Institutional Three-Year Strategic Plan...
Transcript of Institutional Three-Year Strategic Plan...
Institutional Three-Year Strategic Plan
2017-2019
Version 01
-Office of Strategic Planning-
Last Update: August 21, 2016
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University of the People
225 S. Lake Ave., Suite 300
Pasadena, CA 91101
Tel. +1 626 264 8880
www.uopeople.edu
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Contents
UoPeople’s Strategic Planning Approach ......................................................................................... 5
Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Scope ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Benefit ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Leadership ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Process and Stages ........................................................................................................................ 6
Vision, Mission and Values ............................................................................................................... 8
UoPeople’s Vision ......................................................................................................................... 8
UoPeople’s Mission ....................................................................................................................... 8
UoPeople’s Values ........................................................................................................................ 8
Opportunity ............................................................................................................................... 8
Community ................................................................................................................................ 8
Integrity ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Quality ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Institutional Strategic Goals– High Level Overview ........................................................................ 10
Attract and retain students ......................................................................................................... 10
Promote academic excellence .................................................................................................... 11
Expand Institutional Capacity ..................................................................................................... 11
Increase Job Preparedness and Opportunities for Students ...................................................... 11
Implementation .............................................................................................................................. 12
Attract and Retain Students ........................................................................................................ 12
Objective 1.1: Strengthen global student recruiting capabilities, including advanced digital
marketing support .................................................................................................................. 12
Objective 1.2: Evaluate, fine-tune and implement new admission pathway......................... 13
Objective 1.3: Develop additional channels and programs to recruit students, including
Transfer Credit ........................................................................................................................ 14
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Objective 1.4: Develop the Program Advising function .......................................................... 15
Objective 1.5: Expand availability of scholarships .................................................................. 16
Promote academic excellence .................................................................................................... 17
Objective 2.1: Invest in faculty skills and development ......................................................... 17
Objective 2.2: Evaluate and implement innovative instructional strategies ......................... 18
Objective 2.3: Strengthen academic programs ...................................................................... 19
Expand Institutional Capacity ..................................................................................................... 20
Objective 3.1: Develop and implement formal, streamlined and automated procedures for all
key institutional departments ................................................................................................ 20
Objective 3.2: Develop staffing adequate for scaling up, and ensuring effective management
capacity ................................................................................................................................... 21
Objective 3.3: Accelerate technology implementation to improve efficiency and reduce
manual work ........................................................................................................................... 22
Objective 3.4 Reduce operational risk .................................................................................... 23
Increase Job Preparedness and Opportunities for Students ...................................................... 24
Objective 4.1: Develop Career Services framework ............................................................... 24
Objective 4.2: Introduce new curricula opportunities in areas of high demand ................... 25
Objective 4.3: Develop an alumni network ............................................................................ 26
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UOPEOPLE’S STRATEGIC PLANNING APPROACH
RATIONALE Strategic planning is a management tool for improving institutional performance by aligning
internal personnel and departmental goals with key institutional goals. The practice of strategic
planning brings the entire institution together to function as a single organization, and forms a
bridge between where an institution is currently and where it hopes to be in the future. Strategic
planning differs from traditional planning in that it is a process that actively brings about change
through internal and external analysis; by balancing past, current and speculative conditions; by
seeking broad input from all levels of the institution; and by re-evaluating conditions on a regular
basis. The process is able to guarantee this not only by identifying goals, but also by laying out a
concrete plan of action to achieve them.
SCOPE The strategic planning process addresses key focual areas of the entire institution for the 2017-
2019 period. These focual areas have a potentially significant impact on the level in which the
university accomplishes its mission, and require concentrated efforts from the institution as a
whole, including human and financial resources.
BENEFIT The strategic planning process benefits the institution by creating structured processes that
create efficient collaboration among relevant stakeholders to optimize the identification and
agreement upon priorities and strategic themes. It also ensures the higher focus of the
institution’s limited resources on those activities which actively contribute to accomplishing
UoPeople’s mission.
LEADERSHIP The Vice President of Strategic Planning
The VP of Strategic Planning ensures the operation of the entire Strategic Planning Cycle. The VP
of Strategic Planning works closely with the institutional leadership to set a clear long-term
vision, which provides the context within which they will determine their own appropriate plans
of action.
