Why do Strategic Planning?

As I'm eager to tell people, I am a first generation college student and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and more specifically CASL, transformed my entire life. But when I returned to the campus as a faculty member in 1999, CASL looked very much the same as it did when I graduated 15 years earlier. That has not changed much even today, in spite of the fact that the environment and constraints are changing rapidly and in dramatic ways. We have the ability to change and transform lives. That part of CASL has not changed. We must, however, figure out how to continue this work in ways that are smarter and more efficient and that jibe with the reality that we have fewer resources to work with and that we must at the same time attract new resources, students, and partners, and continue to grow and evolve in our ability to offer the best of what a CASL education can be.

At the same time, and maybe more importantly, strategic planning is an opportunity to bring the CASL community together. We are disconnected too often, we don’t know what’s going on in other parts of the College, and we miss the opportunities to witness and celebrate the amazing things our students, faculty and staff are doing.

You are speaking about this as well in your responses to the survey:

"I am not quite familiar what is going on in other departments. It could be a good idea for each department to introduce themselves and their goals/plans in a college wide meeting."

"Building community is a great idea! I think students over 25 having a harder time connecting to the college life. CASL feels like home to most of us, but older students need ways to make deeper connections to campus."

"I am interested in hearing about the staff experience. What are their expectations and how do they feel about change in their job classifications and job descriptions? This would be very important information to share."

"It’s important for all of us to come together so that we can pull together to make a CASL education all that it can be. We have the ability to change and transform lives. Let’s do it."

Join the conversation. The CASL Strategic Planning survey is open through Wednesday, December 3, 2014.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CASLCommSPSurveyB