UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Governance and Long-Range Planning approved a draft of the University’s strategic plan during a telephone conference call on Jan. 4.
The proposed 20-page plan, which will guide Penn State’s institutional direction from 2016 through 2020, will go to the full Board of Trustees for its concurrence at its Feb. 26 meeting in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
“This plans speaks to the mission, vision and values that have made Penn State a leading global institution,” said Nicholas Jones, executive vice president and provost. “We believe this strategic plan will serve as a roadmap to our success over the next few years.”
The two-and-a-half year effort to develop the strategy was led by the 32-member University Strategic Planning Council and involved 48 academic and administrative units from across Penn State.
Through the course of the process to identify and articulate the institution’s goals and priorities, input was sought from, and multiple drafts of the plan were shared with, University leadership and the Penn State community, including students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Jones discussed the plan’s vision and elements during a series of University-wide town hall meetings and in multiple forums in 2015. Online feedback was also sought from the Penn State community during the fall semester.
The proposed plan centers on five thematic priorities: transforming education; enhancing health; stewarding the planet’s resources; advancing the arts and humanities; and driving digital innovation.
Jones said these strategic areas of focus embody existing and emerging strengths and opportunities that were identified during the planning process, representing a breadth and depth of expertise and interest from across Penn State where the University can make a profound and measureable impact. Penn State’s forthcoming capital campaign is also being designed to mesh with and reinforce the strategic plan.
“This gives us a blueprint on how to move forward,” said Penn State President Eric Barron during the meeting. “This is a good vision for the University.”
Jones said, “We appreciate the board’s support of this planning effort and are excited to move to implementation, and ultimately to having the impact of which we know we are capable as we unleash the potential of this extraordinary institution. Now there is real work to be done.”
The proposed plan can be accessed online at http://www.psu.edu/trustees/pdf/Penn State Strategic Plan 2016-2020 - CoGLRP Review 01-04-16.pdf.