Following two years of drafting and university-wide collaboration, the board of trustees will review and vote on the strategic plan at their closed-door meeting on Feb. 22.
According to Lisa Jasinski, the Association of Student Representatives reviewed the plans twice and was a topic of discussion for the national alumni board and student affairs. It was also presented along with the curriculum review at the town hall last December and discussed by department and interdisciplinary program chairs. This spring brings a new set of protocols for the plan’s review.
Right at the beginning of the semester, the day before classes started, we brought a revised version of the strategic plan to our Trinity Tomorrow committee,” Jasinski said. “They came up with some things that they wanted us to include, and we did another revision, and that will go to the board of trustees at their meeting.”
Currently, the board is being sent materials of the strategic plan and preparing for the formal meeting, which will dictate the future and possible enactment of the plan.
“What we would like from them is kind of a “˜thumbs up’ or a vote of support showing that we are going in the right direction. It’s more about just engaging them in the dialogue and making sure that we are using their advice, counsel and perspective,” Jasinski said. “I definitely would like to see us in a position where we could have an approved plan, budget and metrics by May.”
According to Lisa Baronio, vice president for alumni relations and development, one unique facet of the plan is its incorporation of alumni into the future goals of the university.
“We are going to be looking at result-oriented information: participation of alumni at our events, how that might lead to gifts for the university, the number of alumni that give back and things of that nature,” Baronio said. “[The role of alumni] is supporting the university, providing ideas, helping with leadership and directing students and potential enrollees back to the institution.”
As the board meeting approaches, questions of cost and budget have also arisen. According to Nancy S. Mills, professor of chemistry and Trinity Tomorrow committee co-chair, the results of the board meeting will play a heavy role in how the plan is budgeted and how its success is measured.
“Once they approve all or sections of the plan, there will be members of the administration who work on two things: estimating the cost of the different parts of the plan and also looking at what an appropriate assessment procedure would be for each of the parts,” Mills said.
Although the board’s approval would jump-start the strategic plan’s enactment, all of the changes would take years to implement
“None of these changes would impact the seniors, but the changes would probably be rolled out with an incoming first-year class,” Mills said. “Students now may see new classes created through a review if [the strategic plan] is approved, but their degrees would not be shaped by it.”
