150 Forward Strategic Plan Next Steps Now Available for Adoption  

The U of A’s 150 Forward strategic plan is now in its third phase, serving as a guide for colleges, schools and divisions to help collectively align strategies in support of advancing the university’s land-grant mission.

The updated draft of the plan, which now includes final goals and objectives (or key performance indicators) is available for review in the Strategic Planning Resources section of the 150 Forward Strategic Planning Process site.   

The plan includes three goals, subgoals and objectives (metrics) that the university will be tracking to help evaluate success. Deans and other campus leaders have been reviewing the university’s direction and are currently in the process of compiling samples of each unit’s strategies and tactics designed to support the pillars of the plan.   

“This is an exciting milestone in our strategic planning process as we begin to drill down into the unit-level strategies and activities that will advance the goals we have established together,” Chancellor Charles Robinson said. “I would like to thank everyone who has participated in the process dating back to last year. At the same time, we must also remember that strategic planning is ongoing. Our plans will require continued collaboration, calibration and evaluation moving forward.”   

As colleges, schools and units continue to develop strategies to support the plan, additional metrics may also be developed for individual units to track and report on in conjunction with the university’s broader metrics outlined in the plan.   

This next phase of the planning process will also include developing and activating central strategy to support the goals of the plan. A collective report will be created for a more global snapshot into how the institution is reflecting 150 Forward ideals.  

The strategic planning process began even before Robinson was selected as the university’s seventh chancellor on Nov. 16, 2022, when he began rallying the campus around three strategic priority areas – or pillars: student success, research excellence and employer of choice initiatives.  

 A planning group began designing a series of events to bring the entire campus community into the planning process and partnered with EAB, a higher education research firm, to provide best practices, tools and support to campus units.  

The events — including town hall discussions, unit and organization level listening sessions and discussions, workshops and goal-setting sessions — kicked off in February 2023 and have continued throughout the year, supporting the planning process from the initial stages of identifying goals to activating cross-campus working groups (listed below) that spent the summer developing and refining the metrics.  

150 Forward Working Groups 

*Indicates working group champion. 

Student Success

• Terry Martin*
• Jeremy Battjes
• Brandon Bayles
• Ann Bordelon
• Karen Boston
• Lyndsay Bradshaw
• Colleen Briney
• Tracy Deffebaugh
• Jesse Delaney
• Erica Estes
• Cale Fessler
• Trevor Francis
• Adrienne Gaines
• Patty Gamboa
• Matt Ganio
• Jim Gigantino
• Ron Gordon
• Gary Gunderman
• Bryan Hill
• Laura Jacobs
• Deb Korth
• Margaret Sova McCabe
• Suzanne McCray
• Cheryl Murphy
• Noah Pittman
• Charles Robinson
• Mark Rushing
• Felicia Saine
• Melinda Smith
• Wendy Stouffer
• Becky Todd
• Leslie Yingling

​Research Excellence

• Margaret Sova McCabe* 
• Andy Albertson 
• Brandon Bayles 
• Mike Bieker 
• Ann Bordelon 
• Kim Brown 
• Hugh Churchill 
• Bob Davis 
• Sandra Eksioglu 
• Alan Ellstrand 
• Cale Fessler 
• Jim Gigantino 
• Ethel Goodstein-Murphree 
• Ron Gordon 
• Gary Gunderman 
• Christa Hestekin 
• Michael Hevel 
• Laura Jacobs 
• Mike Malone 
• Terry Martin 
• Matt McGowan 
• David McNabb 
• Kim Needy 
• Charles Robinson 
• Mark Rushing 
• Don Ussery 
• Jill Wieber Lens 
• Hardin Young 

Employer of Choice

• Ann Bordelon*  
• Melinda Allen 
• Jeremy Battjes 
• Brandon Bayles 
• Paul Calleja 
• Roy Cordell 
• Eva Cordero 
• John Delery 
• Melissa Erwin 
• Cale Fessler 
• Justin Freeman 
• Jim Gigantino 
• Ron Gordon 
• Gary Gunderman 
• Kevin Hall 
• Michelle Hargis Wolfe 
• Rhonda Houser 
• Laura Jacobs 
• Donna Johnson 
• Terry Martin 
• Margaret McCabe 
• Lisa Milam 
• James Morrison 
• Tina Paul 
• Charles Robinson 
• Carol Rowser 
• Mark Rushing 
• Don Ussery 
• Danielle Williams 
• Logan Wilson 
• Anna Zajicek