They say when one door closes, another opens. For Bradley, the door is opening to a new five-year strategic plan.
Bradley develops a strategic plan every five years to improve the quality of the university’s education and environment, and with the previous plan wrapping up at the end of 2017, a new plan is set to take its place.
Provost Walter Zakahi is the strategic planning chair for the next plan which will span the years 2018 through 2022. He said the goal for the next plan is to include the Bradley community in the planning process as much as possible.
“I would say that what’s important to me is that the community as a whole, that Bradley feels that they’ve had an opportunity to engage in the conversation about the strategic plan,” Zakahi said.
Student Body President Jenna Dellaria will be on the committee, and said even though being on the committee is “part of her duty,” she wanted to be involved and give her perspective as a student.
“I think the university is specifically for students and for their education and for opportunities for growth,” Dellaria said. “So I think students having a voice in the processes for the new strategic plan will not only benefit the students but the university as a whole.”
One of the goals the current plan accomplished, according to the university’s website, is the start of the Convergence Center and the change in Bradley’s core curriculum. Other accomplishments include the library’s renovations and increasing safety on campus by introducing resources like the safety cruiser in 2012.
The next strategic plan is in the works and will rely on the help of “department chairs, faculty, staff, trustees, students, alumni, employer advisory boards and others,” according to the university’s website. The university also hired Keeling and Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in planning assistance, who has visited campus twice.
“Currently, Student Senate has been a part of both of the visits that the strategic planning consultants have been involved in,” Dellaria said. “And we just give input on all of the areas that they have questions about; so concerns on campus, things we like about campus and how things are currently being run from the administrative side.”
Planning will begin with small meetings with the campus constituencies. An open forum, currently scheduled for February, will be held to give everyone the option to share their opinions on what should be done for Bradley.
The university is beginning the planning process for the 2018 to 2022 strategic plan and hopes to have a the core of the plan figured out by the end of this academic year.
