History of Recent Planning at NSU

Planning Process 1990-1999

Since its inception, NSU has engaged in extensive planning efforts. While planning at the university is a “living” process, responsive and adaptive to change, development of a formal, institution-wide planning document has been undertaken in regular annual or multi-year cycles. The university entered the 1990s guided by the Strategic Plan 1989-1994. Between 1990 and 1998, the following planning documents were developed as part of the living process of change that guided the university throughout this period:

Strategic Plan for the Nineties 1992-1997

Plan-to-Plan 1992-97

Strategic Plan for the Nineties 1993-98

Strategic Plan for the Nineties 1994-99

Master Plan November 1995

Strategic Plan for the Nineties 1995-2000

Master Plan September 1996

As reflected, both strategic planning and master planning documents were produced during this period. Emanating from and complementing the institution-wide planning endeavors were a variety of planning initiatives undertaken at the administrative and academic unit levels that addressed either functional components of the institution, such as facilities and technology, or addressed such cross-function themes as competition and overall quality. The master planning process complemented the strategic planning process, directing attention at planning within several broad contexts and three focal areas, the latter corresponding to the functional assignments of each of three then extant planning sub-committees. These addressed: facilities and space utilization, distance education/technology, and institutional advancement. In the mid-1990s, the strategic planning and master planning processes were integrated.

In 1993, 1994, and 1995, the university undertook assessments of the status of attainment of the Critical Success Factors listed in the Strategic Planning documents. These initiatives through this represent substantive efforts at assessing NSU’s effectiveness as an institution. Another major planning initiative undertaken during this period was an effort to determine optimal sizing for various NSU academic programs. A culminating report on this initiative, Focus on Optimal Sizing, was produced for the Board of Trustees in May 1995.

Strategic Planning Process 1999-2004

Following a year-long, university-wide, broadly participatory process of deliberation and refinement, the university produced the Strategic Plan 1999-2004. The Strategic Plan presents in priority order and describes in detail a set of 11 Strategies. The Strategic Planning process was operationalized through identified Goals, Strategies, and Critical Success Factors. A diverse set of 41 Strategy Implementation Projects (SIPs), associated with these components, were implemented, along with three Critical Initiatives, the later representing broad institutional themes of critical importance to the university.

The history of oversight and refinement of the Strategic Planning Process between initial implementation of the new plan in 1999, and the present is presented below, categorized by planning objectives, planning activities, and planning accomplishments. The strategic planning process following publication of the Strategic Plan 1999-2004, while centrally managed by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness under the direction of the University Planning Council and the President, was broadly participatory, engaging various constituencies from throughout the university community. Hallmarks of the process included an emphasis on a “living” planning process, ownership of core plan components, and accountability for actions undertaken in connection with plan implementation. Strategic planning components were evaluated and refined on a regular, on-going basis, culminating in identification by the Board of Trustees in May 2003, of a set of Essential Priorities, which provide direction for development of the Strategic Plan 2005.

The Strategic Planning process is tied integrally to several other institutional processes, including: the Capital Improvement Planning Process, the Performance Based Budgeting process; and the Institutional Effectiveness process. The Capital Improvement Planning process involves projections of enrollment, faculty, administrative staff, and space needs, as determined by the academic units, which then form the basis for space and other resource need projections by the administrative support units. In 2000 and 2002, the university published reports addressing the outcomes of this process. In a related endeavor, in 2002, the President undertook a planning and assessment initiative similar in focus to the optimal sizing initiative of 1995, noted above. An administrative team examined and evaluated future growth projections. This endeavor culminated in the publication of a document entitled, The President’s Assessment of Growth Projections for the Academic Units. The Performance Based Budgeting process facilitates integration of university planning with the budget.

Through the Institutional Effectiveness process, academic and administrative units are engaged in a multi-step process of evaluating unit effectiveness that involves establishment of unit goals, identification of measures to be applied in assessing goal accomplishment, application of those measures, analysis of results, and assessment of unit decisions that derive from results.

