Road Map to the Future- Steering Committee Minutes Nov. 30, 2021

November 30, 2021

2:00 – 3:30 pm

The fifth meeting of the steering committee for the Road Map to the Future was held virtually on November 30, 2021.

The Steering Committee members in attendance were: 

David Dufault-Hunter, Melissa Galvan, Jonathan Hay, Gigi McGuire, Elena Miranda, Vivian Morales, Mario Ontiveros, Kaitlyn Orozco, Yazmin Peebles, Amanda Quintero, Kiana Requena, Diane Stephens, Michael Tejax, Nate Thomas, Mary Beth Walker (Chair), Jason Wang

Absent: Crist Khachikian, Barrett Morris

Staff to Committee:  Hazel Kochocki, Bonnie Paller

       I.         Call to Order: 2:03 p.m.

     II.         Approval of Minutes of November 16, 2021 Meeting: approved

   III.         Welcome/Goals for Meeting (Walker)     

Today there is more time to engage in conversation. We will talk further about the engagement process, focusing on what we like and what we don’t like about the proposed process thus far. Members of the Steering Committee have indicated that they have been receiving opinions about the engagement process.

  IV.         What We are Doing/Not Doing (Walker)

We continue to struggle to articulate the Strategic Direction as well as the specific initiatives and objectives. In the end, we want to articulate the high-level directions and yet allow the specific initiatives to fall out and give meaning to those high-level directions.

 In looking at examples from various sources we see how Strategic Directions are different from but related to objectives. Strategic Directions should frame and clarify actions the university, and they shouldn’t be too generic. In the later strategic plan phase of implementation, relatively specific objectives will be aligned to the Strategic Directions. The strategic plan will serve to relate and align many objectives to the Strategic Directions.  Our work is focused on framing the broad Strategic Directions.

    V.         Refining the Engagement Process (Dufault-Hunter, Quintero, Stephens)

 Committee Responsibilities

Steering Committee Role: Design a two-part series to ensure broad community engagement on Road Map themes. Campus community engagement sessions will be hosted either in-person or virtual with options for other forms of engagement (i.e., online survey, input form, etc.), where appropriate. Road Map Steering Committee members will facilitate from two to four sub-committee sessions for their respective group/theme, depending on the number of team members assigned to facilitation. Committee members not comfortable with serving as facilitators of large and small group discussion can provide support in others ways (i.e., report writing, editing, organizing data collection, note taking, timekeeping, etc.).

Design, Engage, Synthesize

Design:

The committee needs to gather enough information from town halls and subgroups to provide meaningful feedback from stakeholders across the campus. There will be two phases. The first phase is intended to facilitate community engagement in order for the committee to gather information from as many people who want to engage in the process, so that no one is left out of providing input. The second phase of the process will communicate the finding back out to the relevant groups. The process is further described below.

Campus Community Engagement:

The campus community will be invited to engage with Road Map Steering Committee members using the facilitation format below.

A summary of the proposed two-part engagement process:

Session 1 – Will focus on framing the discussion (i.e., introducing the theme & defining the terminology) and collecting campus input using a series of focused questions to initiate discussion and invite discussion to include things we may be missing to accommodate emergent themes. Questions designed by the sub-group should include theme-specific questions and some universal questions. Work in the subgroup should focus on designing questions and activities which will shape the Strategic Directions.

Session 2 – Will focus on sharing what was heard, emerging themes (i.e., through all methods of campus engagement), and engaging participants in a range of discussion and activities to arrive at the highest order strategic directions for the campus (not a strategic plan). This session should be designed to share back a synthesis of what information was gathered in Session 1.

In addition to the two-part stakeholder engagement described above, additional sessions may be scheduled to accommodate campus community member interest. These sessions may require additional facilitation capacity and we are considering using an outside facilitator for additional sessions.

The two-part engagement process is detail:

Session 1

1. 1.     Introduction

• Introduce theme, Road Map Process, session facilitation, other opportunities for engagement

1. 2.     Framing

• What information is important for the committee to share at these forums? Are there any facts, information, data, or new terminology that we want to introduce to frame this discussion? Shall we define what we preliminarily mean by the theme (based on the Listening Tour) and provide the community the opportunity to expand and extend the discussion to include things we may be missing to accommodate emergent themes?

