Strategic Plan: Executive Summary

When I started at KU in March of 2023, I planned to engage in a full-fledged strategic planning process, since the College’s last plan was done in 2015. However, in my early visits with faculty and staff, a common theme emerged. The units wanted a long-term plan for direction, leadership, and consistency from the Dean’s Office. I soon realized that, in order to provide the kind of leadership and service our units expect, I first needed to engage in planning within my own area of responsibility.

Using the Jayhawks Rising framework—Student Success, Healthy & Vibrant Communities, and Research & Discovery—I asked every member of the Dean’s Office to identify areas where they could make the most impact, and what they are most passionate about. As a result, the Dean’s Office Strategic Alignment was developed over the fall 2023 semester and beginning of the spring 2024 semester. It is a forward-looking, meaningful, detailed, and action-oriented plan with clear accountability, metrics, and timelines. As we speak, it is being implemented.  

As I said in my State of the College remarks, “A year from now, my goal is to stand in front of you and report on the positive changes this plan has made in the College. Next year, after we are through with the HLC accreditation and Core34 implementation, together, we can decide which elements of the strategic alignment need to be directly implemented in the units. For now, our focus is on the Dean’s Office, to make sure we provide the necessary servant leadership to the College community at large. Still, many of these initiatives involve ongoing collaborations with departments and programs.”