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THE INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE
The Institutional Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by UoPeople’s VP of Strategic Planning, is
responsible for reviewing the Strategic Plan progress reports on an annual basis and directing any
required changes and corrective actions. The Strategic Planning Committee members include
theuniversity’s VP of Strategic Planning, the Provost, the Vice Provost, the CFO, the Senior VP of
Operations, the Senior VP of Enrollment, and UoPeople’s Advisor for Online Learning.
PROCESS AND STAGES The strategic planning process involves assessing internal and external environments;
determining the best response to conditions described through the analysis; identifying
assumptions about future conditions; identifying critical issues that must be addressed;
reaffirming the institution's vision, mission and values, and aligning goals accordingly; developing
action plans to implement goals and strategic indicators to monitor progress; and finally,
communicating the plan to all stakeholders and the public.
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The strategic planning process includes five phases, as described in the table below:
Step Key Activities
Step 1: Current State Analysis
A study of baseline information
Collection of supporting data (wherever necessary)
SWOT analysis
Review of UoPeople's Mission, Vision, Goals and Values
and Business Plan
Step 2: Future State Analysis
Analysis of gaps between current state with Vision,
Mission, Goals, Values and Business Plan
Step 3: Determining Strategic
Themes and Appropriate
Strategies
Based on output of Step 2, mapping of issues that may
have a strategic impact over the ability of the institution
to execute its plans
Determining priorities and agreeing upon a set of goals
to be addressed
Step 4: Implementation and
Deployment
Breaking down the strategic themes into specific
objectives, resources and timelines forming a structured
institutional work plan
Identifying strategic indicators to monitor progress
Integration and harmonization of the Strategic Plan with
the Business Plan
Communicating the strategic work plan to the
organization
Step 5: Monitoring and
Evaluation
Annual reporting of key performance indicators
Review of progress by the Institutional Strategic
Planning Committee
Annual action planning based on progress
Updating of the plan, asnecessary
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VISION, MISSION AND VALUES
UOPEOPLE’S VISION The University of the People (UoPeople) believes that access to higher education is a key
ingredient in the promotion of world peace and global economic development. The university
views higher education as a basic right, and believes that it can both transform the lives of
individuals and be an important force for societal change. UoPeople believes that education plays
a fundamental role in strengthening respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well
as in promoting understanding and tolerance.
UOPEOPLE’S MISSION The mission of UoPeople is to offer affordable, quality, online, degree-granting educational
programs to any qualified student worldwide.
UOPEOPLE’S VALUES
Opportunity
UoPeople is based on the belief that education at a minimal cost is a basic right for all qualified
applicants, not just for a privileged few. The university works to open the gates of higher
education to qualified students anywhere in the world by offering its programs through distance
learning and by making this opportunity affordable.
Community
UoPeople creates a global community by making its academic programs, educational services,
and employment opportunities available to qualified individuals from all over the world, and by
providing learning opportunities that engage students and faculty from diverse backgrounds.
Integrity
UoPeople grounds its institutional culture in candor, transparency and best professional
practices, and expects all students, faculty, staff, and administrators to uphold the highest
standards of personal integrity, honesty and responsibility. Additionally, the university expects its
students to take responsibility for their education, and to pursue their studies diligently and with
seriousness of purpose.
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Quality
UoPeople provides a high-quality, online liberal arts education suitable in scope and depth to the
challenges of the 21st century. The university assesses and evaluates all aspects of its academic
model on an ongoing basis.
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INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIC GOALS– HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW
Through an extensive self-study, UoPeople has identified four strategic goals for the institution in
this planning cycle:
Goal 1: Attract and retain students
Goal 2: Promote academic excellence
Goal 3: Expand institutional capacity
Goal 4: Increase job preparedness and opportunities for students
ATTRACT AND RETAIN STUDENTS UoPeople aims to create a real impact; inorder toto achieve this, to the university must attract an
increasing number of students and ensure a high level of retention.
