Strategic Planning Process

The Paths for Excellence Strategic Plan process began in July 2022.

The university was completing its 2018-2023 Strategic Plan, which was the fourth Strategic Plan since 1998. The Strategic Plan Review Team had met throughout the implementation of the 2018-2023 plan and had presented its findings to the administration.

In July 2022, Provost Dr. Joel Kendall created a Strategic Planning Executive Team to steer the creation of a new strategic plan. The committee consisted of Vice President of Student Services Dr. Adam Johnson, Faculty Senate President Jessica Salmans-Meditz, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships Dr. Chad Kinder, Vice President for Administration and Finance Brenda Burgess (replaced in 2024 by Lori Boyd after Burgess’ retirement), and three academic deans of the university – Dean of Arts & Sciences Jason Johnson, Dean of the College of Business & Technology Dr. Trisha Wald, and Dean of Pharmacy Dr. Les Ramos. Several components of the new plan are tied to the 2018-2023 plan. The Administrative and Executive Councils were informed in July that the process had initiative.

The planning process that produced the Pathway to Excellence was completed within the framework of SWOSU’s shared governance system. The Strategic Planning Executive Team, SWOSU Cabinet, and Executive Council ensured that the effort was collaborative both within and outside the university. The process included the solicitation and incorporation of feedback through surveys, interviews, feedback opportunities, and emails. Dr. Kendall provided the plans, timeline, and opportunities for involvement to the entire faculty body during the Faculty Workshop in August 2023.

The Strategic Plan development process had three distinct steps.

1. Step One
   • President’s Charge
     • The President provided the Provost and other members of the Strategic Planning Executive Committee with a statement that outlined her goals and themes in relation to the future of Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
   • Implementer Feedback
     • The Strategic Plan Executive Committee began work in January 2023 with a series of meetings and feedback opportunities with individuals and departments who have had direct responsibility for implementing the strategic plan’s goals and objectives, and for documenting the university’s progress in achieving the initiatives. Each meeting focused on a specific strategic plan goal and some or all of the objectives supporting the goal. The committee asked these implementers to help answer the following questions:
       • Is this Strategic Goal still relevant as it is stated?
       • Are these Action Points still priorities in achieving the goal?
       • Have other strategies emerged in recent years that should now be added as new Action Points?
     • Final Data Analysis for Data Points 2018-2023
       • The Implementers completed a final analysis of the 50 data points that have been collected over the past five years by the Strategic Plan Review Team.
2. Step Two: Stakeholder Surveys and Plan Development
   • Starting in mid-February and continuing through 2023, the committee sent three surveys to stakeholders. Recipients of the survey included the following groups:
     • All SWOSU staff
     • All SWOSU faculty
     • Representative cross-section of student representatives, including members of the Student Government Association
     • Representative cross-section of community members
     • Representative cross-section of alumni
     • The three surveys consist of the following:
       • First Survey: Analysis of current Strategic Plan and suggestions, followed by data analysis of survey results by Executive Committee and Institutional Research.
       • Second Survey: Value Word survey to students, faculty, and staff. This will request respondents to select all the value words that they associate with SWOSU. This will be followed by data analysis of survey results by Executive Committee and Institutional Research.
       • Third Survey: Based on results of the first two surveys and after consultation with university staff and further discussion with the cabinet, the Committee will develop a new Mission Statement, Values Statement, Vision Statement, and Strategic Goals. The third survey will ask respondents if they agree with the statements and allow the respondents to offer suggestions.
     • The committee’s work in Step Two will also include consideration of strategic charges suggested by President Lovell.
3. Step Three: Action Point Development and Focus Groups
   • Action Point Development
     • Key individuals across campus were identified and tasked with developing Focus Areas and Action Points that will operationalize Strategic Goals. Each Strategic Goal has three Focus Areas and multiple Action Points that can be measured to gauge university progress toward the mission and goals.
   • Additional Feedback and Focus Groups
     • In Fall 2023, the draft of the Mission Statement, Values Statement, Vision Statement, Strategic Goals, and Action Points was presented across campus. This will include presentations at the Executive Council, Faculty Senate Executive Council, and Administrative Council. The draft was also emailed to the Academic Advisory Council and other key university personnel. All faculty and staff were presented with the opportunity to provide final suggestions for changes.
     • At the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, the Provost held focus groups consisting of 5-10 people to review the Mission Statement, Values Statement, Vision Statement, and Strategic Goals. The goal of these focus group meetings was to provide a more informal and open communication opportunity for candid reaction to the proposed plan. The Provost summarized the input of each focus group and relayed it to the Strategic Planning Executive Committee.
   • The Strategic Plan Executive Committee will use feedback to help finalize all plan components.

The Strategic Planning Executive Team and Provost worked with the Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing to develop visual and online aspects of the plan. HLC requires approval for any change to an institution’s mission, as does RUSO. The proper submission of approval documents will be submitted to the entities. Although OSRHE does not approve mission statement changes, it will be asked to acknowledge that the mission statement has been changed.