Strategic Plan

Update and Progress to Date

You may have been wondering what has been happening with our Strategic Plan since the State of the Organization address. Much action has taken place, but it has mostly been "behind the scenes." As noted in the Daily Journal this week, a new Strategic Plan 2021-24 document has been created and shared with the community. You can find it on the home page of theROCK under the Strategic Initiatives section. This document highlights several important aspects of our plan:

1. The collaborative process that was used to identify the eight initiatives approved by the SLT;
2. A description and purpose statement for each initiative along with the name of the Executive Sponsor;
3. An anticipated timeline for the upcoming three years.

Working with the Project Management Office, we plan to create and build out a space in Confluence that provides more frequent updates and progress indicators in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned for updates.

Grow Theme Initiatives

In addition to the overall plan, I'd like to draw your attention to the three initiatives under the Grow Theme, which fall under Academic Affairs. The initiatives are listed here along with their Project Lead:

• Academic Programs - Cheryl Norman
• Global Online - Dale Lemke
• Unifying Modalities - Jessa Nelson

Each of these initiatives will impact the trajectory of Academic Affairs, other support offices, and the program offerings available to students in the future. Along with the individuals listed above, each initiative will have a Core Team with faculty and staff representation to move these initiatives forward. As you can see in the Strategic Plan document, the goal is to have these teams identified and engaging with their initiative and projects in the weeks ahead. More information will be shared at next Tuesday's faculty meeting. 

Professional Development

We know that teaching in a Hybrid classroom can be really challenging. Here are a few tips you might want to try the next time you have students remotely attending.

1. "When calling on students, strive for a balance that is roughly proportionate to the percentage of remote students."
2. Make use of the hand raising and/or chat tools in Zoom.
3. For breakout rooms, try mixing in person and remote students by having students share a laptop to bring the remote students into the group discussion.
4. If possible, encourage remote students to keep their microphones turned on, so they can participate spontaneously with their laughter and interactions during the class time. You may want to refer to Tip #2 for questions.

For more insights and tips, check out Making the Most of the Hybrid Classroom (from HBP). Don't forget, you can also access other on-demand professional development and training resources to help meet your needs.

Continue to Share Your Feedback 

I have greatly appreciated reading your comments and feedback over the past months. Please continue to share any thoughts, comments, or questions through this anonymous form (feel free to include your name if you'd like). I read every submission that comes through this form. Thank you, Colleagues, for sharing what is on your hearts and minds.