The following table describes UoPeople’s projected number of students for the coming years:
Academic Year Number of students
2017 9,500
2018 22,000
2019 47,000
Key objectives for AY2017 - AY2019 to achieve this strategic goal include:
Strengthening global student recruiting capabilities, including advanced digital marketing
support
Evaluating, fine-tune and implement a new admissions pathway
Developing additional channels and programs to recruit students, including transfer credit
recognition
Developing the Program Advising function
Expanding availability of scholarships
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PROMOTE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE UoPeople recognizes that academic excellence is fundamental to the university’s success in
accomplishing of its mission and fulfilling its vision. Key objectives for AY2017 - AY2019 include:
Investing in faculty skills and development
Evaluating and implement innovative instructional strategies
Strengthening academic programs
EXPAND INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY Expanding the university’s institutional capacity is essential to enable the expected student body
growth. Key objectives to support this goal for AY2017 - AY2019 include:
Developing and implement formal, streamlined and automated procedures for all key
institutional departments including – Program Advising, Student Services, Instructor
recruitment and administration, HR, Finance, and others.
Developing staffing adequate for scaling up, and ensuring effective management capacity
Accelerating technology implementation to improve efficiency and reduce manual work
Reducing operational risk
INCREASE JOB PREPAREDNESS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS Increasing job preparedness and opportunities for students is the forth strategic goal of the
university for the coming years. UoPeople is not only committed to a quality education, but to
preparing its graduates to manage their careers successfully. Key objectives to support this goal
for AY2017 through AY2019 include:
Developing a Career Services framework, including a training program, mentorship and
internship programs, and job sharing network
Introducing new curricula opportunities in areas of high demand
Developing an alumni network
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IMPLEMENTATION
ATTRACT AND RETAIN STUDENTS
Objective 1.1: Strengthen global student recruiting capabilities, including advanced
digital marketing support
Background
According to the current business plan, UoPeople’s expected annual growth for the years AY2017
- AY2019 is approximatly 100%.
To meet this target, UoPeople set the goal of strengthening its global recruiting capabilities, as
one of its top priorities for the coming years.
Strengths Focus Areas
Strong digital presence, including 1.17
million Facebook followers and 3.2 million
views of UoPeople's President’s Ted Talk
Well-established marketing department
An engaged volunteer network and student
body, committed to helping the university
to grow, through spreading UoPeople’s
message, and becoming ambassadors of its
mission and vision
Assess and implement new, innovative
online marketing approaches and tools
Expand the marketing function capacity and
capabilities of the university
Leverage the current volunteer network
and student body, particularly in developing
countries
Find new ways to enhance the word-of-
mounth marketing, including on-ground
collaborations
Key Milestones
Update the Institutional Marketing and Student Recruitment Plans, which will set the strategy
and approach to meet the university’s growth targets over the coming years (by mid-AY2017).
Meeting the university’s Student Recruitment targets, as set in the Business Plan for AY2017 -
AY2019.
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Objective 1.2: Evaluate, fine-tune and implement new admissions pathway
Background
UoPeople is undergoing a major change in the way new students are admitted to the institution.
The new admissions approach, which is in a pilot stage since Term 5, AY2016, allows prospective
students to go through a real student experience, by taking two foundational courses. In addition,
during this period, UoPeople’s dedicated staff, works closely with the prospective students, in
completing the administrative admission requirements.
By implementing this new approach, UoPeople hopes to improve not only the number of new
admitted students, but most importantly, to ensure that students are well-suited to the relevant
program requirements.
Strengths Focus Areas
The university’s institutional infrastructures
were adapted to the new approach
(including information systems, catalog,
etc. ) and staff has been trained
New approach is in its pilot stage
Measure the new admissions pathway
approach, and understand its impact on
admissions and retention
Implement adjustments and improvements,
as needed
Key Milestones
Prepare a comprehensive study report that explores the impact of the new admissions
pathway on key institutional KPI's, and provide recommendations for improvement – by end
of AY2017
Implement recommended improvements by the end of AY2018
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Objective 1.3: Develop additional channels and programs to recruit students,
including Transfer Credit Recognition
Background
UoPeople is constantly looking for additional channels and sources to recruit new students. This
can not only help the university to meet its growth target, but also help it to reach new
populations which can benefit from UoPeople’s offerings.