Phase 1: June 1999-September 2000: Assessment and Inventory

Objectives:

1. To assess where we are as an institution relative to the various areas under study

2. To assess the alignment between that progress and where we need to be

3. To identify gaps revealed through this process

4. To generate recommendations from this assessment

Activities:

• Production of the Implementation Plan for the Nova Southeastern University Strategic Plan 1999-2004
• Identification of faculty, administration, and/or staff “owner teams” for each Strategy Implementation Project (SIP) and Critical Initiative (CI)
• Establishment of SIP and CI owner team mandates and operational requirements
• Preliminary owner team review and recommendations to the President
• Establishment of owner team methodologies
• Process monitoring
• Final owner team reports and recommendations
• Review and rating of recommendations
• Presentation of SIP recommendations to the Board of Trustees Committee for Strategic Planning and Academics
• Presentation of SIP recommendations to the full Board of Trustees
• Completion of CI reports by each CI owner
• Publication of the Final Report to the Board of Trustees on Phase One Activities (FY 1999-2000) and Projected Phase Two Activities (FY 20002-2003) from the Implementation Plan for the Strategic Plan 1999-2004

Accomplishments:

• Completion of all activities for selected SIPs, and completion of assessments and plans for other SIPs
• Completion of CI assessments
• Completion of a three-year prioritization schedule for SIP implementation

Phase 2: October 2000-May 2003: Ongoing Implementation and Reassessment

Objectives:

• Ongoing implementation and completion of SIPS and CIs
• Ongoing reassessment of Strategic Planning components
• Preparation for the 2005 Strategic Plan

Activities:

• Identification of owners for SIPs prioritized for Phase 2, establishment of owner teams, and implementation of SIP planning activities
• Review of CI assessments
• Production of periodic SIP and CI status/progress reports
• On-going review of owner team reports and products by the University Planning Council, the President, and the Board of Trustees
• NSU Branding Initiative conducted in 2000, through which institutional values were assessed and an institutional brand was identified, culminating in production of the NSU Branding Initiative report and implementation of recommendations
• Reassessment of institutional Goals conducted during the 2001 Deans Retreat, culminating in production of the document, Report and Recommendations from the 2001 Deans Retreat: “A Reexamination of the Goals Established in NSU’s Strategic Plan 1999-2004"
• Production in May 2001 of the document, Report on Strategic Planning Phase 2, Year 1 Activities
• Production in July 2001 of the document, Plan for Demonstrating Goal Achievement Based on Recommendations from the 2001 Dean’s Retreat
• Completion by academic unit deans in August 2001 of annotated draft lists of demonstrators for each Goal statement for which their respective units were accountable
• Completion by academic unit deans between December 2001 and April 2002, of reports on projected methods to be used in documenting and reporting on the status of each applicable demonstrator previously identified
• Completion during Fall 2001, of preliminary enrollment projections by the academic units, culminating in production of the document, Enrollment Projections to 2006 as Prepared By the Academic Centers for the Capital Improvement Plan
• On-site unit assessments conducted by the President between February and March 2002, of academic unit growth projections, culminating in production of the document, The President’s Assessment of Growth Projections for the Academic Units
• Establishment of preliminary infrastructure for preparing for NSU’s reaffirmation in 2007, including assessments conducted by each academic unit of unit capacity to document demonstration of Goals, culminating in production of the document, Developing an Infrastructure for Reaffirmation of Regional Accreditation Under the New Principles of Accreditation 2002-2007
• Production in January 2002, of the document, Update Report on Strategy Implementation Projects from the Strategic Plan 1999-2004
• Focus on Presidential Priorities, assessments of institutional identity, unit and institutional goals, and other relevant strategic planning components at the 2003 University Retreat
• Identifiication of Essential Priorities by the Board of Trustees at the 2003 Board Retreat

Accomplishments:

• Completion of a SIP implementation plan
• Completion of CI assessments
• Identification of an NSU “brand” identity
• Maintenance of a “living” strategic planning process through ongoing reassessment of planning components
• Establishment of new, complementary planning processes, focused on the following:
  • Institutional identity and branding
  • Goal reassessment
  • Presidential priorities
  • Board of Trustees planning priorities
  • Establishment of a foundation upon which the Strategic Plan 2005 may be built