FAQs
Planning Background
Where did the Priorities of Excellence come from?
The Strategic Planning Council chose the seven Priorities of Excellence based on the results of the Vision Survey of faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends. The Priorities were broad, thematic areas that covered nearly all the activities of the University.
What is the relationship between the Flagship 2020 goals and the UM 2020 Strategic Plan?
The goals were developed after the Strategic Plan and reflect the fact that we needed a few bold, ambitious ideas to motivate everyone and generate enthusiasm among our supporters.
How was the plan developed? Who was involved?
The plan was developed over the course of a year and a half by the Strategic Planning Council and the Office of Strategic Planning. The SPC was made up of faculty, senior administrators, staff and student representatives. In addition, more faculty, staff and students served on Strategic Working Groups that generated reports on each of the seven Priorities of Excellence. Rosters of the people on the Strategic Planning Council and the Strategic Working groups are available on this site.
Where is diversity covered in the plan?
Diversity and Inclusion is one of the most important Planning Principles that are included in every aspect of the Strategic Plan. As a fundamental value, diversity is woven into the fabric of the plan and is addressed within each Priority of Excellence.
Progress Reports
What parts of the plan were implemented first?
The university-wide initiatives have been divided into two categories, immediate and long-term. The Strategic Planning Council monitored the progress of implementation and, as initiatives were completed, made recommendations for parts of the plan to move from long-term to immediate priorities.
What was accomplished?
| Priority of Excellence | Total number of initiatives | Number in progress | Number completed |
| Undergraduate Education and Student Success | 33 | 27 | 4 |
| Graduate and Professional Education | 21 | 11 | 6 |
| Research, Scholarship, Innovation, and Creativity | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| The Collegiate Experience | 12 | 6 | 5 |
| Faculty | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Staff | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| Transformation through Service | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 95 | 60 | 28 |
| Updated May 26, 2015 |
- Undergraduate Education and Student Success
The Provost’s Office took the lead on studying the University’s capacity to handle a record undergraduate enrollment growth. The Capacity Task Force implemented a new admissions process designed to limit the number of out-of-state students for the class of 2016. - Graduate and Professional Education
The UM STEM Education Task Force had a public kick-off event in January of 2012 to outline the ways in which the University promoted careers in STEM fields and how to support more graduate students in STEM. - Research, Scholarship, Innovation, and Creativity
The University of Mississippi recently switched to the Mississippi Optical Network (MissiON) broadband network. This new network dramatically increased the university’s bandwidth, with capabilities 10 times faster than the previous network. This new network enhanced the University’s capacity for research by allowing researchers to share data with each other and utilize complex computer systems. - The Collegiate Experience
IHL has approved the University’s plan to renovate the Student Union to make more room for our expanding student population and to bring the facilities up to date. - Faculty
The Provost and Chancellor announced in the Fall Faculty Meeting in 2011 that faculty raises will be made available in the next fiscal year. This plan supported the on-going initiative to raise faculty salaries to be more competitive with our peer institutions. - Staff
The Staff Council announced a new Staff Mentoring Program, called COMPASS, which began in January of 2012. Staff professional development is a key component of the Staff Priority of Excellence. - Transformation through Service
Countless individual service projects were pursued by faculty, staff, and students all over campus. In addition to all this activity, the University is in the planning stages of creating a center on campus that will be the home for service.
Unit-level Planning
Why did units have to create plans? Didn’t the UM 2020 plan cover everything?
The Strategic Plan contains the framework that defined the University’s overarching priorities for the next ten years and a set of university-wide initiatives. However, this does not cover everything that will be necessary to do for our future success. Each unit and department was asked to create its own strategic plan, based on the principles and priorities of the overall Strategic Plan, to guide its individual actions as well.
Who was responsible for implementing unit-level plans?
The directors and department chairs worked with their Deans and Vice Chancellors to ensure that the unit-level plans were implemented and evaluated.
Resources
How did we undertake strategic initiatives without new money?
