About Strategic Planning

YEAR 1: ACTION STEPS AND OUTCOMES

1. Invite and confirm key campus stakeholders who will serve on the steering committee

Ann Cudd (President and chair) and Lindsey Wilkinson (Faculty Senate Presiding Officer and co-chair) invited and began convening the Strategic Planning Steering Committee in October 2023. Four work groups were created to focus on (1) affirming our mission, vision, and values; (2) analyzing the external market; (3) differentiating our unique value proposition; and (4) defining PSU in 2030 and key milestones.

Review the meeting notes and slides for academic year 23-24 to gain insight into the meeting objectives and discussions. 

2. Carry out team learning to build cultural competency and advance equity

The Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Ame Lambert, guided the steering committee through personal and group training and reflection to ensure equity is held at the center of the strategic planning process.

Volunteer equity ambassadors are participants embedded in each workgroup. The role of the equity ambassador is to advance equity and justice by asking questions to help workgroup members test their thinking and assumptions, identifying and promoting practices that advance equity and social justice, and minimizing the impacts of cognitive and structural biases on the strategic planning process.

3. Guide the Strategic Planning team to live out PSU’s values throughout the planning process

Key questions asked:

• How do we encourage the Steering Team to move from saying they value something to actually acting/operating in ways that are guided by those values in a meaningful way?
• How do we inspire individuals/groups/institutions to act in alignment with their stated values, as expressed through guiding documents like strategic plans?

The Vision, Mission, Values work group developed Guiding Principles for Strategic Planning that serve as the foundation for all strategic planning activities. Activities are regularly assessed against principles to determine where increased attention should be paid.

4. Understand our key constituencies and what their needs/ motivations are

Key questions asked:

• Who are our students, staff, and faculty?
• What are their specific needs, challenges, and motivations?

The Value Proposition work group gathered and analyzed existing institutional data from the Office of Student Success and Office of Institutional Research and Planning on current PSU students to gain insight into the experiences and expectations of students, staff, and faculty. Analyses helped guide campus-wide conversations about what makes PSU special.

Learn more about how PSU community members are engaging directly with the strategic planning process →

5. Analyze key market forces affecting prospective students and graduates

Key questions asked:

• What are the main market forces we need to pay attention to?
• What change has happened over the past 5 years?
• What does this mean for how the university must change to meet the needs of the future?

The Market Analysis work group identified and compiled existing data, reports, and relevant literature to answer key questions about external markets for PSU degree programs and graduates.

Read the summary of findings→

6. Create foundational commitments to the PSU community that connect core values with practical actions

The Vision, Mission, Values work group leveraged learning from campus community engagement focused on defining “The Heart of PSU” to create a set of action-oriented pledges that bridge the gap between our values and the practical actions we must take to live up to them.

Read PSU’s Draft Guiding Commitments →

Key questions asked:

• What do our community members think PSU’s core values should be?
• How is PSU living up to the values our community members see as priorities?
• What are the foundational commitments we are making to students, faculty, staff, and the community?

Learn more about the collaborative process for building guiding commitments →

7. Clarify our differentiated strengths

The Value Proposition work group is leveraging learning from data analysis and campus community engagement focused on understanding challenges, concerns, desires, and opportunities of PSU’s key student segments to craft a list of distinctive benefits PSU currently provides students, staff, faculty, and the community.

Read PSU’s Draft Value Propositions to students, staff, faculty, and the community→

Key question asked:

• How do we distinctively meet the needs of the students, PSU employees, and community we aim to serve?

Learn more about the collaborative process for creating value propositions→

8. Develop strategic vision and milestones

The PSU in 2030 work group is leading the development of a strategic vision that describes how PSU will be different if we live up to the commitments we make to our priority student markets, then create milestones and metrics that show whether we are going in the right direction. (IN PROGRESS)

9. Draft a set of large-scale actions to bridge current state performance with long-term milestones

Strategic Imperatives will tell a story about what big steps are needed to carry out our overarching strategic planning strategy and why each step is important. (PLANNED)

YEAR 2: STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE 2024