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Shippensburg University 2021-2024
Strategic Planning Process

Click here to read the report. 

Vision 

Make our world better by inspiring and equipping students to make transformative contributions.

Mission

Driven by purpose and truly collaborative engagement, our inclusive educational institution fosters belonging, honors proven practices, and celebrates achievements for the betterment of our communities.

Strategic Goal 1

Attract and retain a diverse array of students, faculty and staff to a dynamic, purpose-driven learning community committed to supporting individual and collective success and regional stewardship.

Strategic Goal 2

Align resources across the campus to ensure access, accountability, and sustainability while supporting the university’s values and priorities.

Strategic Goal 3

Cultivate student, faculty, and staff engagement in dynamic educational experiences.

Strategic Goal 4

Foster belonging and collaboration across university constituencies (faculty, staff, students, alumni, and foundation leaders) to elevate Shippensburg University’s reputation and capacity to contribute.

President Patterson and the Strategic Planning Oversight Committee are pleased to announce a milestone has been reached.

Designed to foster student success, Shippensburg University’s Strategic Plan 2021-2024 is now active and being utilized as a guiding document. Its fundamental tenets, discerned by a collaborative process that involved stakeholders across the entire campus community and beyond, will be embodied in next steps that include learning sessions, facilitated workshops, and external socialization to catalyze engagement during this implementation phase.

Ongoing continuous review, led by the President’s Cabinet with input from the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, will result in tactical adjustments informed by performance data.

The plan is available for public review on the strategic plan website along with next steps and continues to be a breathing instrument designed for cyclical improvement. Its success depends on the participation of all members of the Ship Community. We invite you share feedback here.

 

Shippensburg is a student-centered university that takes a hands-on approach to supporting all members of the campus family.  This is evident in the personalized attention our students receive, the passion from our strong alumni network, and the positive impact we have in our town, state and region. Ship is committed to welcoming and supporting students, faculty and staff from many different backgrounds who contribute a diverse range of perspectives, abilities, talents and cultures to our vibrant teaching and learning community.  Our commitment to excellence, equity, and engagement continue to fuel the innovation demonstrated in our unique academic offerings and student/faculty engagements designed to inspire and equip our students to thrive in an ever-changing world.  It is from this position that we look to plan for Ship’s future.

The plan was developed in multiple phases. In Tier 1, four Insight Teams (each composed of administrators, faculty, staff, students, and trustees) reviewed the previous Strategic Plan as well as the 2018 Visioning Team report. Viewing these materials from the lens of our current context, they produced a Mission and Vision statement, along with University Values and, importantly, the Strategic Goals.

The initial draft of this document was widely shared across campus with internal stakeholders as well as an external advisory committee and the Council of Trustees, with feedback and input incorporated.

Tier 2 began with Vanguard Teams (similarly composed of individuals from multiple stakeholder groups) who discerned Objectives to support the Goals.

As a final stage before full implementation, Facilitated Workshops are being conducted to identify actions and Key Performance Indicators to assess our ongoing progress.

Facilitated Workshops

 

Strategic Planning Oversight Committee (SPOC) Chair

The planning process is guided by a Strategic Planning Oversight Committee (SPOC), which is led by the chair joined by a Dean, a Subject Matter Expert, eight co-chairs of Insight Teams drawn from across campus, Vanguard Group leaders, select members of the council of trustees, Dr. Tracy Schoolcraft, Niky Keeseman, Shelbie D'Annibale, as well as Dr. Eric Zeglen and Stefanie Elbel from Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness. The SPOC has been defined by the recognition of the culture of contributions that has long existed at Ship.

Neil Connelly 

Professor of English
Message From the
Chair

Ship’s current strategic plan is sunsetting this year, so together, we must plot a new course for our school’s future. The next Strategic Plan’s creation comes at a crucial time:  Among other challenges, the nation is simultaneously managing a pandemic and struggling to confront systemic injustice and promote equity.  Our academic world confronts serious questions about the role of technology, the impending drop in high school graduates, and the State System’s redesign. All this heightens the demand for a clear and decisive direction. This will emerge from a review of Ship’s existing strengths and priorities as a result of a carefully designed process that includes input and feedback from a host of stakeholders—students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, and community members.   

 

FAQs

Above all, a strategic plan improves our university’s capacity to serve students. It does this by engaging the talents of faculty, staff, and administrators by focusing on common goals with systems to check our progress, optimizing resources, recognizing the excellent work we do, and considering the very best ways to innovate and adapt. By creating opportunities to refine our goals towards a collective purpose, a good strategic plan makes us a better university.

The plan was developed in multiple phases. In Tier 1, four Insight Teams (each composed of administrators, faculty, staff, students, and trustees) reviewed the previous Strategic Plan as well as the 2018 Visioning Team report. Viewing these materials from the lens of our current context , they produced a Mission and Vision statement, along with University Values and, importantly, the Strategic Goals.

The initial draft of this document was widely shared across campus and beyond, with feedback and input incorporated.

Tier 2 began with Vanguard Teams (similarly composed of individuals from multiple stakeholder groups) who discerned Objectives to support the Goals.

As a final stage before full implementation, Facilitated Sessions are being conducted to identify actions and Key Performance Indicators to assess our ongoing progress.

Unifying the efforts of the university under a strategic plan will help make the university even better at supporting student success. The plan should help create a truly welcoming atmosphere for all learners, organize and deliver resources that make a difference to students, and promote educational experiences designed to be transformational.

All coaches and faculty work within units and divisions following focused plans aligned with the overall strategic plan. The key performance indicators that influence these focused plans should be developed in a way that allows for thoughtful innovation but also, importantly, recognizes successful current endeavors. The new plan presents an opportunity for reviewing best practices and updating approaches, enhancing ongoing efforts.

A well-executed strategic plan will lead to clearer priorities, fewer inefficiencies, more effective processes, and more productive communication throughout the campus.

Shippensburg University is proud to welcome students, faculty, staff, and members to our campus community. Our motto is “One Campus, Many Cultures”. We maintain a university culture that encourages participation and inclusion, thus allowing all to grow and learn from one another. To that end, we have made a concerted effort to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into our new strategic plan. You will find it woven throughout our goals and objectives.”

The Foundational Projects are critical and intentional endeavors with discrete end results that will facilitate the Strategic Plan’s smooth operation. The development of each will involve collaborative efforts and incorporate broad feedback:

Implement a comprehensive student information system (SIS); Re-envision the 2004 Distance Education Plan drawing upon input from students, faculty, and other stakeholders; ensure the Program Planning and Budget Process aligns resources with university values and strategic goals; align campus-wide plans to the University Strategic Plan to create an assessment architecture.

Implementation involves performance dashboards and reporting tools to track our progress and highlight the lessons we will learn over time to improve our actions to better achieve our goals.

“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”  

- Latin Proverb

Contact the Office of the President

Shippensburg University   1871 Old Main Drive   Shippensburg, PA 17257 Phone: 717-477-1301
Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.