by Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D.

After months of work and vetting within the broad Stetson University community, the university has emerged with a new Strategic Map that received unanimous approval at the Board of Trustees’ May meeting. Now that the 2014-2019 Strategic Map was endorsed as recommended, the President’s Cabinet will plan an implementation process to start this fall with metrics to track our success.

Our trustees were particularly impressed with the depth of the planning process, the boldness of our vision and the comprehensive, aspirational approach of our Strategic Map that will establish Stetson as the university of choice for innovative approaches to tackling complex challenges.

The approved Strategic Map is the culmination of an inclusive planning process that began in October with surveys, focus groups and open community discussions. Participants examined higher education trends as well as Stetson’s strengths and assessed the opportunities before us. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends gathered in DeLand, Gulfport and Celebration to discuss the University’s key priorities. Representatives met as a Vision Team and a Mapping Team, in November and March respectively, to set a course for Stetson’s future. All along the way, iterations of the Strategic Map and sketches of the Vision were vetted with members of the Stetson community, with feedback continuously improving the plan.

The Strategic Map is not a roadmap carved in stone – it is a dynamic plan that we will adjust as we go, shifting our focus to new priorities as we accomplish others and ensuring we stay on the critical path. As we breathe life into the Map, in the coming months we also will distill and sharpen the elements of our vision into a Vision Statement to guide our work.

Your participation and input have been critical in this process. Thank you for your devotion to Stetson, for sharing your perspective and experience and for contributing your voice to this significant planning effort that will move Stetson University ever forward.

Go Hatters!