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STRATEGIC PLAN ADVISORY GROUPSUMMARY REPORT 2014
DESIGNING THE FUTURE
DESIGNING THE FUTURESTRATEGIC PLAN ADVISORY GROUP SUMMARY REPORT 2014
Introduction In May 2013, President G.P. “Bud” Peterson directed Provost Rafael L. Bras to lead the institutionalization of the Institute Strategic Plan following its release in August 2010 and initial implementation phase. For this, a small group of faculty, staff, and students was formed to assume some of the responsibility for continuing the initial momentum. The purpose of this Strategic Plan Advisory Group (SPAG) is to serve as a catalyst for the discussion of strategic issues; to provide counsel to Institute leadership on the align-ment, effectiveness, and impact of the Strategic Plan; and to develop approaches to best engage the Institute community in this effort. “We have made a great deal of progress toward the goals articulated in the original document,” Provost Bras said. “Yet the notion of what constitutes the ‘Technologi-cal Research University of the 21st Century’ continues to evolve. For example, four years ago very few were talking about massive open online education, but it is now one of the foremost topics in higher education. We are looking to this advisory group to help ensure that our aim is true.” The current members of the Strategic Plan Advisory Group are:
n Gisele Bennett, Director, Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory
n Michael Best, Associate Professor, International Affairs and Computing
n Daisy Bourassa, Graduate Student, Chemistry and Biochemistry
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Leading and decision-making
Recommending, advising, and tracking
Campus collaboration to enable and support priorities
SPAG Relationships and Role n Laura Margaret Burbach, Under graduate Student, Public Policy
n Kim Cobb, Associate Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
n Mark Demyanek, Assistant Vice President, Operations and Maintenance
n Jim Fortner, Associate Vice President, Financial Services
n David Frost, Professor, Civil and Environ mental Engineering
n Lisa Grovenstein, Assistant Vice President, Institute Communications
n George Riley, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Specific responsibilities for the group have included reviewing the Strategic Plan imple-mentation activities to date, identifying gaps, creating transparent processes and timelines for new initiative consideration, recom-mending resource needs, and communicat-ing progress to the campus community.
Strategic Plan EcosystemBased on discussions between SPAG members and campus leadership, as well as questions from members of the cam-pus community about the relationships between the Insti-tute’s Strategic Plan and unit-level planning, SPAG began to view this collective effort as the Georgia Tech Strategic Planning Ecosystem. The vision for this ecosystem is that while each entity may have its own plan to develop, it is the compatibility of these plans — and the manner in which they support, complement, and leverage one another — that produces a truly creative and innovative environment at Georgia Tech.
Reviewing the Plan Significant effort was devoted during the 2013-2014 academic year by SPAG members to a series of activi-ties aimed at developing a status update of the Strategic Plan as a whole as well as the accomplishments of various initiatives undertaken during the initial implementation period. This involved extensive review of documents as well as meetings between one or more SPAG members and campus leadership (deans, associate deans, vice presidents, and associate vice presidents) and initiative leadership (project leads, project co-leads, and project champions). The input received from all these individuals was particu-larly valuable in identifying what aspects of the Strategic
Executive Leadership Team
Strategic Plan Advisory Group
Community
Inputs Outputs
Developed with assistance from Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting
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Plan implementation were working well and what elements needed enhancement. SPAG made a number of core recommendations as a foundation for the path forward in November 2013. It was considered timely to review the high-level elements of the plan, even though it had been released in 2010. On the basis of this review, SPAG recommended that the original vision, mission, and goals remain unchanged. At the same time, a few changes were proposed to some of the origi-nal objectives to help clarify intent or reflect new areas of emphasis. To review the modified objectives, along with the reaffirmed vision, mission, and goals, see below.
