or faculty, or alumnus/a who wishes to serve with President Rochon as a colistener may send an e-mail indicating interest to [mailto:president@ithaca.edu]. Listening sessions will be held at varying times, but most will be in the late afternoon or early evening, so regular availability in those hours will be important. The colisteners will be announced by Friday, October 11.
The Ithaca College Board of Trustees and President Rochon join in asking you to bring to the strategic visioning process your best thinking on how Ithaca College can move to the next level of excellence in its educational mission.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20080919133307583