Our Planning Process

The institutional planning initiative that resulted in SUNY Oswego's 2014 strategic planTomorrow began the previous year when President Stanley assembled the Strategic Planning Advisory Board. Its 41 members and staff comprised representatives of all segments of the college community, including six students, as well as representatives of the Oswego County community.

From fall 2013 to early 2014, the board reviewed the college's success and progress under the previous, sesquicentennial planning document and analyzed changes internal and external to the institution that had bearing on the college's purpose and direction. Our planning team reaffirmed the college's commitment to the established mission and vision statements and agreed to carry them forward into the next plan.

Board members engaged in thoughtful dialogue and careful analysis of the college's recognized and unrecognized opportunities and strengths and shaped their findings into nine themes representative of broad goals. The themes embraced the strategic directions from the previous strategic plan — Vitality, Intellectual Rigor, Engagement, World Awareness and Solutions — and added 21st Century Learning, Teaching and Living; Data-Directed, Mission-Driven Insights; Opportunities in New Research, Revenue and Partnerships; and Greater Impact Upon the Community.  

We shared and discussed these preliminary themes in 21 focus groups that involved more than 250 students, faculty, staff, community and external  partners, alumni, College Council members and Oswego College Foundation board members.

At the conclusion of the focus groups in early spring 2014, members of the Strategic Planning Advisory Board and the college's Priorities and Planning Council reviewed input from the focus groups along with current and historical institutional data to integrate and refine the themes into five new strategic directions for the 2014 plan. We devoted the following months to drafting, collecting feedback online and in person, and revising the draft plan to arrive atTomorrow.

This plan raises our sights as never before from the daily duties of teaching and learning to our college's profound relevance to the wider community and the greater good. Starting in 2015, this plan will serve as a guide for every unit of the institution to comprehend and take charge of the college's power to improve the world. It delineates metrics to assess progress on the strategic directions we have set forth and to give evidence of SUNY Oswego's enduring value, our purpose and promise to the future. We believe Tomorrow will be instrumental in advancing the institution from a healthy and well-regarded comprehensive college to a model for higher education nationally and internationally.