Our Strategic Planning Process
Our plan, Accelerating our Future 2025-2030 lays out a clear and actionable roadmap that aligns with our newly refreshed core mission, vision, and values, ensuring that SHP stays at the forefront of academic excellence, innovative research, and community service.
Our Guiding Process Principles
Inclusiveness*, Authenticity, Transparent, Balance, Adaptable, Commitment, Communication
*SHP employees, students, and partners
Our Building Blocks
Dean’s Updates
In Fall 2023, the School of Health Professions (SHP) embarked on a strategic planning journey guided by several key operating principles: full alignment with the recently released strategic plan for Rutgers Health, inclusiveness, transparency, adaptability, and speed to ensure the effort remained relevance in a rapidly evolving environment. The planning process was officially launched in January 2024 and completed by July 2024.
To foster broad community engagement while maintaining efficiency, a Delphi-informed survey approach was adopted. This iterative method included a series of surveys complemented by focus groups and town halls, resulting in the strategic plan titled “Accelerating Our Future”. This dynamic process adhered to our operating principles, met the timeline, and energized and aligned our community.
Foundational Work
Before launching the strategic planning process, foundational knowledge was established through:
- A comprehensive environmental scan.
- Data gathering and analysis.
- Review of outcomes from the previous strategic plan.
- Examination of the current Rutgers Health strategic plan.
These efforts were followed by the development of a planning structure, creation of surveys and planning tools, and formulation of a communication and engagement plan.
Committee Structure
Committees were streamlined to ensure efficiency while adhering to the core operating principles. Only essential committees were formed, which included:
- Steering Team
- Coordinating Team
- Benchmarking Team
- Survey Team
Existing teams were leveraged wherever possible, and ongoing meetings were utilized to save time and accelerate the process.
Delphi-Informed Survey Approach
Five core surveys were deployed in Spring 2024, each building on the previous one. Smaller pop-up surveys were used for clarification when needed. Each survey remained open for 10-14 days, and results were posted on the internal website within a week of closing. Participation rates ranged from 50% to 85%. The surveys achieved the following objectives:
Survey #1: Reviewed the SHP mission, vision, and values.
Survey #2: Confirmed the revised mission, vision, and values; defined strategic priorities.
Survey #3: Confirmed strategic priorities and outlined goals and objectives for each priority.
Survey #4: Validated priorities, goals, and objectives; identified high-impact actions to support SHP in achieving its goals.
Survey #5: Gathered student feedback on SHP strengths, areas for improvement, and suggested strategic focus for the next five years.
In-Person Meetings
Structured, semi-structured, and informal discussions were held throughout the planning process with all stakeholders. Forums included 1-on-1, small groups. focus groups, workshops, townhalls, faculty meetings, and coffee hours. All discussions were open to the entire SHP community.
These meetings served to:
- Identify key priority areas.
- Develop detailed goals, objectives, and action plans.
- Gather feedback on the planning process and make necessary adjustments.
Interactive Website
An interactive planning website was launched to promote interaction, inclusion, and transparency throughout the process. The website was able to support the following critical elements:
- House survey results and reports.
- Enable anonymous feedback submissions.
- Facilitate asynchronous conversations based on survey data.
- Display key dates and events.
- Provide video updates from the dean.
Final Reflection
This strategic planning process exemplified the values SHP aims to cultivate in its school culture and students. It enabled a comprehensive reflection on the past, insightful discussions about the future, and a clear pathway for sustainable growth and success in fulfilling SHP’s core mission.
The result is a unified and energized SHP community, ready to move forward with a shared vision under the strategic plan “Accelerating Our Future”.