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DEFINING THE DOMAIN OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN:
Guidelines for Group Processes

As we start the planning process, we recognize that our mission is extraordinarily complex and that many stakeholders have different, even conflicting, but entirely legitimate demands on UNM. It is crucial that we have as complete an inventory of various stakeholders’ interests as we shape the process.

To assure that we have input from a very broad range of people with interests in UNM, we are conducting a dozen or more group sessions to identify all of the various things the University potentially could do to meet the legitimate demands of its many constituencies. To ensure that we include the full spectrum of interests of all stakeholders, we would like to invite any input from groups that wish to express to us their particular perspectives beyond those that might be expressed in the above- mentioned groups. We welcome input in any form that we receive. In addition, we have developed guidelines to help groups provide input in a form that is readily incorporated into our process. This document presents those guidelines.

Defining the domain of the plan

At the outset of our discussions about the process, it became clear that we had to give considerable attention to what we have come to call "defining the domain of the plan." Briefly, this phrase refers to a list of all of the many things the University does in meeting the needs of its stakeholders. The list of stakeholders is large, including groups as UNM faculty, staff, students (traditional and nontraditional, undergraduate and graduate, minority and majority), and parents; employers; government agencies; national labs; political leadership; various New Mexico ethnic populations and organizations that represent them; the K-12 schools; New Mexico’s post-secondary education institutions; professional organizations (e.g., the American and the New Mexico Bar Associations); academic disciplines and their professional associations (e.g., American Historical Society or American Chemical Society); and many more.

Early in the process, we conducted brainstorming processes with two groups—the academic deans and the Strategic Planning Task Force. Together, they gave us a preliminary sense of the range of activities that the University must undertake. Approximately a dozen other groups, selected from constituent groups such as those listed above, will be asked to participate in similar processes over the summer. Each of these groups will be asked not just to list university activities that meet its own needs, but rather to provide a comprehensive list of things UNM should be doing. We also ask that the items be grouped into several large categories corresponding to the major spheres of university activity. The groups’ contributions will be incorporated directly in the comprehensive statement of the domain of the plan. Recognizing, however, that our groups are likely inadvertently to overlook some constituencies, we invite any group to participate by undertaking its own group process.

Invitation for constituent groups to contribute to defining the domain

We invite any group interested in UNM for any reason whatsoever to submit information for this early phase of the planning process. Later in the process, we will ask for input in other forms, but for now, our focus is on the phase of defining the domain of the plan. The form of input that we request at this time is a list of all of the things that the University ought to be doing from the perspective of the particular group. It is difficult to specify exactly what we mean by "anything that the University ought to be doing," since we are asking precisely to expand our knowledge of what our many constituencies need from us. Given this caveat, perhaps the following examples will give an idea of the kinds of statements that would be helpful.

  • "Provide undergraduate education" would be too general to be useful
  • "Provide access to quality education for New Mexico residents" would be appropriate
  • "Offer courses in the social history of Tudor and Stuart England" would be too specific and detailed
  • "Offer pre-eminent programs on the history and cultures of the Southwest" would be appropriate and helpful
  • "Offer a curriculum for high school physics teachers" would probably be too detailed
  • "Develop programs to attract larger numbers of high school students to undergraduate and graduate studies in the physical sciences" would be appropriate.
  • "Conduct policy research on issues related to intellectual property for instructional technologies" is probably too restrictive.
  • "Develop a policy research initiative to serve New Mexico state government and its agencies" might be more appropriate.
Guidelines for group process.

The process that we followed for the deans and planning task force is easily replicated for any group of ten to twenty people and will produce information readily incorporated in our planning materials. Basically our process was done in six steps.

  1. Every person is given a booklet of post-it notes and asked to write, one per page, something that the University should be doing. This phase takes about a half to three quarters of an hour.
  2. When everyone is finished with 1, several people read their lists so that everyone gets a sense of the range of ideas that have been written down.
  3.   After a brief discussion, several (perhaps three to six) general categories are defined under which all of the post-it notes can be grouped.

  4. Everyone then places each of his/her notes on a wall under the appropriate heading.

  5. After examining the groupings, and after brief discussion, the category headings are re-discussed, perhaps modified.

  6. A list of the categories is written. All of the post-it notes are collected under the relevant categories and sent along with the category definitions and any other relevant information to the Planning Task Force for its use.

Logistics.

We would be pleased to help any group identify a professional facilitator who could help make the group process work smoothly. If this kind of support would be helpful, please call or email the Office of the Provost at the number/address below.

To be maximally helpful, group information should reach us by August 10th. We anticipate that the Task Force will convene about that time to study the domain information and define the set of committees that will write working papers on the UNM agenda.

All materials generated by this process should be sent to:

Brian L. Foster
Chair, Strategic Planning Task Force
Office of the Provost
University of New Mexico
235 Scholes Hall
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0002
Phone: (505) 277-5064
Email: provost@unm.edu
FAX: (505) 277-8700

Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions regarding this process or any other matter regarding the UNM strategic planning process.

Thank you for your help.


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