Academic Year 2009-2010 Overview 

In academic year 2009-2010, the Task Force took SU's first steps towards developing an Academic Master Plan (AMP). 

Fall 2009 

In fall 2009, the AMP Steering Committee and Task Force were formed and charged by Provost Lyman.  The Task Force and Steering Committee built upon the work of the 2009 summer AMP Support Team, and worked through the fall to lay the foundation for Ship’s first AMP.  This work included reviewing Ship’s current strategic plans, reviewing the academic master plans of several other universities, developing a timeline and process for 2009-2010 AMP work, identifying the various university constituencies to include in the AMP process, and creating a draft mission statement and set of goals for the division of Academic Affairs.

Spring 2010 

In early to mid-spring 2010, the Task Force invited representatives from various university constituencies to participate in targetted Focus Group sessions.  The purpose of the Focus Group sessions was to accumulate information and recommendations from every corner of the campus community. Each Focus Group ran a SWOT analysis centered on one of the five draft Academic Affairs goals. In addition, a series of Open Focus Group sessions were held to gain broader input to the process. 

While this work was similar to planning processes occurring in the academic departments, programs, and colleges, it did not duplicate such efforts. Rather the work of the AMP Focus Groups occurred at a meta-level, allowed for discussion that cut across departments and administrative offices, and fostered the emergence of common themes, trends, objectives and strategies.

Participation in the 20 Focus Groups was broad and highly engaged among the 59 faculty members, 39 administration/staff members and 19 students who attended (additional Focus Group demographics are also available in this linked document).  The SWOT analyses conducted in the Focus Groups generated a rich set of ideas for inclusion in the Academic Master Plan.

Three Open Forums were held in March 2010 in which the university community was asked to respond to the results of the Focus Groups.  Specifically, we asked: What initiatives, issues, and alternative perspectives were missed in the focus group discussions?  What actions and strategies can the University consider to address the initiatives and issues that face the division of Academic Affairs?  Feedback was also sought and received via individual submissions to the AMP email box (AMP@ship.edu) and through various meetings of university groups. 

The feedback received through all venues is posted in the table below, along with a cross-walk document between the AMP process and Ship's recent Middle States Self Study process.  In late spring 2010, the Task Force used this feedback to refine the mission statement and goals, and to develop a set of objectives for each goal.   These formed the basis of an activity at the President’s annual Strategic Planning Retreat in May, 2010.

At the conclusion of the 2009-2010 academic year, the AMP Task Force had developed a draft mission statement, five goals, and twenty one objectives for the division of Academic Affairs.  This document will be open for feedback from the University community in academic year 2010-2011.  In addition, the Task Force had developed a set of common themes.  These themes will form the basis of additional work in academic year 2010-2011, as the Task Force begins to develop a set of recommended action items.  The 2010 Summer Working Group focused its efforts on further investigating these common themes.

2009-2010 Feedback