Strategic Planning Strategy Groups

The development of Our UMBC: A Strategic Plan for Advancing Excellence is founded upon a broadly inclusive process. Discussions about focus areas for planning began at the 2013 University Retreat and continued through a series of conversations with faculty, staff, students, and alumni in fall 2014 and again in spring 2015. Learn more about the Role of Focus Areas in Our Planning Process.

Based on this campus input, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee has identified four planning focus areas widely viewed as drivers of future success for UMBC:

Each focus area will be addressed in depth by a strategy group from March 2014 through April 2015. Strategy groups will be responsible for engaging campus and external stakeholders in this next stage of planning work.

In addition, a Foundations Work Group will develop recommendations to continue to build the strong foundations necessary for UMBC to grow and thrive. The work group will address people, resources, policies and procedures, facilities, IT, and environmental sustainability. Its work will include reviewing current status, identifying pain points, and proposing opportunities for improvement in these areas.

Senior advisors and consultants will also be available to work with individual strategy groups on more specific matters pertaining to foundational infrastructure.

Uniform Charges for All Groups

The uniform charges to all groups reflect the Guiding Principles for Planning established at the outset of the planning process by the President’s Council and shared governance leaders.

Consistent with our commitment to inclusion, strategy groups are charged to serve as agents of responsibility, and, in this role, are expected to align the group’s work with current and future interests of the campus community, the State, and the nation. Each strategy group is charged to:

  • Identify stakeholders in the focus area and analyze stakeholder interests and influence;
  • Incorporate information analysis into the process, including environmental scans and analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to the focus area;
  • Engage all stakeholders in interactive and continuous communications about the focus area and the strategy group’s work;
  • Define excellence as it relates to the focus area;
  • Align strategies with UMBC’s mission, vision, and values;
  • Align strategies with USM, State, and national priorities, as well as global opportunities;
  • Be forward-thinking and creative in developing strategies for UMBC in the focus area;
  • Identify infrastructure for successful and sustainable implementation of strategies for this area: people, resources, policies, procedures, technology, facilities, and campus commitment to environmental sustainability;
  • Identify opportunities for partnerships that can advance strategies in the focus area, drawing on campus, USM, and broader community assets and relationships;
  • Identify opportunities for external support in the focus area;
  • Consider potential impact of strategies on UMBC’s visibility and reputation.

Strategy Support Group

  • Information analysis support will be provided by the Office of Institutional Research, Analysis and Decision Support.
  • Campus community and stakeholder engagement support will be provided by the Office of Institutional Advancement.
  • Meeting scheduling support will be provided by the Division of Academic Affairs.
  • Each group will be matched with a volunteer recorder.

Strategy Group Deliverables

Strategy group work plan

Mid-point written report

  • Summary of stakeholder analysis
  • Stakeholder engagement plan
  • Environmental scan highlights
  • Proposed discussion questions for focus at University Retreat

Final recommendations

  • High-level summary of most important information analysis findings for the focus area
  • Concise narrative responding to uniform charge elements and research questions
  • Recommendations
    Strategic goals – bold, aspirational ideas that inspire the next level of success in focus area.
    Strategic objectives – means of achieving or moving toward strategic goals.
    Resources – realistic plan to address objectives.
    Practices and policies – organizational changes needed to address objectives.
    Metrics – specific performance targets and timelines providing measurable outcomes information