Participating in Rutgers’ Strategic Planning

January 31, 2013

Members of the Rutgers Community:

As I announced in December, Rutgers is undertaking the creation of a new strategic plan to guide the university over the next 10 years. Your participation in the process will be vital to our success in developing an ambitious, inspiring, and achievable vision and strategy.

We have begun the first, information-gathering stage of strategic planning. So far, we have surveyed our governing boards and have had one-on-one conversations with some board members and with all the deans across the three campuses. We have also set up a dedicated website to gather input from the university community and update everyone on the process. The link to the website is http://universitystrategy.rutgers.edu.

We will be engaging the Rutgers community in a number of ways in the coming weeks and months.

Surveys: Surveys of deans, faculty, students, staff, and alumni will be sent by e-mail in the next couple of weeks. We will use the surveys to gain your personal input on a variety of issues and topics related to Rutgers' current status and future goals. When you receive your survey, please take the time to complete it thoughtfully but promptly. 

Departmental Discussions: I have asked that, during February, each academic department in all our schools and colleges conduct discussions to offer their own perspectives about the universitywide strategy; through the deans, I have provided a set of key questions to guide these discussions. All of these departmental responses, and syntheses prepared by the deans, will inform the development of our strategic plan.

Focus Groups: We have scheduled group discussions with student leadership, as well as with staff and faculty, in order to generate ideas, raise concerns, and contribute to the university's strategic vision. These meetings are taking place throughout the month of February.

Town Halls: Beginning in March, we will hold town halls on each campus, open to the entire community, to provide more pointed information on the status of the strategic plan and directly address some questions you may have. The first Town Hall will take place March 7 in Camden; more details on time and logistics will come soon.

Advisory Groups: We have begun to form advisory groups of deans, faculty, staff, and students. We will engage with these groups regularly in developing the strategic plan. You can see a list of the individuals who have been invited to serve on these advisory groups here.

Team Retreat: On March 6 we will hold a retreat with approximately 150-200 people invited, including deans, faculty, students, and staff members, to discuss in greater detail the university’s aspirations and begin to shape a strategy for the next 10 years. The discussion at the retreat will build on the ideas that we receive from you in the surveys, departmental discussions, one-on-one conversations, and focus and advisory groups, as well as via the website.

There will be many opportunities to provide your perspective on the strategy for the university. I have seen the passion that so many of you have for Rutgers, and so I have high expectations for strong participation from throughout our community. I urge you to take advantage of these opportunities to let us know what you think and what you hope for Rutgers’ future.

Sincerely,

Bob Barchi