1. 3.     Guided Discussion Questions
   1. a.     Theme Specific Questions (Examples)

• § Focus on what we are doing well, not so well, where things need to change
  • What do we do well that we should do more of?  (Are there examples of areas where we excel that we can learn from?)
  • Where can we improve?
  • What needs to change and why?

1. 4.     Conclusion: Communicate next steps, timeline and other methods of engagement.

Session 2

1. 1.     Introduction

• Introduce theme, where we are in the Road Map Process, session facilitation, other opportunities for engagement

1. 2.     Framing

• Focus on what we are doing well, not so well, where things need to change, and sharing what we have heard and seeking feedback. What information is important for the committee to share at this point in process?

                                              i.     Sharing what we have heard and seeking feedback

1. This is what we heard
2. Is this what you meant?
3. What are we missing?
4. 3.     Guided Discussion Questions
   1. a.     Theme Specific Questions and activities designed to help participants understand how to provide input that informs and shapes campus strategic directions (or priorities)

1. 4.     Conclusion: Communicate next steps, timeline, and other methods of engagement.

Structure and Timeline for each sub-group. Items to consider when rolling this out to the campus. How many sessions do you need? How many session 1s? How many session 2s? During which months will you meet? Who might we need to include to enable the needed sessions? Some might be virtual; some might be in person. How many of each will your sub-group need?

Possible Structures and Timelines:

*Note: May need additional sessions in April with an external facilitator or other support

Each sub-group should come together to discuss what is manageable and reasonable. The conclusions may be different for each theme. Sub-groups come up with their own schedules.

Managing the numbers: If more sessions are needed, that desire can be managed.

Some method should be developed to allow invited participants to sign up for sessions. If there is a huge response, there might be ways to add more sessions.

Discussion about the engagement process ensued.

Additional items to consider: How will people running the meetings be trained so that they get the feedback desired? Sub-group sessions will need note-takers to keep track of all good ideas. Sub-group members need to think about the timing of discussions. Need to think about how we staff the meetings, so that input is not lost. Need to think about how to keep input on track. Need to acknowledge work completed and what yet needs to be accomplished. Need to develop methods and means for collecting important points. Sub-groups should identify additional engagement vehicles. Surveys, for example, might be used across sub-groups.

Sub-group questions need to bring out the difficult conversations., what the campus has accomplished, and what the campus hasn’t accomplished. For example, the role of research on our campus. How does the goal of research figure in our priorities? We need to allow input of a range of reasonable solutions. Consider the role and input of graduate students in discussing the role of research.

Continue to focus on the goal of a broad strategic direction. Participants might want to provide more input on specific objectives. Input on specific objectives can be collected and used to support broad directions; they may also be used for subsequent work on the campus strategic plan. We will find that there is a tension between being at the 10,000 foot level and specific initiatives. How do we as a committee focus on the higher level and mange expectations?

Synthesize Phase of the Road Map process: The Steering Committee should plan to come up with 3-5 Strategic Directions from an inclusive process which can be brought to a concluding town hall. After this phase, come May, implementation phase may begin.

Spring 2022 Goal: to begin shaping Strategic Directions

Spring 2022 Goal: engage as many voices as possible. This may require additional people be involved to assist subgroups. The need for additional support will be considered and refined at the Retreat.

  VI.         Upcoming Events (Walker) 

Retreat Planning: 16 votes for January 20. We will use the new conference space and organize training for facilitated engagement. An agenda for the retreat will be sent out. At the retreat sub-group meetings will focus on discussion questions, specific and general. We need to think about universal questions.

In addition, we will use the faculty retreat to provide an update to faculty on where we are in the Road Map process.

Status of Planned Town Halls: these are currently scheduled to occur next week for faculty and students and will communicate where we are in the Road Map process. They will be hosted by William Watkins on December 8, 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Invitations will be distributed broadly.

1. Takeaways/Action Items/Preparation for Next Meeting (Walker)       

Think about specific questions for your subgroup.                                                                                                                

1. Adjournment: 3:23 p.m.