UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Nearly 60 budget units comprising Penn State’s campuses, academic colleges and various administrative offices have developed their strategic plans and are preparing to move forward with plan implementation.
After Penn State introduced its revised institutional strategic plan in December 2019, units were asked to develop their own strategic plans to support and advance the University’s plan and make their contributions visible, which will help tell the story of Penn State’s impact.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic challenged units to ascertain if their plans were viable now and could be achieved over time, their perseverance and resilience proved that we could stay the course, ‘bounce forward’ and thrive through adversity,” said Nick Jones, executive vice president and provost. “This is a moment to celebrate and in which we all can take pride, as we have strategic plans that will move us forward into the next five years.”
By following the University’s strategic plan structure and planning process, units can support each other in a more informed manner. They also can seek opportunities to bolster their efforts by leaning on other units’ resources, leveraging Penn State’s unique structure and breaking down barriers that could impede the work of the institutional plan as outlined in its foundations, thematic priorities, and supporting elements.
Many University stakeholders have been involved in unit planning efforts, including students, faculty and staff, as well as working groups that established key processes, strategic plan committees, and the Unit Planning Advisory Group, which provided feedback on plans. Unit representatives say the feedback enabled better work and helped to reshape their strategic plans as they thought about ways in which they could connect and collaborate with other units across Penn State.
“Support for the strategic plan articulated in unit plans shows how the institutional plan is working through unit efforts,” Jones said. “It also reveals what the University is doing in tangible ways to show our ongoing commitment to impact.”
Unit plans will be posted soon on Penn State’s strategic planning website, with more details about plan progress and success stories shared as they become available. Data analysis and other measures will be used to assess the success of unit plans over time, showing how they contribute to implementation of the institutional strategic plan.
The Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR) will offer training and resources to support implementation through Nuventive, which will be used to track progress of the institutional and unit plans and as a roadmap to collaboration across Penn State.
Key stakeholders in creating and developing units’ plans will remain engaged in their implementation, and anyone interested in participating is encouraged to communicate with their unit leaders or email strategicplan@psu.edu.
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