Penn Staters invited to share feedback on draft Strategic Plan proposal

Faculty, staff, students and community members are highly encouraged to contribute their thoughts and perspectives on the draft institutional plan throughout the fall semester 

September 24, 2024

At-a-glance

• Preliminary proposals of the draft institutional plan are being presented for community review, with feedback being collected throughout the fall semester.

• All community members are strongly encouraged to provide feedback at strategicplan.psu.edu.  

• University leadership hopes to receive insights from every unit, college and campus through the website and in-person engagements.  

• Guidance and resources for unit-level planning will be shared later in the fall semester, with unit work expected to begin in the spring.  

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A draft proposal of Penn State's institutional strategic plan has been unveiled and shared with the community for feedback and discussion. All faculty, staff and students at all campuses are encouraged to visit the strategic plan website to review and provide feedback on the draft plans for four goal areas.

"I want to thank the many Penn Staters who have already contributed and shared their expertise throughout Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this process. As we move forward, I consider this community feedback phase to be the most pivotal part of strategic planning," said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. "If we are to be successful in developing a strategic plan that drives our Penn State community from great to greater, we need your perspectives." 

Over the summer, dedicated workgroups developed draft goals, objectives, metrics and strategies, which are now being shared after a preliminary review from the Board of Trustees.

"The draft aims to capture what we see as critical to moving the University closer to achieving our goals, but your voice and input as to whether we have identified the key factors are critical at this stage," said David R. Smith, associate dean for advising, executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies and member of the Phase 2 working group on student success. "Our actionable strategic plan needs to be validated by those in our community who do this work daily."  

To learn more about each goal area and to share feedback, visit:  

• Enhancing Student Success

• Growing (Inter)disciplinary Research Excellence

• Fostering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) 

• Increasing Land-Grant Impact

Each goal has a streamlined framework, including objectives (what we want to achieve), metrics (how we will measure success), and strategies (how we will move the needle, outlined in the community surveys). 

The draft plan is designed to focus on key areas to help galvanize the Penn State community and measure tangible impact. The institutional plan is not intended to be an exhaustive reflection on every priority; rather, the vision of this community-led plan is to determine achievable strides forward for the institution and be easily understood, adopted and actionable.

Additional goals

The "Transforming Health Care through Academic and Clinic Synergy" goal will follow a unique timeline and process led by Penn State Health and the College of Medicine. The community will be asked for feedback on this goal after a draft is completed.

In addition, each of the strategic plan goals will be supported by the "Transforming Internal Operations" goal and other University initiatives providing necessary infrastructure and support to achieve Penn State's objectives.

"Instead of pursuing its own trajectory, we will deeply embed 'Transforming Internal Operations' into each goal of the plan, and we will continue to make sure our operations are supportive and impactful in order to help bring our vision to life," said Michael Wade Smith, senior vice president and chief of staff.  

How to provide feedback

Before the feedback window closes later in the fall semester, University leadership encourages every unit, college and campus to provide their insights through the website and in-person engagements.  

To foster participation and leverage expertise of those across the University that is directly relevant to each of the plan's goal areas, the Office of Planning, Assessment and Institutional Research (OPAIR) will continue to lead targeted engagements, working sessions and gatherings throughout the fall. Units, groups and committees that would like to provide feedback during brainstorming discussions should contact [email protected] to schedule those engagements.

Community members who provide their perspectives through the website will be asked to share their association with the University (staff, faculty, student, alumni, etc.) and their unit. While not required, individuals are encouraged to share their names to enable OPAIR to follow up with any questions.  

"When we say, 'We are,' it is a phrase that elicits a sense of community. One way that our communities can build a sense of belonging is through a strong strategic plan," said Boni Fernandes Wozolek, director of inclusive excellence and associate professor of education at Penn State Abington and a member of the Phase 2 DEIB goal working group. "With this in mind, I hope that we receive strong, constructive feedback so that when we can include ideas captured from voices across the Penn State community." 

Once the feedback forms close, community members' feedback will be analyzed and used to revise the draft plan. University leadership expects to share the finalized institutional plan with the community by early spring.  

Phase 3: Unit-level planning

As the institutional planning process continues, guidance and resources for unit-level plans will be shared later this fall. Units will develop their individual plans, including strategies that support the institutionalgoals, objectives and metrics during the spring, with assistance from OPAIR.

"Our institutional plan will serve as the North Star for each unit, aligning all our efforts with key University priorities, while also empowering our individual communities to chart their own unique path to success," said Tracy Langkilde, interim executive vice president and provost. "Together, these efforts will not only fortify our University-wide plan, but also provide ambitious and actionable frameworks for each unit." 

As the strategic planning process takes shape throughout the fall semester and beyond, the Penn State community is encouraged to visit strategicplan.psu.edu regularly for updates and opportunities to engage.