BOARD ACTION
MnSCU Strategic Planning: Tentative Vision Statement and Strategic Themes
BACKGROUND
The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities held a retreat on August 20 and 21, 1996, to discuss the development of a system strategic plan, the 1997-99 biennium budget, and legislative goals for 1997.
As part of the strategic planning discussion, the board reviewed the results of market research conducted by the system and Minnesota economic and demographic data collected and analyzed during spring 1996 as a basis for the future development of MnSCU programs and services. The creation of this information base has been the first step in the MnSCU strategic planning process.
The strategic planning conversation focused on the development of a tentative vision statement and strategic themes for MnSCU that are to be used in the next stage of strategic plan development. This next step is a series of MnSCU Town Meetings to be held in twelve locations throughout Minnesota between September 21 and October 11, 1996. The tentative vision statement and strategic themes for MnSCU will be discussed at these meetings that are open to any interested Minnesotans. At the conclusion of the town meetings, staff will revise the vision statement and themes into a set of strategic goals and bring them to the board for action as part of the strategic plan approval process.
The tentative vision statement is:
- The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities will be widely recognized as the primary educational pathway by which the people of Minnesota achieve an enhanced quality of life and improved economic competitiveness. The system will also be known for focusing creativity and energy on meeting the educational needs of those it serves.
The tentative strategic themes are:
- Academic Accountability
- Ensuring that students, employers, and taxpayers are fully informed of the academic effectiveness of each MnSCU institution by regularly measuring student learning gains.
- Skills that Transfer
- Ensuring students' portability of skills through transfer built on confirmation of skill development rather than on acceptance of credit.
- Career Education
- Ensuring that students in career education programs provide students with the job-related, technological, and transferrable skills needed for a changing job market.
- Program Alignment
- Ensuring alignment of services to the state's needs defined by population, geography and the economy through ongoing review of program location and educational needs.
- Electronic Education
- Ensuring technology as a core element in MnSCU culture that penetrates every dimension of activity by integrating electronically-delivered and campus-based education.
Some of the means that will be used to achieve these goals include:
- maintaining a comprehensive information system for efficient system management and for informing system constituencies;
- aligning budget and finance policy to meet system goals;
- renewing, conserving, and energizing all MnSCU staff;
- establishing technology as a core element of MnSCU culture;
- preserving system assets; and
- moving toward competency-based certification of academic performance.
RECOMMENDATION
The Board of Trustees approves the tentative vision statement and strategic themes as part of the MnSCU strategic planning process to be discussed at the MnSCU Town Meetings during fall 1996.
Date of Implementation: September 18, 1996,
Date of Adoption: September 18, 1996,
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