UMW Campus Community,
Thank you to everyone across the UMW community who provided thoughtful feedback on the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) draft shared earlier this semester. We received comments from individuals and shared governance groups, including SGA, UFC, and USC, and used that input to meaningfully strengthen the plan. The next draft is now ready for campus community input.
We reworked the high-level narrative and enhanced the action items across all four priority areas. In particular, we added new action items focused on energy infrastructure/sustainability, as well as digital and physical accessibility, which are areas that emerged clearly and consistently in the feedback. We also made a more intentional effort to highlight the many things that UMW is already doing well and initiatives that are already underway, so that this important work is captured and carried forward as part of the plan. It is particularly helpful to see how many of these actions are already reflected in existing budget plans, alongside those that would require new investment.
To deepen the work, we expanded the group of authors, bringing in additional faculty and staff leaders to contribute their expertise. This resulted in a rich set of ideas, along with a spreadsheet of the required resources to implement them. Each of the 24 action items is now accompanied by a SMART-goal-based implementation plan and a draft budget.
These two documents represent two different informational approaches to consider the whole and parts of the Strategic Action Plan:
- Revised Narrative Strategic Action Plan with links to the new Action Item plans
- Summary Strategic Action Plan Spreadsheet including budgetary implications of each Action Item, and recognition of Action Item plan authors
We recommend starting with the Narrative Strategic Action Plan to get a sense of the whole, diving further into those Action Item plans that most interest you, while using the Summary Spreadsheet as a handy overarching reference and reminder of projected costs.
Now, we ask for a second round of your feedback, as we must streamline the approach from the volume of ideas and associated costs. Please review the documents and complete the feedback form by May 15 to share your feedback. For access to the documents and forms — please refer to your April 24 email for the links.
We especially ask you to consider which of the unfunded initiatives should be a priority. Please consider what items are most important for broadening UMW’s appeal, advancing the University, and improving student success, from recruitment and retention through graduation and life after Mary Wash. We recognize that we cannot do everything at once, so we must narrow these options. We appreciate the wealth of ideas generated through this work, and even those pieces of action items that don’t make it into the final plan will be part of a bank of good ideas going forward.
We also appreciate your continued engagement and your help as we work together to align our resources with the priorities that will best position the University of Mary Washington for the future.
On behalf of the steering committee,
Chief of Staff and Vice President of Strategy Jeff McClurken & Provost Tim O’Donnell, co-chairs
Leave a Reply