By DEVYN LANSDEN, Senior Reporter
With the next five years in mind, Northwestern administrators are working on the university’s strategic plan.
Executive Vice President Dr. Bo Hannaford said the process for the plan started in the spring of 2021 with a survey sent to students, faculty, staff and alumni. The survey asked them how they felt about Northwestern.
When the information came back from the survey, administrators formed four advisory committees made up of administrators, faculty, staff and students.
Hannaford is a part of the steering committee. For the student committee, administrators took suggestions from people to make sure they had representation from all of Northwestern’s campuses, Hannaford said. The faculty committee was put together by volunteers, and every department on campus is represented.
University officials also hosted an advanced strategy seminar after receiving survey information.
Once the fall semester began, Hannaford and the committees received an analysis of the university’s strengths and weaknesses regarding student life, academics and other areas.
The steering committee then met with the advisory committees and started to narrow down the information. At that point, Hannaford said, they started drafting their strategic objectives and initiatives.
At the start of the spring semester, university officials showed the more specific strategic plan to senior staff and advisory committees, who offered more suggestions. Now, the committees are checking for errors and making clarifications.
Hannaford said the strategic plan includes topics where people want to see changes made, including degree plans and construction projects. The plan covers several other topics as well, and the student committee input at the beginning of the process guided a lot of initiatives, he said.
The plan will be finalized and released in late April, Hannaford said.
Erika Hernandez, a junior education major, is a part of the student committee. Hernandez said she thinks the university’s facilities are nice, but she wants to see improvements made in residence halls.
Hernandez said the student committee consists of a variety of students who are involved in different activities, including athletics. Students met last semester, looked over notes from the administration about the plan and talked about the information from a student’s perspective.
The committee discussed actions the university can take to get more students, maintain student retention and make Northwestern better for everyone, Hernandez said.