Kennesaw State’s Strategic Planning Committee has issued a new plan from 2018 to 2023 to advance KSU’s performance and help with student success.
A planning committee “comprised of faculty, staff, students and external stakeholders” was named in September 2017 to develop this new strategic plan in accordance with University System of Georgia requirements, according to an email sent to faculty, staff and students on March 28.
The committee is in charge of developing themes, goals and strategies to “serve as a roadmap for Kennesaw State,” according to the email.
According to the strategic planning website, the past three strategic plans released by KSU have been “unachievable due to unforeseen circumstances; stock market crash of 2008/2009, consolidation announcement in 2013, and transitions in the President’s office.”
This new strategic plan has been built off of the guiding principle set by former president Sam Olens: “Student success is our number one priority.”
According to the website, the committee’s main goal will be to evaluate KSU’s mission and vision while looking at possible revisions in an attempt to answer the question, “what is KSU?”
Interim Dean of Continuing Education and Associate Professor of Management Timothy Blumentritt was at the forefront of a survey that asked faculty, staff and students to reflect on the themes, goals and strategies laid out by the committee.
Blumentritt said trying to answer “what is KSU?” opened up new conversations, which would lead to a non-satisfactory answer.
In asking staff and students, the committee found that most people could not give an answer to the question.
“Are teachers simply teachers, or are they researchers? Doesn’t KSU only serve North-Western Georgia? Not necessarily, because we have campus locations in other countries including Italy. Does KSU specialize in a single graduate degree? Absolutely not, we offer a wide range of graduate and undergraduate degrees,” Blumentritt said.
According to the website, the key assumptions for this new plan are:
- There is no “typical” KSU student, faculty, or staff.
- Every student is a potential success story.
- Funding from the State will remain flat (at best).
- Student debt is a real challenge/problem.
- Every KSU faculty and staff member is committed to the success of KSU and its students.
- [The university is] operating from a position of strength.
The strategic planning committee expects to deliver final documents outlining its plans and approaches by next month.
“KSU is big and huge but still growing up,” Blumentritt said.
More information about KSU’s strategic plan can be found at planning.kennesaw.edu.
