Strategic Planning
The Strategic Planning Process at
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University's Strategic Planning Process includes multiple levels of planning and assessment.
The Level I Plan, organized using six themes with Academic Distinction as the core, describes an ambitious destination for the University. Development of the Level I plan was designed to be inclusive as possible and involved many Georgia Southern University publics including students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, the GSU Foundation, GSU Boosters, and the Board of Regents. The Level I plan resulted from multiple revisions and rewrites as input was incorporated from all publics. The SPC was charged with the creation of this new strategic plan in the Fall of 1999 and the Level I plan was approved in the Spring of 2000. The plan was revised in 2004. All actions and activities on campus relate to one or more of the six strategic themes found in the Level I Plan.
The Level II Plan includes eight University Level Implementation Plans: academic, financial, facilities, enrollment management, human resources, marketing-communications, technology/information resources, and organization. These plans explain how the University as a whole will move toward the attainment of the ambitions/objectives identified in Level I. In 2004, a ninth plan, the Quality Enhancement Plan, was added to Level II. Each Level II Plan (with the exception of the Organization Plan) is organized using the six strategic themes from Level I. Also in 2004, responsibility for implementation and assessment of each individual Level II plan was assigned to a specific member of the President's Cabinet.
In the original conception, Level III plans were developed by every individual reporting unit on campus. Level III plans were unit specific action plans that incorporated the results of campus-wide program review and guided unit activities related to achieving the objectives outlines in Levels I and II. The SPC is currently reconceptualizing the planning process at this level in order to simplify the process and strengthen linkages to assessment. Among Academic Units, Colleges maintain Level III action plans. Among Support Units, Departments maintain Level III action plans. Tertiary units (Academic and Support) maintain Institutional Effectiveness Plans. Level III plans and Institutional Effectiveness Plans are organized using the six strategic themes from Level I.
Program Review
While Level II plans were originally in development, all reporting units on campus were involved in a self-review. Coordinated
and supervised by University Program Review Committees, the review process culminated in one of several recommendations for
each program including enhance, maintain, reduce, or eliminate. These recommendations were incorporated into the
original Level III action plans. Today, all units on campus undergo program review on a cycle determined by the Board of
Regents and/or the President's Cabinet.
Submitted on behalf of the SPC:
Trey Denton, Chair
Strategic Research and Analysis, P.O. Box 8126, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460
phone (912) 681-5218 or email Strategic Research and Analysis