Strategic Planning
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the beginning of what promises to be another exciting and productive
semester at UNH. This is a week of new beginnings—full of both challenges
and promise—for our nation and our University. I am writing to update
you on an initiative which is also full of challenges, but even more importantly,
full of promise: our Strategic Planning effort. This process is resuming
in earnest this month, after a semester of initial logistical work.
As I wrote to you earlier in the fall, colleagues from all corners of campus
came together both to serve on the steering
committee and
to participate in a series of roundtables. The roundtables produced a set of
nine broad themes. These represent areas of widespread interest for how the University
can build on its strengths and chart its future course. Nine working groups
are being convened—one to investigate each theme—and are being led
by co-chairs from within UNH and our external community of partners. You
may view the charges for the groups on the Strategic Planning Web site at www.unh.edu/strategicplanning. Here
you will also find the co-chairs and, in the next couple weeks, the full group
membership lists. These groups will meet intensively throughout February
and March.
Before the working groups convene, I urge your participation in an open
electronic community forum. Please take some time now to read the charges, think about what
interests you, and post your thoughts online through the links provided. I
expect this electronic forum will be illuminating for both the working group
members and all who participate, and count on a robust exchange of ideas to inform
the groups’ discussions. While comments can be posted throughout
the process, please know that your ideas will receive the benefit of a fuller
exploration and role in the groups’ deliberations if you submit them by
February 1st, near the beginning of their meeting schedules.
The working groups will meet throughout February and March, and they will update
the steering committee as their work progresses. Every two weeks, a brief
summary will be posted on the Strategic Planning Web site for all members of
the community to review. At the end of this period, a summary of all the
work to date will be posted on the Web site. Then, in early April, I will
host an open forum, at a campus location to be determined, to encourage conversation
and debate. In April and May, the steering committee will digest the comments
from the community and the reports of the working groups and produce an outline
of the three to five “big ideas” which this process will yield. Another
series of roundtables will be held in the late spring or early summer, and by
early June, I expect to have a draft strategic plan in hand for my review.
During the summer, I will lead the effort to communicate our draft plan not just
to our campus community, but to our alumni, partners in the academic, research,
and business communities, and other external constituents. Just as I count
on all of us to participate in the discussions leading up to the formation of
this draft plan, I hope I will have your support in sharing it with others as
well. After this period of sharing and refinement, I anticipate that our
plan will be finalized in September. I expect UNH’s mission will
be all the clearer and more viable for our collective efforts.
I understand that this strategic planning exercise has required and will continue
to require much hard work on the part of many people. I am grateful for
your willingness to give your time and expertise to this process. I hope
that everyone visits www.unh.edu/strategicplanning throughout
the process. Only through widespread participation will we be able to select
and embrace bold new initiatives that we can pursue together with enthusiasm.
Best regards,
Mark W. Huddleston
President