Bit by Bit, Piece by Piece: A Look at How the Strategic Plan Has Progressed
Wabash students and faculty have gone about their business as usual over the last month, not worrying too much about the first Chapel Talk of the year given by President Patrick White in all likelihood. Behind the scenes, however, there has been a flurry of activity, as the Strategic Plan is beginning to take form in its various committees.
Although the plan lined out by President White was not detailed at the time, the details are being worked on within the individual committees. These committees were formed to create a plan based on the answers to the four questions that President White proposed: “Who will be the men of Wabash in the future?”; “What will be the character of Wabash as a liberal arts college for men?”; “What will be the character of Wabash as a community of men and women teaching and learning together, living as a community?”; and, “What will be the role of Wabash College and Wabash men in the larger world?” Each question is being approached by a different committee of members, each one spearheaded by a member of the President’s Staff. Among these chairpersons are: Dean Klein, Dean Phillips, Dean Bambrey, Dean Emmick. These chairpersons have been working within their various committees over the last month to gather the information necessary to present to the trustees at their meeting in May 2008.
In e-mail questionnaires with each of the committee chairs, the response seemed to be unanimous in that each committee was going very smoothly and even though it will take a lot of hard work, everyone is committed to getting the plan out as soon as possible and involving the community and students in the process.
Dean Emmick, chair of the “Role of Wabash and Wabash men in the larger world” committee said, “Our committee is in what I call the discovery stage—what do we know about our alumni now? What more do we want to know? What have we accomplished from past strategic plans that might inform our work? What is the gap between where we are now and where we want to go?”
This kind of work awaits each committee is to take a broad subject and narrow it down to how it will best apply to the Strategic Plan. There is a bit of apprehension, however, about trying to complete such monumental tasks in such a short period of time.
“The timetable is going to press us. We’re going to be tested,” according to Dean Phillips. This timetable is approximately nine months from the time it was announced in August to the May 2008 Trustee meeting. Nine months may seem like a long time, but when you are dealing with something as big as the future plans of the College, it’s nothing to be taken lightly. President White noted this in his Chapel Talk in August: “This [timetable] is somewhat ambitious, but all advise as doable…I have seen strategic planning processes languish over several years without much impact or satisfaction. Better to have the work concentrated, get to an articulation of a plan, and move it to fulfillment.”
As President White pointed out in the Chapel Talk, Wabash is stronger than ever. The number of applicants and enrolled students and endowment are very high.
Dean Phillips said the process is “Always about getting stronger and doing it better. Be brave enough to admit we aren’t getting it right. Not being afraid to look at our weaknesses.” And at a college that boasts an endowment that makes other schools jealous and whose applications and enrollment are at record highs, it is hard to be critical of how things are going. But the future is what is at stake here, and the future is not guaranteed in any sense.
Involvement of students in the planning seems to be one of the biggest themes that is touched on whenever the plan is brought up. Currently, none of the committees have met with students directly, but each chairperson made it clear that student input is going to be vital. In the first wide-ranging engagement of students in the process, Dean Klein, chairperson of the “Who will be the men of Wabash of the future?” committee recently sent out a survey to students through e-mail asking for their input on qualities of Wabash men.
It should also be noted that currently, the President’s Student Advisory Council is working directly with President White, and the individual committees are charged with including the Wabash community in their discussions as they progress.
Over the next few months, we should be seeing and hearing a lot about the planning process and how it is shaping up. Take interest in this process, learn about it and get involved, because this will not only affect you, but the future of Wabash. So take a simple survey or participate in an interview, because students wanted to have input, and it’s important not to let the opportunity slip away.
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