C A M P U S ty. Those are three big changes that occurred. We're looking for ideas and initiatives that are on the scale of those changes. That’s the kind of impact that we’re looking for, something that would be a signature event in the history of the university. HOW WILL IDEAS BE SELECTED? Urban: Working groups will assemble the ideas that have been generated into specifc initiatives. Those initiatives will be described and feshed out. …. At that point, “WHY NOW FOR STRATEGIC there will be an opportunity for people on campus to hear about PLANNING IS, IN PART, BECAUSE IT’S those proposed initiatives and give feedback. BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE HAVE HAD An advisory council and groups A STRATEGIC PLAN—2009. that are critical to particular ideas will work on trying to further de- IT’S A LONG TIME AGO IN THE LIFE velop them, so that we know what (resources) it would take, so that OF HIGHER EDUCATION.” we know not just, yeah, this is a great idea, but this is something —PROVOST NATHAN URBAN that will require a certain amount of space, a certain amount of money, a certain amount of commitment on the part of the university. Once we have that vetting process under way, we’ll be able to decide the work to pursue. Cook: One of the things that’s really important to this process is that we continuously help the campus understand that the plan that emerges is connected to the ideas that were developed, the ideas that were submitted. They are not necessarily going to sound exactly like whatever particular idea was submitted. It’s our job to articulate how the input led us to these larger, more aspirational concepts. Many of the tactics that are being identifed right noware going to be very important tomaking those big initiatives come to life. HOW CAN ALUMNI GET INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS? IS THERE A ROLE FOR THEM? Urban: Certainly there’s a role for alumni. As we develop these ideas and go further down the process, there will be opportunities for alumni to contribute and to make suggestions. More specifcally, we are interested in surveying alumni to ask what elements of the plan they feel most excited and energetic about, likely in the late winter or early spring timeframe when the strategic initiatives are taking shape. Cook: Joseph E. Buck, the vice president for Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) is working with us to identify opportunities where we can engage alumni when the topic is relevant to them. ... There are four members of DAR on our advisory council and in diferent roles throughout the structure of the planning process. That’s very intentional because they’re an important part of this community. PEOPLE HAVE ASKED, WHY NOW? HOW DO YOU RESPOND? Urban: Why now for strategic planning is, in part, because it’s been a while since we have had a strategic plan—2009. It’s a long time ago in the life of higher education. There have been a lot of changes, and there are currently a lot of changes that are occurring in higher education. A strategic planning process is something that allows us to look at those external forces and think carefully about what we need to do, what we can do to make sure that we are thriving in that environment of today, but also the environments that we project over the next fve to 10 years. Think about the pandemic and all the changes that happened in higher education because of the pandemic in terms of how it is that we teach, the fnancial stresses associated with a pandemic, both for institutions and also for families, but also (think about) the importance of education at this moment. … After the 2008 fnancial crisis, 98% of the jobs that were created were flled by people with some kind of college degree. That is just a testament to the importance of higher education in the world today; that is, having a degree is absolutely critical for so many career paths today, where it didn’t used to be. We need to be responsive, and we need to refect on some of those changes that have occurred in our country and in the world and make sure that we as a university are fulflling our mission and can fulfll our mission for the next decades. Cook: And I would add that, to position Lehigh competitively, we also want to clarify and build on our unique strengths. What makes Lehigh distinct in this very large pool of higher education? Having this important dialogue will allow us to surface those things that highlight our distinction.—Mary Ellen Alu Lehigh held four forums on the strategic planning process, meeting with faculty, staff and undergraduate and graduate students. FA L L 2 0 2 2 | 1 1
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