Strengths Focus Areas
UoPeople’s experienced staff, has the
knowledge and expertise to establish
programs such as Transfer Credit
Recognition
UoPeople’s respected brand opens doors
for partnerships
Develop the required infrastructure for a
Transfer Credit program, in a cost-effective
way
Key Milestones
Finalize a plan for implementing Transfer Credit program – mid-AY2017
Implement the plan by mid-AY2018
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Objective 1.4: Develop the Program Advising function
Background
To increase retention, UoPeople began the process of implementing the role of Program
Advising. The Program Advisor’s role is to serve as a single point-of-contact for students. Program
Advisors are expected to apply a proactive approach, and ensure that students get all the support
required for them to continue their studies.
Strengths Focus Areas
An established function, with over 30
employees and managers
Clear processes and working procedures
are in place
Must develop the technology needed to
empower Program Advisors, by providing
them aggregated information about
student activity
Key Milestones
Develop a technology roadmap for Program Advising by mid-AY2017
Complete core elements by End of AY2017
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Objective 1.5: Expand availability of scholarships
Background
One of the main challenges for the university’s expansion is a lack of available scholarships, as
there are a growing number of qualified prospective students on a waiting list for suitable
scholarships.
UoPeople is committed to focusing efforts on raising necessary funds for scholarships.
Strengths Focus Areas
Established institutional fundraising
capabilities
Strong base of foundations and companies
who have granted scholarships to UoPeople
students, such as Hofman Foundation, HP
and Microsoft
Continuously focus on raising funds for
scholarships
Key Milestones
Develop a fundraising plan by mid–AY2017
Substentially Increase scholarship by end of AY2018
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PROMOTE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Objective 2.1: Invest in faculty skills and development
Background
UoPeople sees the quality of its faculty as a major element of its academic excellence.
Since the business plan suggests fast growing faculty numbers (over 1,200 by AY2019), it is critical
that UoPeople will have the capacity in place to train and develop the faculty.
Strengths Focus Areas
Well established Provost Office, capable of
leading internal improvement programs
Strong technology capabilities
Develop processes, infrastructure and
capabilities to train and develop hundreds
of new instructors each year
Key Milestones
Develop faculty management framework and roadmap by mid– AY2017
Execute roadmap in phasesstarting AY2017, through AY2019
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Objective 2.2: Evaluate and implement innovative instructional strategies
Background
Over the last years, UoPeople has standardized, proven instructional methodologies.
A major consideration was, and still is, providing access to all students, even in countries where
broad-band connectivity to the Internet may not be available.
Due to some global changes such as the increasing availability of mobile Internet, UoPeople
considers reassessing its strategy regarding this matter.
Strengths Focus Areas
Proven, consistent and simple instructional
methodology
Insights and experience gained through
over 8 years of operation
Discover, evaluate and implement new
instructional strategies
Key Milestones
Develop a recommendation and implementation roadmap for UoPeople’s future instructional
strategy by the end of AY2017
Execute roadmap in phasesstarting AY2018, through AY2019
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Objective 2.3: Strengthen academic programs
Background
During AY2017, UoPeople introduced three new programs, which brings the total number of its
available programs to seven.
UoPeople is looking to strengthen its existing programs by continuously improving their quality.
Strengths Focus Areas
Relatively small number of programs,
allowing UoPeople team to focus more on
each program
Consciously evaluating and improving
existing programs
Key Milestones
Conduct annual review cycle of existing programs AY2017 through AY2019
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EXPAND INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
Objective 3.1: Develop and implement formal, streamlined and automated
procedures for all key institutional departments
Background
UoPeople must prepare itself for the accelerated increase in the number of its students, expected
in the upcoming years.
While scaling up, UoPeople must ensure quality, consistency and efficiency across all student
administration processes.
Strengths Focus Areas
Top academic and administration experts
are engaged with UoPeople as employees,
consultants or as volunteers.
World class, highly flexible technology
infrastructure, allowing rapid development
of tools and applications to automate
processes.
Focus areas include institutional functions
that are involved in high-volume
administration, such as program advising
and faculty administration.
Key Milestones
Establishment of organizational effectiveness function early AY2017
Establishing improvement team for each area and develop a work plan and methodology
(probably Kaizen), by mid AY2017
Ongoing improvement and stabilization cycles until AY2019
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Objective 3.2: Develop staffing adequate for scaling up, and ensure effective
management capacity
Background
In the next few years, UoPeople is planning to transform itself and become a large-scale, global,
online institution. Such a transformation requires a highly competent management team that can
manage all aspects of the change effectively, and adjust itself to new types of management
challenges presented.
