College of Education > About Us > Strategic Planning > Dean Watson's Fall 2007 Communication to Faculty and Staff

October 3, 2007

TO:  Faculty and Staff, College of Education

Dear Faculty and Staff:

I hope your semester is off to a great start. Each new year offers the promise of things unimaginable, and I hope that you all will have a wonderful and productive year.

In the dean’s office, we are striving to create the environment in which you will feel supported in your efforts. We are in a major transitional year in the College, with three new department chairs (one interim), a new associate dean and a host of other changes. In addition to major personnel transitions, we are faced with the opportunity to tell our story with our data to NCATE. I know this is a challenging task, but we all must accept the fact that this is life in the academy in the 21st century. Yet, you should also feel some sense of support from our assessment office, Livetext coordinator, and other senior faculty who have been through the NCATE process before. Please be assured that as a team we can conquer anything. All of your dedication to make our College a Premier College of Education is appreciated. 

The new academic year also brings the opportunity to evaluate who we are and who we choose to be in the future.  The College of Education has not had a strategic plan since the late eighties. With external and internal resources depending upon how we define ourselves and our priorities, it is imperative that we begin the strategic planning process this year. Please be assured that all are invited to join in this important process of charting the course for the College.

Our initial planning process will be as follows:

• In keeping with our established mission, vision, and conceptual framework, department chairs are to solicit data on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) from faculty, staff, and students.
• This information will be forwarded to a college-wide strategic planning committee that will be charged with sorting the data and writing a report that will be shared with all departments. In this way, everyone will have the opportunity to respond and provide feedback regarding the kinds of data collected from the SWOT process. (Attached are the description and guidelines for the College’s strategic planning committee.)
• The college-wide strategic planning committee will review and synthesize the feedback and responses from the initial report, and then submit a final draft of what will be called our “strategic planning document,” with at least five top priorities for the college.

Please note that we are entering the initial stages of a very dynamic process as well as the beginning of a dialogue that we should look forward to having as often as possible. After this year, we might find the need to revisit our mission statement and address any inconsistencies that are found between who we are and who we want to become.

Again, I know we all are working harder and smarter. Just remember that this is a transition year, and we are all feeling it. However, it is imperative that we approach these challenges with a positive attitude so that we might emerge more enlightened about who we are as individuals and as a College.

Sincerely,

Lemuel W. Watson, Professor and Dean

Attachments

• Strategic Planning Document
• Criteria for Strategic Planning Committee Members