'150 Forward' Strategic Planning Process Continues

Russell Cothren

The next town hall will be March 17 and will focus on enhancing the university's status as an employer of choice and provide an update on goals and objectives during Chancellor Robinson's April 20 investiture ceremony.

The U of A's "150 Forward" strategic planning process made significant progress as it entered its second phase in February.  

After spending 10 weeks designing the process, analyzing data and identifying strategic priority areas, university leaders brought the campus community into the planning process as they worked to set goals and quantifiable objectives for the next several years.  

February saw two town halls intended to update students, faculty and staff on the strategic planning process and garner feedback on how best to pursue two of the university's strategic priorities: achieving research excellence and advancing student success. The third strategic priority — enhancing the university's status as an employer of choice — will be the focus of a March 17 town hall. The town hall will be from 9-10:30 a.m. at the School of Law, E.J. Ball Courtroom and available via stream.

"I'm thrilled with the thoughtful questions and suggestions we received for each of the first two town halls," said Chancellor Charles Robinson. "People are passionate about our university and want to see it reach even greater heights. The feedback we received will inform goals and objectives that will take us to those greater heights." 

February also saw the first two in a series of workshops involving EAB, a higher education research firm that is supporting the strategic planning process. The workshops covered best practices when developing an employee value proposition — a key step in enhancing the university's status as an employer of choice — and best practices for achieving research excellence.  

"It is great to involve faculty, staff and students regarding the campus strategic planning process as well as work with EAB on crafting our plan," said Provost Terry Martin. "EAB works with hundreds of schools, so they are constantly involved in strategic planning at one university or another. They bring invaluable insight into what has worked elsewhere."  

March and April will see several events intended to further advance the strategic planning process, including the March 17 town hall on enhancing the university's status as an employer of choice and an update on goals and objectives during Chancellor Robinson's April 20 investiture ceremony.  

The strategic planning process will enter its third and final phase in May, when colleges, schools and campus units will begin developing strategies and tactics for achieving our goals and meeting our data-based objectives. The third phase will continue into the fall semester.  

Learn more about the process, including how to participate in upcoming events, by visiting the 150 Forward strategic planning page on the chancellor's website. 

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.