Goal: Share expectations for the next strategic plan and listen for ideas/feedback on the process and areas of focus.

Areas of Focus: Growth, Entrepreneurial Faculty, Endowment and Facilities

  • Smart growth/scale up programs. There was a lot of conversation not about whether we should grow, rather how we do it. Quality is important and having a solid base of financial support (budgets) to support the growth. We seem to cut too many corners as it is.
  • Diverse growth is important—having a balance of different programs and demographics. Nationally colleges have more women than men, but because of our programs in auto restoration we have more men than women—priority on recruiting women and/or programs that attract more women students.
  • What does residential mean to MC? This is an important discussion for the campus to have during the planning process. There was much discussion about whether we need most students to live on a dorm centric campus to have community. Also, how to continue the mentorship and learning that happens when upperclassman and underclassman live together.
  • We are proud of our recent insurgence of young alumni interest and giving—continue building the “Bulldog Pride.”
  • Facilities need to put a focus on a “face” for the college and provide more community spaces. Our space needs to focus on safety.
  • McPherson community members and alumni feedback is important in this process. Involving current students in the planning process is key.
  • How do we use our work with entrepreneurship to graduate globally minded students?
  • Can we scale our work in auto restoration to other departments—what can we learn from that program?
  • What are our traditions? Do we have any? Is that important to our community? Does this affect our identity?

Process:

  • It is hard to comprehend having a strategic planning process without a committee.
  • Connect with people’s passions and align their interests with the work in the planning process. Potentially create interest group teams vs. committees.
  • Get people out of their silos. Find a way for everyone to contribute and participate—diverse groups are important.
  • People like to contribute in different ways, so provide various opportunities for people to give feedback—larger meetings, smaller meetings, one-on-one, anonymous online feedback, email to supervisor.
  • Create an online interface/forum that provides a place to keep documentation of the planning work and a safe place to share ideas.
  • Ongoing communication throughout the process—work hard to engage the campus and communicate progress on the plan.
  • Give faculty and staff time to process and provide feedback on planning documents.
  • Involve the McPherson Community—they have to want us to grow. We need their help.
  • Strategic memo with progress and key performance indicator data annual makes sense.