Retreat Planning Outline
September 18, 1998

The University will examine these propositions in the current phase of long-range planning: science and technology; fine and performing arts; public service and outreach; and international activities.

   Advances in science and technologies result from investment of   intellectual and financial capital by colleges and universities.

  Our formulation of the liberal arts education, embodying all of the "useful sciences," makes the fine and performing arts central to all areas of the curriculum.

   Universities have unique obligations to discover knowledge and to transfer it to the communities they serve.

   Virginia’s and America’s range is global. The global perspective – in learning, in scholarship, in understanding – is as essential to today’s and tomorrow’s graduate as are critical thinking and technological competence.

The common need: to develop institutional capacity to direct change now and in the future.

Objectives

· Set 21st-century directions to assure excellence and innovation

· Make planning data-rich and accountable in support of a culture of continuous improvement

· Develop strategic priorities to discipline financial investments

Phase 1 – Set aspirations for achieving excellence

· Understand how the University compares to its peers in areas of strategic interest

  Fine and Performing Arts
  International Activities
  Public Service and Outreach
  Science and Technology

· Set multiple goals or directions that emphasize departmental and school actions

Phase 2 – Design a renewed University of Virginia

· Quantify opportunities, strengths, barriers, trends

  External (market) forces (trends in scholarship, funding opportunities)
  Internal organization and culture
  Curriculum
  Discipline-based and Interdisciplinary scholarship and research

· Plan future growth

Focus areas:
       Strategic priorities
       Size, scale, impact

· Test assumptions and validate conclusions

 Internal: faculty, students, administration, Board
  External: academic peers, alumni, potential financial backers,  business & industry, state & federal officials

Phase 3 – Publish and implement the plan

Prioritize and schedule
     Program enhancement
     Facilities
     Support operations
     Fundraising and resource allocation
     Regular revision of strategic plans, annual operating plans, and  accountability mechanisms

Presented by President John T. Casteen, III at the 1998 All-University Planning Retreat