Current Strategic Plan Initiative Synthesis During the initial Strategic Plan implementation phase (2010 - 2013), a range of initiatives was selected out of
more than 100 initiative proposals submitted to Institute leadership for consideration. Additional initiatives were identified in the ensuing years. As a result, during the initial three-year implementation period, some initiatives achieved most — if not all — of what was anticipated, while others achieved success to the degree that available resources permitted. One of the initial activities undertaken by SPAG was to conduct an inventory of all projects and ascertain which ones might reasonably be expected to form the core group of projects moving forward in the institutionalization phase of the Strategic Plan. For this, SPAG members reviewed available documentation and met with project leads/co-leads and champions as well as members of the Institute leadership (deans/associate deans/VPs/associate VPs) to solicit input on the status of all initiatives. In conducting the initiative inventory exercise, it became apparent that a number of important enhancements could be made in the institutionalization phase of the Strategic Plan in terms of the project portfolio. In particular, the project
STRATEGICVISION.GATECH.EDU
DESIGNING THE FUTUREGEORGIA TECH STRATEGIC PLAN
Cultivate mutually beneficial partnerships at international, national, and local levels
Leverage technology to enhance knowledge transfer and learning
Establish best business and administrative practices
Prepare our students for global leadership
Innovate to amplify social responsibility and economic impact
Inspire creative and entrepreneurial thinking
Pursue globally significant grand challenges
Explore the role that technology could play as it relates to law
Understand and influence connections between technology and policy
Preserve educational quality while increasing accessibility
Vision Goals Objectives
Mission
Be among the most highly respected technology focused learning institutions in the world
Sustain and enhance excellence in scholarship and research
Relentlessly pursue institutional effectiveness
Ensure innovation, entrepreneurship and public service are fundamental char-acteristics of our graduates
Expand our global footprint and influence to ensure that we are graduating good global citizens
Georgia Tech will define the technological research university of the 21st century. As a result, we will be leaders in influencing major technological, social, and policy decisions that address critical global challenges. “What does Georgia Tech think?” will be a common question in research, business, the media, and government.
Technological change is funda-mental to the advancement of the human condition. The Georgia Tech community — students, staff, faculty, and alumni — will realize our motto of “Progress and Service” through effectiveness and innovation in teaching and learning, our research advances, and entrepreneurship in all sec-tors of society. We will be leaders in improving the human condition in Georgia, the United States, and around the globe.
inventory review exercise revealed that natural variations in both the scale and required time of the projects led to chal-lenges in managing and supporting them. To this end, SPAG proposed that henceforth, both the existing portfolio of core projects as well as any new projects would be designated as a “program,” a “project,” or a “pilot” as a function of a number of factors. The advantage of implementing such a structure was not just to create three sub-groups of projects, but also to enhance communications between perhaps a new pilot or project and an existing project or program. Further, the attributes by which an initiative might be designated as a pro-gram, a project, or a pilot are summarized below, and include considerations ranging from effort level required, structure available to support, anticipated duration, likely investment levels needed, and potential benefits. The criteria associated with each attribute are intended as guidelines only and not as
rigid factors. Final assignment of existing projects as a pro-gram, project, or pilot for future investment will occur with involvement from the project leads/co-leads.
New Strategic Plan Process and TimelineGiven the importance of resource allocation to the success of many Strategic Plan projects, it was critically important that SPAG develop an annual process and timeline — linked to the Institute Budget Planning and Allocation cycle — for continuing and new Strategic Plan programs, projects, and pilots. At the same time, SPAG sought to develop a process that was efficient in terms of documentation and engaged
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DESIGNING THE FUTURESTRATEGIC PLAN ADVISORY GROUP SUMMARY REPORT 2014
Greater level of uncertainty
Larger team
May have number of projects and pilots linked to it
Collection of complementary and interdependent projects
Cohesive package of work
Longer duration (multi-year)
May be divided into phases
Working toward delivering outcomes
Result may be policy or cultural change
> $500K
Likely a combination of State, Institute, external sponsor, and development resources
Temporary
Have a business case
Aligned with strategic objectives
Deliver change
Well-defined
Smaller team
May have a pilot linked to it
Represents single effort
Team with common goal
Shorter duration (1 - 2 years)
Working toward achieving specific outputs
Benefits tend to be tangible
Between $25K - $500K
Likely a combination of Institute, external sponsor, and development resources
Temporary
Have a business case
Aligned with strategic objectives
Deliver change
Very well-defined
Individual or small team
Highly focused effort
Short duration (max. 1 year)
Proof of concept level outputs
Tangible benefit
< $25K
Likely a combination of unit and Institute resources
Temporary
Have a business case
Aligned with strategic objectives
Deliver change
Attributes of Programs, Projects, and Pilots
Structure
Programs Projects Pilots
Effort
Duration
Benefits
Likely Investment Levels
Common Attributes
adapted from projectmanager.com
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appropriate administrative levels. The new SPAG process is intended to encourage collaborative discussion involv-ing individuals or groups proposing ideas. SPAG will play a facilitation role and will work to create connections between new ideas and existing initiatives. SPAG will seek to provide access to at least three primary currencies for idea propos-ers: resources, connections, and visibility. In addition to the process and timeline, SPAG also sought to leverage existing institutional culture and procedures to help enhance the level of engagement embedded in the
Strategic Plan program/project/pilot selection and support process. For example, a new form called the Strategic Plan Commitment Form is modeled on the well-established Proposal Cost Share Form, currently used when faculty are submitting proposals to external funding agencies that require institutional matching funds. In a similar manner, it is expected that the Strategic Plan Commitment Form will catalyze communication between various levels of leader-ship as they determine individual and collective levels of interest and support.
