Comments

Assege HaileMariam, Ken Baker and I invite the campus community to participate in the 2011 strategic planning process. We hope to have stimulating, productive discussions that will prepare us to educate the next generation of students and help us build a sustainable future for EIU. William Weber

First Session
Attendees self-selected a strategic theme to begin developing goals for each theme.  Each group presented the suggested goals to all participants.  Then, participants prioritized the suggested goals.

Attendees at a Table Whiteboard with Notes Barbara Burke writes on whiteboad

Second Session
Each group created detailed action plans for their two top-priority goals (including three steps toward implementing goals, resources needed, time frame, a person who is responsible for the successful completion and those who will assist, description of what success would look like, and potential hurdles); the action plans were presented to the whole group for constructive feedback. Finally, each group incorporated the feedback to refine the action plans and gave a report, see below, to the large group.

Academic Excellence | Marketing & Communication | Campus & Community Life | Financial Stability | Emerging Technologies | Global Competition & Changing Demographics

Marketing and Communication

  1. Develop a structure to enhance communication about marketing/branding (40 votes)
  2. Determine who we are (39 votes)
  3. Increase communication with alumni, donors and external audiences (26 votes)
  4. Identify ideal student profile (21 votes)
  5. Unify branding (7 votes)

Ranked Goal #1: Develop a structure to enhance communication about marketing/communication.

Steps/Timeline:

  1. Create a marketing action team /1st Quarter of 2012
  2. Create an online community of campus marketing advocates /June 2012
  3. Structure marketing activities for maximum efficiency

Champion:  Bob Martin

Who is involved:

  • Stacia Lynch
  • Kelly Miller
  • Christy Kilgore
  • Janice Hunt
  • Ryan Gibson
  • Vicki Woodard
  • AMA Student
  • Rich Moser
  • Mary Herrington Perry
  • Dwight Vaught
  • Mike Watts
  • Brenda Major
  • Marketing Faculty

Success:

  1. EIU community members can articulate EIU’s strengths
  2. Compliance of all university websites
  3. Increased enrollment

Hurdles:

  1. Change in campus culture (compliance)
  2. Resources and responsibilities across VP lines
  3. Financial / budget

Feedback Themes:

  1. Who decides who we are? Who we want to be?
  2. Like “centers of excellence” concept but defining it will be difficult
  3. Like the idea of an empowered action team for marketing
  4. Split between consistency and individuality

Ranked Goal #2: Determine who we are.

Steps/Timeline:

  1. Complete Noel –Levitz (Spring 2012)
  2. Align image to preferred student profile (Spring 2013)
  3. Identify and promote centers of excellence (Summer 2012)
  4. Complete follow-up external review (within 5 years)

Resources:  Survey results, funding for marketing campaign

Champion:  President Perry

Who is involved: President's Council

Success: Increase enrollment to align with desired student profile

Hurdles: Campus resistance/competing interests, funding, unrealistic expectations


The work created during the Goals Conference will serve as the foundation for our strategic plan, and the Strategic Planning Steering Committee will seek further input from the campus community develop and refine these ideas in the coming weeks. In accordance with the guidelines that President Perry established when we began the planning process, the new strategic plan will be presented to the Board of Trustees at its January 20, 2012 meeting.