PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

Strategic planning is a continuous process. To be effective, it must be ongoing and responsive to changing conditions both within and outside our institution, and it must involve all the components of the institution. Commitment and engagement by faculty, students, and staff are critical for establishment and maintenance of a sense of community of purpose. Academic planning is central to this vision, but instructional, research, and outreach programs cannot be sustained without appropriate attention to maintenance and upgrades of facilities, as well as to plans for enhancements in physical plant, student services, faculty, technical support, and staffing levels. Strategic planning involves continuous reconfiguration to keep our highest priorities in front of us; to respond to shifting local, state, national, and international responsibilities and opportunities presented to us; and to assert leadership in creating opportunities and possibilities with the resources at our disposal.

Implementation Strategies

Enhancing a sense of community and a renewed commitment to excellence will require augmented resources, an improved service orientation, and new initiatives in interdisciplinary and intercampus collaboration. Success in achieving these goals will require significant collective effort, as well as a commitment to one university. General principles for implementing our goals are briefly described below.
Enhanced Resources   Strategic plans submitted at every level, from the departments to the campus, note the importance of using existing resources more cost-effectively. They are also consistent in citing the need for restoration of resources as well as for additional resources. Support is needed for hiring faculty and staff, for research programs, for student financial assistance, equipment, innovative academic and social programs, and facilities. The university is committed to allocating resources to units in accordance with the priorities established in this document. Success in achieving these goals will require a commitment to one university.
    Making the case to the state for higher appropriations and making the case to the federal government and private foundations for enhanced support remain central to our strategy. The university has been successful in leveraging state appropriations to generate extramural federal and private funding. The high quality of our research programs and our significant impact on the economic and cultural life of the communities we serve strengthen our case for state resources.
    Outreach efforts to generate more support require appropriate staff commitment. We are now positioned to assume these responsibilities. An invigorated university public communication effort, a key component in this strategy, should yield significant improvement in Rutgers' visibility to the general public and to specific constituencies at the state, national, and international level.
    The Rutgers University Foundation will also play a pivotal role in generating new resources. Upon completion of the strategic plan and its associated communications analysis, the foundation will develop future fundraising efforts for meeting the university's goals. Since the last capital campaign, the foundation has been very successful with special purpose efforts, such as the universitywide Campaign for Community, Diversity, and Educational Excellence; the Campaign for Douglass College; and the Campaign for Undergraduate Biology Laboratories in New Brunswick. With the endorsement of the President's Cabinet and the Board of Governors, the Rutgers University Foundation plans to seek significantly more support through development of a new major capital campaign. This will involve a process of establishing priorities for private funding, developing the case for private support for the university, and formally launching the major fund-raising effort. The resources generated will be effectively leveraged to encourage other efforts in garnering public support, and additional grants and contracts.
Our collective aim is to make service orientation an integral part of the culture of the university. Enhanced Service Orientation   The university will continue to focus serious efforts at improving its services to students and faculty, and to the many external constituencies to whom it directs its programs. The QCI program has already made a significant contribution to these efforts by increasing our awareness of the importance of assessing the needs and concerns of our constituents, and subsequently, revising our procedures with a view toward providing more effective service. Our collective aim is to make service orientation an integral part of the culture of the university.
A New Perspective   The culture of the university embraces the values and ideals of the academic community and guides all of our actions. Strategic planning provides us the opportunity to reform and reshape this culture, to develop a renewed sense of community, and to acquire a new perspective about Rutgers. This new perspective will embody a strong commitment to excellence, a heightened sense of service, and a clear vision of where we want to go as one university. As a community, enlightened by this shared perspective, we will move forward with confidence to face the challenges that lie before us. Strategic planning provides us the opportunity to develop a renewed sense of community.