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THE PLANNING PROCESS - A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

The planning process for the Strategic Plan for the College of Education can be summarized as four phases of development and review. Each phase is described below.

            Phase One (December 19, 2019, to March 16, 2020). Faculty and staff were nominated by department heads in late fall 2019 to serve on the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC). The SPC met for the first time on December 19, 2019, and received the charge from Dean Kimberly Lawless. Professors Edward Fuller and Jonna Kulikowich accepted roles of co-chairs of the committee and an initial meeting schedule was outlined by members for spring semester 2020. Regular bi-weekly meetings were scheduled starting with the first meeting on January 13 through February 24, 2020. The primary committee agenda items were to identify societal concerns and issues that could inform the mission, vision, values, and themes of the plan for the College of Education. Surveys were created and administered to invite alumni, educators, faculty, staff, and students to assist with identification of the societal concerns and issues. SPC meeting agenda items focused on review of the survey responses. An initial set of eight themes was identified, described, and presented in program and faculty meetings of the departments of the College of Education.

            Phase Two (April 27 to August 19, 2020). The SPC did not meet during March 2020 and early April 2020 given the need to move all in-person meetings and classes to remote scheduling as a result of health concerns pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic. In late April 2020 through August 2020, the SPC resumed a regular schedule of online meetings to focus on the components listed and described in the Penn State Template guide from the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR). Along with the draft of the mission and vision for the College of Education, the Committee reduced its original set of 8 themes to 3 and identified a final set of 4 goals areas to direct writing of objectives, action items, and implementation tasks. Breakout sessions were scheduled during SPC meetings for goal subcommittees to draft objectives, action items, and implementation tasks.  The Executive Committee (EC) also scheduled regular meetings to review drafts prepared by the goal subcommittees. A final set of goal descriptions, action items, and implementation tasks was prepared for review by late August 2020.

            Phase Three (September 1, 2020 through December 7, 2020). The primary task completed during Phase Three of the planning process was comprehensive review of the initial draft of the strategic plan by College of Education stakeholders. Department Heads and Professors-in-Charge welcomed presentations by SPC members to introduce the draft of the plan, conduct question-and-answer sessions, and invite feedback for revision. Concurrently, a second wave of surveys was administered to alumni, educators, faculty, staff, and students that included quantitative and qualitative items about the goals and objectives of the plan. Additionally, the Faculty Council of the College of Education scheduled a meeting on November 19, 2020 for review and feedback on the first draft of the plan. In early December 2020, the EC and SPC reviewed all feedback and recommendations provided and made changes accordingly. Specifically, more emphasis on social justice and anti-racism, teaching and learning in disciplinary areas across the lifespan, and global understanding and awareness in education was included. Definitions of key terms were also added to facilitate understanding of the importance of plan components. After final review and approval of the first draft of the plan by the SPC, Dean Lawless submitted the plan to OPAIR on December 15, 2020.

            Phase Four (January 11, 2021 to March 15, 2021). The EPC and SPC scheduled regular meetings to add final components of the plan based on the PSU Template Guide. These components included: key performance indicators; action item metrics; start dates and end dates; identification of who is responsible for implementation of plan components; and, supporting documents to describe the planning process (e.g., meeting agendas, minutes, surveys). A College of Education Townhall was held on January 15, 2021 to invite final feedback and recommendations about the revised and updated plan. Revisions to the plan were also made based on feedback provided by OPAIR. The final draft of the plan was reviewed and approved by SPC on March 17, 2021 and submitted by Dean Lawless on March 18, 2021.

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