Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why aren’t there initiatives in the Strategic Plan for current Sustainable Educational Business Units (SEBUs) like IE or DE?
A: The Strategic Plan is designed to identify new audiences and modality-agnostic programming. New initiatives should expand our footprint in the realization of our mission. The Tools for Planning and Strategic Implementation help us identify whether an initiative fits in an existing or new SEBU according to what will best accommodate the audience’s uniqueness. Each SEBU will manage a plan to support the important efforts already in operation. Current SEBUs will continue to be properly funded and supported.
Q: Where do I go if I have an idea for an established Sustainable Educational Business Units (SEBU), like IE or DE?
A: Each SEBU will manage a process to obtain new ideas to better serve existing audiences so as to ensure improvement and continued success of current SEBUs. Please share ideas with the head of the SEBU during designated requests for feedback.
Q: If the strategic plan is flexible, are the mission, vision, and core values flexible as well?
A: No – those elements are reconsidered every so often (approximately 5 years), and serve as a framework for the Strategic Plan. Goals are less flexible; changes to the Goals require Presidential approval and Board endorsement. The Objectives and Initiatives are iterative and final adoptions are made by Senior Staff.
Q: What is the difference between the Strategic Plan and the Tools for Planning and Strategic Implementation?
A: The Strategic Plan is the foundational document that provides an overview of iterative planning, guiding principles, mission, vision, values, and the three integrated goals. As Objectives and Initiatives are added and retired from the Plan, this document will be updated.
The Tools for Planning and Strategic Plan Implementation are designed to help facilitate planning, decision-making, and prioritization, as well as guide development, management, and assessment of the plan. Think of the Tools as our playbook for implementing the Strategic Plan.
Q: How do I get an idea into the Strategic Plan?
A: Ideas for new audiences will typically be proposed to Senior Staff, who will evaluate the proposals using the Strategy Screen. Initiatives that get the green light will be added to the Strategic Plan for implementation and will be assigned a project lead responsible for building action items and other plans. To date, there have been opportunities to suggest ideas through multiple venues: engagement stations, surveys, unit planning meetings, and open door workshops. If you have an idea for a new audience that Unity can serve, have a conversation with your supervisor about whether or not to recommend the idea for proposal to Senior Staff.
Q: If we are iterating all the time, how do we know when the Strategic Plan is complete?
A: Individual Objectives and Initiatives will have timelines for implementation, assessment, KPIs (key performance indicators), and measures of success. In 2025, the University will conduct a full evaluation of the iterative strategic planning process and the three Goals to determine whether to continue or change course.
Q: What scale of initiative rises to the Strategic Plan level, vs. getting done/explored somewhere else?
A: The decision-making paradigm of the Strategic Plan prioritizes the element of audience. Initiatives must reach a new or significantly expand a current audience. Ideas that can be implemented using existing resources or self-fund through revenue from existing audiences will be explored in an existing SEBU as part of normal operations, versus as a strategic initiative.