This will be achieved by developing the exsiting team and streanghening it, by hiring additional
leaders with proven experience and qualifications.
Strengths Focus Areas
Diverese and highly experience institutional
management
Develop and formalize talent management
plan
Key Milestones
Develop and maintain a cohesive talent management plan, covering aspecst such as
succession, planning, skills development, and hiring, in correlation with the business plan,
until mid 2017.
Execute the talent management plan through AY2019.
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Objective 3.3: Accelerate technology implementation to improve efficiency and
reduce manual work
Background
The daily operations of managing a university typically require intensive resources and a large
number of personnel to manage the numerous issues and concerns.
Driven by its mission of providing affordable education, UoPeople seeks to achieve a high level of
automation of its administrative processes in order to keep manpower costs minimal.
The core elements of this architecture include:
Core Student Administration System - built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. UoPeople's team
uses this system to manage the full student life cycle including admission, courses, grades,
SAP, fees and graduation. It requires minimal resources to monitor the system
Learning environment - built on Moodle
Strengths Focus Areas
Durable, state-of-the-art, cloud
infrastructure that manages the full student
life cycle within the institution – from
application to graduation.
Integrated, synchronized solutions
Experienced and stable R&D team
Technology coverage around areas such as
alumni management and instructor
management
Developself-service capabilities for students
and instructors
Key Milestones
Develop 3 year technology strategy and roadmap by Mid-2017
Execute roadmap from AY2018, through AY2019
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Objective 3.4 Reduce operational risk
Background
The continuous growth in the number of UoPeople’s student body increases the complexity of
the university's operation and administration.
UoPeople is committed to managing its risks systematically, to reduce the probability for any
negative impact on its operation, once a risk is realized.
Strengths Focus Areas
Experienced leadership that can plan and
execute an institutional risk management
program
Manage technology risks
Manage talent risks
Manage compliance risks
Key Milestones
Nominate an Institutional Risk Management Officer early AY2018.
Develop institutional risk management and mitigation roadmap, by mid-AY2018
Execute the roadmapthrough end of AY2019
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INCREASE JOB PREPAREDNESS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
Objective 4.1: Develop Career Services framework
Background
UoPeople leadership sees helping students to understand the job market and successfully plan
their careers as part of its institutional mission.
In the coming years, the number of graduates will grow significantly and the institution must
develop its career services offerings.
Strengths Improvement Areas
UoPeople has a well-defined framework for
implementing career services for students.
This framework was developed by
UoPeople’s teams over the last 3 years.
While the framework has been
implemented, it is still in pilot stage, so the
main focus for the upcoming years will be
on evaluation and improvement of the
existing framework.
Key Milestones
Develop updated implementation roadmap by mid-AY2017
Execute on plan from mid-AY2017, through AY2019
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Objective 4.2: Introduce new curricula opportunities in areas of high demand
Background
Recently, UoPeople added three new programs, bringing the total number of its available
programs to seven.
UoPeople is careful in expanding its program offerings, to avoid the investment and operational
complexity involved in such expansion.
However, in a timeframe of approximately 2 years, UoPeople will consider renewing its focus on
adding more programs to its portfolio, to meet new areas of high demand, assuming it has
acheived financial sustainability.
Strengths Focus Areas
Flexible infrastructure, allowing the
university to accommodate additional
programs with relative ease
Identifying new high-demand areas
Adding suitable institutional resources to
lead the expansion program
Key Milestones
Present short-list of top 2-3 recommended programs, by end of AY2017
Develop a Development and Implementation Plan by mid–AY2018
Yea or Nay decision, budgeting and planning, by end of AY2018
Development of new academic program(s) through AY2019 and AY2019
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Objective 4.3: Develop an alumni network
Background
An alumni network is an essential component of the echo-system of any mature institution.
While the number of UoPeople graduates grows, UoPeople will dedicate resources to establishing
and maintaining its alumni network.
Strengths Focus Areas
Engaged, committed student body
Strong technology capabilities, including an
active social network
Improve UoPeople alumni program
Key Milestones
Present concept and implementation roadmap by end of AY2017
Implementation roadmap in phases from AY2018, through AY2019