Board, staff review strategic plan one year in

One year ago Stephens implemented a five-year strategic plan. As reported in the December 6, 2010, issue of Stephens Life, the plan has six main goals. Each had sub-goals or strategies to better explain the intent of the overarching item. Recently, the Board of Trustees and senior administrative staff did a one-year review.

Dianne Lynch, president of Stephens, is positive about its progress.

"I feel great about it. My report to the Board included 100 achievements during our first year," Lynch said.

Nancy Cornwell, interim vice president of Academic Affairs, is also pleased with the progress but stresses that much of the plan will take time.

Accomplishments

Goal One: Achieve Optimum Enrollments

Shannon Walls, vice president of Philanthropy, and Lynch both cite Strategy 1.1.1 of Goal One as one of the biggest successes in the past year. Strategy 1.1.1 states, "achieve national rankings and public recognition of the quality and distinctiveness of our academic programs."

This past year, the U.S. News & World Report ranked Stephens for the first time.

Goal Two: Attract, develop and retain an excellent faculty and staff.

Strategy 2.3.4 states, "research and implement a health care benefits plan that maximizes employee coverage while managing institutional and employee costs."

Recently, Stephens has switched its healthcare plan for faculty and staff to Aetna. Lynch said this will provide better benefits and save money.

Part of the agreement is that premiums will not have to be paid for the month of December. Due to this, full-time, benefit-eligible faculty will get a one-time $500 stipend in their pay that comes directly from the savings the school will receive the first month they use the new plan.

Goal Four: Create a vibrant campus environment for teaching and learning.

Lynch and Walls both agree the Classroom Campaign is another accomplishment. Strategy 4.3.2 says, "study state-of-the-art classroom configurations and online technology uses; develop pilot projects such as personal response systems, lecture capture and content management tools."

According to Lynch, they are halfway to their goal.

Cornwell sees the Student Success Center as another one of the biggest achievements. As reported in the September 26, 2011, issue of Stephens Life, Stephens received a $100,200 grant to hire a student advocate and relocate the success center to Stamper.

The Diversity Coalition came out of strategy 5.1.2, "celebrate diversity through campus events, special activities and curricular offerings." The Diversity Coalition had its kickoff week, and Lynch saw it as a success, as well.

The change from Aramark to Fresh Ideas is in response to "provide and promote healthy eating options on campus." This has generally been well-received by students. In a recent student forum, there were almost no complaints about food while that has dominated the conversation in previous years.

Goal Six: Increase and steward the resources of the College to support, sustain and energize its mission.

Walls is primarily in charge of Goal Six, and said she is most proud of the fundraising done.

"Last year, we surpassed our unrestricted annual fund goal by more than $1 million.  Additionally, we raised more than $400,000 to save the President's Home. … This year, we are running on target to meet our increased annual fund goal," Walls said.

Weaknesses

While the plan is going better then expected, there have been weaknesses found along the way. One in particular was how the plan was created.

"A lot of these things turn out to be action steps, and sometimes it's easy to get lost in the weeds," Lynch said.

Walls said the biggest weakness "is needing more financial resources to accomplish our many, many goals. Funding comes from many different sources ... We need to find the right mix of revenue stream to allow us to do what needs to be done to recruit more students."

Overall, there is optimism for the future of the plan. "It is the most clear and focused strategic plan I've ever seen. Even though I know there are some things I might not be able to accomplish … it is so focused and so well done and it gives me such a clear set of priorities. It is so helpful. … To me it's a model of good strategic planning," Cornwell said.