THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

Strategic planning at Morton College is an integrated, systemic process involving all College stakeholders. In an effort to keep the Strategic Plan active, effective, and relevant, the Campus Culture Collaborative—comprised of faculty, staff, and administrators—will also periodically revise, update, and consolidate major goal areas of the plan in response to internal and external environmental factors impacting the strategic direction of the College. The Campus Culture Collaborative has primary oversight of the planning process.

The Board of Trustees, representing the community served by the College, holds an annual retreat with the president of the College to discuss major goals and priorities.

The ongoing strategic planning process is facilitated internally by the Campus Culture Collaborative. Operational and academic departments respectively develop Support Unit Assessment Plans (SUAP) and Academic Unit Assessment Plans based on the college-wide strategic plan and that link planning and assessment.

The operational planning process is completed in advance of the budget development cycle in the spring of each year and any new initiatives identified in the planning process requiring funding are considered during the budget development process.

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Per the 2018-2024 Strategic Plan and subsequent updates, it was recommended that Morton College evolve toward a more formal, sequenced, integrated planning process. While some systematic processes have been implemented, in order to document the process for compliance purposes, the College’s planning process should involve, in rough sequence, the following steps:

  1. Reviewing and updating the College’s Mission and Vision

  2. Incorporating important external factors and trends into the College’s planning process

  3. Obtaining input into the planning process from the key external constituencies it serves (high schools, four-year colleges, employers, community, etc.)

  4. Incorporating recommendations from HLC self-studies and subsequent actions into the Strategic Plan

  5. Improving the linkage and alignment of all components of the Strategic Plan with specific plans toward how they help achieve Morton College’s Mission, Goals, and Core Values

  6. Communicating with College constituencies about the Mission and Goals, Student Success, the theme of Student Completion, environmental threats and opportunities, and the Strategic Plan

  7. Conducting facilitated meetings with faculty, staff, and administrators to obtain their perspectives on key strategic issues

  8. Integrating widespread efforts on significant strategic initiatives already underway into the Strategic Plan (Completion Plan, Strategic Enrollment Management Plan, Strategic Plans for Initiatives, etc.)

  9. Defining the strategic outcomes, including processes and measurables that will be used to monitor progress

  10. Incorporating the implementation of specific Strategic Plan initiatives into the budgeting process

  11. Obtaining feedback on the draft from faculty and stakeholders

  12. Completing the Strategic Plan draft

  13. Obtaining approval of the Strategic Plan by the Board of Trustees

  14. Completing the annual goals, plans, and budgets within the framework of the Strategic Plan

  15. Updating the Strategic Plan quarterly with progress made toward outcomes

  16. Reviewing the updates and status of the Strategic Plan annually by the Board of Trustees