STRATEGICVISION.GATECH.EDU
SPAG Process
PI Submit New Strategic Plan Proposal or Renewal
Strategic Plan Proposal + Annual Report for Program/Project/Pilot (Note 2)
SPAG Review New/Renewal Proposal + Report
SPAG FeedbackRevise
Revise
Advance/Renew
Advance/Renew
Forward to ELT with SPAG Assessment and Recommended Metrics (Note 3)
DSG Review for ELT
ELT Decision
Add as New or Continue as Strategic Plan Program/Project/Pilot (Note 4)
SPAG Monitor and Review
Notes:
1. Strategic Plan Program/Project/Pilot Online Idea Form
2. Strategic Plan Proposal Form including Strategic Plan Commitment Form
3. SPAG Evaluation and Recommended Metrics Form
4. SPAG Periodic Metrics Review Form
SPAG process is intended to be generic irrespective of whether idea proposers are interested in being engaged with Strategic Plan using any of the following currencies:
1. Resources
2. Connections
3. Visibility
Required
PI/Co-PI submit New Strategic Plan Idea for Program/Project/Pilot (Note 1)
Initial Meeting of PI/Co-PI and SPAG
SPAG Feedback
Optional But Recommended
Pursue Idea Outside Strategic Plan
or Graduate from Strategic Plan
Pursue Idea Outside Strategic Plan
or Graduate from Strategic Plan
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
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DESIGNING THE FUTURESTRATEGIC PLAN ADVISORY GROUP SUMMARY REPORT 2014
One of the ongoing activities of SPAG is to identify an approach to measure the impact of Strategic Plan goals, objectives, and initiatives. For assistance, SPAG has part-nered with the Strategic Consulting Group to conduct a series of charrettes, engaging a broader group of individuals who are routinely involved in both gathering and evaluating data to support institutional planning and decision-making
efforts. The intent is to identify a core set of metrics for Strategic Plan goals and objectives and then engage with existing programs, projects, and pilots leaders/co-leaders to discuss what metrics they consider appropriate for their initiatives. For future initiatives, identification of appropri-ate metrics/measures will be part of the concept proposal and evaluation process.
Evaluating Our Progress
Communications
Development
ELT
SPAG
PIs and Co-PIs
SPAG Annual Process Timeline — 2014 and Beyond
Development
SP New and Renewal New Idea Solicitation SP Stories and Updates
ELT New Idea Review & Decision
ELT Renewal Review & Decision
SPAG New Idea Interview, Review & Decision
SPAG Renewal Review & Decision
New Idea Intake
Report and/or Renewal
Request Intake
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The Innovation and Design CollaborativeUnder the leadership of Jim Budd (Industrial Design) and Bill Wepfer
(Mechanical Engineering), and with a combination of initial invest-
ments from Institute, College, and School resources as well as subse-
quent significant external philanthropy, the Innovation and Design
Collaborative (IDC) has gone from a concept exploring how to innova-
tively integrate interdisciplinary design experiences to a reality involv-
ing an engaged group of faculty, students, and staff. IDC incorporates
a range of elements in various stages of maturity including interdisci-
plinary curricula, a design resource inventory, an idea incubator, and
a communications portal. The IDC opened its doors in the East Wing
of the Library in fall 2013 with the appointment of Wayne Li as the
first James L. Oliver II Professor of the Practice in Design and Engi-
neering and first director of the IDC initiative. The IDC continues to
evolve as a vehicle to encourage and enable students to develop their
creativity and passion for design and innovation.
Interactive Product Design Lab
The Family-Friendly InitiativeTo help Georgia Tech continue to
grow, not just as a place to do great
research and teaching but also
as “a great place to work,” a task
force under the leadership of Scott
Morris (AVP/Human Resources)
and Archie Ervin (VP/Institute
Diversity) was charged with assess-
ing Tech’s environment, developing
an inventory of existing programs
supportive of family-centered activ-
ities, and identifying opportunities
for improvement. They identified
seven focus areas for future invest-
ment and enhancement. Specific
actions to advance these focus
areas were identified and are now
being pursued with support from a
variety of sources across campus.
STRATEGICVISION.GATECH.EDU
Examples of Implementation
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