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Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan- New Version 3.1

As we add new hires and grow new programs in the face of ongoing state and federal budget challenges, it is essential that we know where we are going and why. Once it is in place, our new plan will guide planning and budget decisions.

This plan will affect everyone in SFOS. Anyone can contribute. I hope that everyone will contribute -- staff, students and faculty.

Please contact me if you are able to participate. David Christie dchristie@guru.uaf.edu or 907-474-7836.

UPDATE, October 4, 2008: Moving to Phase 3.

Phase 2 ended with meetings in Juneau and Kodiak.
The results of those and earlier discussions are now distilled into a dozen pages or so: StratPlan 3.0

Phases 1 & 2 are essentially complete, subject to your edits and to faculty approval at the all-faculty meeting October 11.

This version of the plan is divided into three Phases, reflecting the order in which we discussed different aspects of the plan. This division will eventually disappear from the document. Your edits and comments are welcome. Please email as tracked changes in a word doc with your name as part of the filename.
mailto:dchristie@guru.uaf.edu

Phase 3, will move from the ideal to reality -- what we are actually going to do to implement our plan?   That discussion will begin at the  all-faculty meeting Oct 11-12.
There will be opportunities for students and staff not at that meeting to contribute as well -- please let me know if you would like to (continue to) contribute.

At the all-faculty meeting we will have a 2-hour discussion period on Saturday morning.  
I would like to use this period for:
1. A quick discussion of the plan so far and, hopefully, your endorsement .
2. Select 5-6 (?) key discussion items related to implementation
At least some of this discussion will take place in small groups.
I will circulate a document with some suggestions for what these these discussion items might be.  Your suggestions will be welcome.

Also at the meeting will be an open discussion on Saturday afternoon, and a discussion on "working collaboratively across SFOS boundaries", led by Paula Cullenberg, on Sunday morning.

Notes from Phase 2 meetings for reference (most recent first):

Kodiak notes
Kodiak Agenda
Juneau notes
May 22, 2008 StratPlan mtg. notes
Phase2 - Initial Handout


Downloads and Links:

Most relevant links:
UAF Vision 2017 (pfd)
UAF Strategic plan website
SNRAS Strategic plan (pdf)
Collins J and Porras J.  Building your company’s vision.  Harvard Business Rev., Sep-Oct, 1996., 65-77.

Other links:
SFOS Strategic Plan 2004 (pdf)
SeaGrant Strategic Plan 2004 – 2010
SeaGrant Implementation Plan 2006 - 2008
UAF Strategic Plan
Ocean Sciences at the New Millennium
Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States for the Next Decade (pdf) Short version (pdf)
Strategic Plan Introduction (ppt)

Product:
The core of the SFOS Strategic Plan will be a short document, comparable to UAF’s Strategic Plan. It will be supplemented as needed by action plans and recommendations.

We will develop the plan in three Phases:

(For a clearer understanding of the terminology, see Collins J and Porras J 1996.)

Phase 1:
((Meetings completed in January. An unedited compilation of all the original meeting notes is available HERE.)
Phase 1 Progress Report is included in the Progress Report (pdf).

Mission Statement (and slogan)

Core Purpose:  states our fundamental reason for existence.

Core Values: our guiding principles.

Phase 2:
(First meeting, May 22;  meetings will continue through the summer as groups are available.)
Phase 2 text containing some suggested Goals and Actions solely for the purpose of initiating discussion is included in the Progress Report (pdf).

Vision: where we want to be in 5 yrs/10 yrs

Goals: we will focus on the visionary (as opposed to functional) goals consistent with the core values and purposes.

Actions: for each goal, we will define the actions needed to achieve the goal.

Phase 3:
Prior to and during the fall all-SFOS meeting we will:
Review Phases 1 and 2 for consistency.
If necessary, develop and consolidate a set of Appendices that outline in more detail important action plans, priorities and recommendations.

GROUND RULES:

Our purpose is to design and begin to implement the path to SFOS 2017 – the institution that our current and incoming faculty will build to greatness over the next decade.

Our SFOS plan must be:

Our SFOS plan must recognize and build on our present strengths:

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The model outlined above is based on the following article:
Collins J and Porras J. Building your company’s vision. Harvard Business Rev., Sep-Oct, 1996., 65-77.

While this article is focused on business, and many of the examples might raise an academic eyebrow or two, the underlying ideas seem simple and doable. It emphasizes the need to “look within” to find the core ideology (expressed as core values and core purpose) that motivates our school.

Core Values are fundamental and enduring – they should not change with the vagaries of funding, politics etc.

UAF’s core values are:

While all of these would apply to SFOS, they seem a bit too bland. Our values need to be more focused.

At the other end of the spectrum are the core values of Philip Morris:

Core Purpose is our reason for being – it can never be fully realized, so it can never stop stimulating change and progress. 
Wal-Mart’s core purpose is “to give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people”. Definitely some room for progress there...
Closer to home, the GI’s motto “turning observations into information – from the center of the earth to the center of the sun” is an elegant statement of core purpose.

Audacious Goals are optimistic, long-term objectives that grow out of the core values. They provide the basis for visionary (as opposed to tactical or strategic) planning. For example, Sony’s goal in the 1950’s was to “become the company most known for changing the worldwide poor-quality image of Japanese products”.

For SFOS, we might set a goal such as “to become Alaska’s (and the world’s) premier go-to source for information about the marine environment...” Such a goal would be augmented by subsidiary goals, by defined priorities and by recommend actions.

UAF’s strategic plan, sets out six “pathways”, each of which has a set of doable subsidiary goals. But no priorities – For SFOS if we do not define priorities “from below” through this process, our priorities will be defined from above by the Dean and Directors, or (worse), by default by university, state and federal actions.

For further information, contact: Dave Christie dchristie@guru.uaf.edu or 907-474-7836.