Goal Teams
Overview
In winter and spring of 2024, cross-functional teams of 12 to 13 people were charged with creating key performance indicator (KPI) and strategy recommendations for university priorities, or goals.
Goal teams were supported by a central data team.
KPIs and strategies for “Innovate for societal impact” are being developed by a goal team on an extended timeline.
Goal teams one, two, and three participated in nine weeks of facilitated, outcomes-driven conversations, plus between-meeting work, to arrive at the recommendations now being considered by university leadership to include in the university strategic plan.
Goal Team Planning Principles:
Goal teams followed a set of planning principles laid out in the charge document to guide their work:
- If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.
- Because campus-wide buy-in and ownership of our priorities is critical to our success, we will take into account the input gathered from the community in the fall term.
- We will balance the decentralized nature of the university with the need for centralized priorities and structures. For our institutional strategic priorities, school/college deans will be particularly important stakeholders.
- Our proposed tactics, strategies, and KPIs should be research informed.
- We will consider our current state as an institution, recognizing our challenges, and leveraging our existing strengths as a university when prioritizing strategies.
- Not only new ideas but also improvements to existing functions, structures, and processes are to be considered as valid strategies if they help us meet the assigned goal(s).
- We will listen and consider our unique units and perspectives but put the good of the institution first.
- Our proposed tactics, strategies, and KPIs will reflect our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and the public good.
Goal Team Planning Process:
All goal teams engaged in a process that included:
- the creation of broad, university level KPIs with guidance from data experts from across the university;
- review and integration of constituent input from the fall 2023 strategic engagement sessions;
- goal-specific presidential considerations; and
- the development of top strategy recommendations.
Goal teams 1, 2, and 3 additionally researched best practices, completed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges (SWOC) analysis, and a basic cost v. impact analysis to inform their strategy creation.
Recommended KPIs and strategies were presented to university leadership in spring of 2024 and are now being considered for adoption.