Strategic plan lives on during self-study timeline

As the campus begins to undertake a multifaceted reaccreditation process culminating in 2009, strategic priorities will continue to guide decision-making, administrators say.

Provost Patrick Farrell says there are no plans to retire the current priorities, which were first identified in a 2001 Campus Strategic Plan following a 1999 self-study. Instead, he says, strategic plan point people and deans from each school and college have taken an interim step, looking at progress thus far, updating the priorities and noting special Areas of Focus for 2007-09.

“The campus has demonstrated buy-in to our current strategic plan,” says Farrell. “Each school and college has developed its own strategic goals, yet has aligned with the overall campus priorities. We have cause to celebrate when an organization as large as UW–Madison can identify and embrace overarching themes, yet foster flexibility for individual units.

“The interim plan we’ve developed allows this alignment to continue, yet brings to the forefront goals that need special attention as higher-education challenges evolve.”

As outlined in “Areas of Focus, 2007-09,” these goals are wide-ranging — from strengthening the Wisconsin Idea for the citizens of the state, to developing facilities that support interdisciplinary research, to developing global competence among students, to recruiting and retaining faculty and staff.

Chancellor John D. Wiley regards this approach to campus strategic priorities as the best of both worlds — keeping current priorities in play while also investing creative energy during the self-study.