Strategic Action FY'97 - FY'01

I. Introduction

Strategic Action is designed to provide a philosophical and fiscal framework for the implementation of the Strategic Planning and Thinking that have taken place over the last three years. It is not meant to replace the detailed planning developed at all levels. Over the next five years these plans will continue to be refined and focused, guided by the overarching direction of this Strategic Action plan. The details will continue to be found in unit plans in place at various levels of the University.

Strategic Action provides compass headings for navigating the course ahead. Emerging opportunities and obstacles will suggest course corrections; such is an inevitable part of the process. From time to time we will bend and compromise but, like a gyroscope, the Strategic Action plan will keep us on course.

The extensive planning process was initiated with wide involvement of the University Community through six task forces and six working groups:

	TASK FORCES	Teaching and Learning Public Service Economic Development Multiculturalism and Diversity Research and Graduate Education
	WORKING GROUPS	Financial Resources Support Services Student Services External Relations Physical Facilities Human Resources

Each led to a report which forms a chapter in the narrative that spells the future of our University. Guided by these reports the academic and academic support units developed plans which were submitted to the Deans and equivalent Directors and were, in turn, consolidated into a plan for each of the areas of the Vice Chancellors and Deputy Chancellor. Drawing on the concepts emerging from the Task Forces and Working Groups, as well as on national directions and ideas in higher education, I also developed a Strategic Thinking paper, Towards a Commonwealth of Learning, which attempted to distill principles and catalysts for change to guide the future shape of the University. The Provosts Office developed multidimensional profiles of all Academic Units as part of the Academic Program Review in order to set priorities and identify areas for change that would lead to greater effectiveness. The profiles were based on criteria developed with wide community participation. A parallel review of all Support Units will begin shortly, based on criteria laid out in Strategic Thinking. Several areas of the University have also embarked on reengineering and Continuous Quality Improvement. All of these efforts constitute an excellent set of planning tools, which will be applied with increasing sophistication in the years ahead. While these different efforts may appear disparate at present, our goal in the future is to bring all planning up through the line administration in an orderly and coherent fashion. In some areas relatively minor changes may be called for; in others, more dramatic changes. In all instances, there will be opportunities for individuals and units throughout the University community to respond to new directions.

This community-based approach to planning was important because of the multitudinous planning efforts of the past, which tended to lead to static plans, few of which were implemented or sustained over the years. An overview of past approaches and outcomes from 1971 to the present at State, System and the Amherst Campus levels is shown in Figure 1. Past planning efforts have had a lifetime equal to that of the administration involved. The current approach is grounded in unit planning and in University level task forces, and will have a greater likelihood of sustainability.

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