Strategic Plan Steering Committee

Long-range strategic planning is among the most important activities an institution can undertake. The current pace of change in the higher education environment necessitates dynamic and flexible near-range planning as well. Rather than starting from scratch, this process will include a close consideration of what we’ve already said is important as articulated in current unit and college strategic planning documents.

Purpose

The planning process includes setting the vision for Sam Houston State University for the coming decade and establishing cross-institutional priorities to support it. By examining our current state and identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as understanding the changing higher education landscape and overall environment (i.e., demographics, economics, infrastructure, stakeholder expectations, etc.), we can better position ourselves for the future. Through this process, we can identify three or four critical strategic priorities that will be our primary focus the next few years.

Phase I

Phase 1:

• With broad campus and external stakeholder input, review the University’s vision, mission and values and recommend updates as appropriate.
• Develop and recommend a strategic framework based on broad campus and external stakeholder engagement.

Phase II

Phase 2:

• Coordinate and provide leadership to working groups to identify and recommend key strategic goals and objectives which are bounded by key performance indicators.
• Recommend three to four enterprise-level strategic priorities to President White and the Cabinet.
• Make recommendations for implementation.

SPSC Updates

To view the current SPSC Updates click here.

Focus Questions

The committee, with broad input from stakeholders, should address the following questions:

Given the global disruption of the last couple of years...

1. How have needs and expectations of students, prospective students and parents changed?
2. What has changed in the workplace of companies and organizations that will hire our graduates? How have their expectations of our graduates changed?
3. How has our economy changed, and what are economic forecasts telling us?
4. How have needs and expectations of our faculty and staff changed?
5. How can we create an aspirational and meaningful shared institutional vision for the future?
6. How can we make Sam Houston State University distinctive? Or how can we better communicate ways we are distinctive?
7. How can we leverage our resources to establish cross institutional priorities, tactical level goals and strategies to meet them?
8. How can we integrate systematic strategic planning and implementation into University operations to meet future needs?
9. How should our strategic plan reflect the University’s becoming an official Hispanic Serving Institution in 2023?

Committee Members