Strategic action is sometimes about doing something new, but it can also be about the things one stops doing. We anticipated that new resources would become available, as our stakeholders began to invest in our vision for the future, but each academic and administrative unit was instructed to prepare their unit-level plan with the assumption of no new dollars. We encouraged departments to be creative about re-prioritizing and finding cost-savings in order to implement their plans.
Questions
Who can I contact if I have additional questions?
If you have questions related to UM 2020 Strategic Plan, please contact the Office of Institutional Research, Effectiveness, and Planning at ir@olemiss.edu.
Glossary
Statement of Mission (This is who we are)
UM’s fundamental reasons for existence; not to be confused with specific goals, vision, or operating strategies.
Vision Statement (This is where we are going)
An attainable destination point that is 5‐10 years away that provides direction for the University and provides a framework for future choices.
Core Values (This is what we stand for)
The ethical, moral, and social basis of how UM will move toward its vision. The values of the University should be widely accepted and govern conduct.
Priorities for Excellence (What we hope to accomplish)
The university‐wide goals or core institutional commitments that define UM’s desired outcomes for a 10‐year period that are required to achieve the vision. (formerly called UM’s vision 8 goals).
Strategic Objectives & Actions/Initiatives (This is what we are going to do)
Strategic actions/initiatives are specific and action‐oriented and, if fulfilled, supported UM in achieving its vision. Strategic objectives are developed to group similar initiatives that align with one or more of the UM’s Priorities for Excellence.
Campus master plan
Long range plan for the use and maintenance of existing facilities, as well as for the development of new infrastructure.
Comprehensive campaign
Fundraising campaign that raises money for capital projects, endowments and current needs.
Enabling infrastructure
Systems, resources or policies that must exist in order for an organization to accomplish a strategic initiative. Enabling infrastructure may consist of buildings, transportation, technology, people, or funding.
Flagship 2020 Goals
The Flagship 2020 Goals are the bold ideas that emerged from the strategic planning process that tied together the diverse objectives and initiatives included in the Strategic Plan.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Quantifiable and comparable pieces of information that allowed the University, as well as individual departments and administrative units, to measure and improve operations.
Planning Principles
The planning principles represent common concerns that cut across all of the Priorities of Excellence. The working groups included these concepts in their work and the plans they created for each priority. Ongoing university and unit-level planning were developed in alignment with these priorities as well.
SWOT analysis
An assessment of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that an organization must consider when making strategic decisions. Often placed on a grid, with Strengths and Weaknesses being internal factors related to the institution and Opportunities and Threats being external factors related to the competitive environment.
Unit-level planning
Using the guidelines laid out in the Strategic Plan, each individual department and administrative unit was instructed to develop their own strategic plan to guide its actions over the next 10 years.
Strategic Working Groups
The Strategic Working Groups were formed in April of 2011, and were made up of members of the Strategic Planning Council, as well as nominees from across the university community. The groups were made up of a mix of faculty, staff, and students (view roster in PDF format). Each group was assigned one of the following Priorities of Excellence:
Undergraduate Education & Student Success
Chair: Dr. Michael Metcalf, Associate Provost for International Affairs and Professor of History
Graduate & Professional Education
Chair: Dr. Maurice Eftink, Dean of Graduate Studies
Research, Scholarship, Innovation & Creativity
Chair: Dr. Alice Clark, Vice Chancellor for Research & Sponsored Programs
The Collegiate Experience
Chair: Dr. Larry Ridgeway, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Faculty
Chair: Dr. Bob Barnard, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Staff
Chair: Mr. Ryan Upshaw, Staff Council President & Regional Admissions Counselor, Honors College
Transformation Through Service
Chair: Dr. Noel Wilkin, Associate Provost
The working groups met throughout the month of May and finalized their recommendations in June of 2011. The recommendations from each group were combined into the final, campus-wide strategic plan that was approved by the Strategic Planning Council and Chancellor Jones in July. View the full UM 2020 report.
