June 24, 2019

BraveNation:

I am pleased to share with you UNC Pembroke is currently in the process of developing a new strategic plan to launch in 2020 that will guide our university through 2025.

Our strategic plan allows us to further our vision of Changing Lives Through Education by keeping in mind our values of collaboration, communication, integrity, accountability, innovation and service. 

This university began as an institution established to provide education to those who were being denied that right. Today, innovative solutions like NC Promise continue to increase access to education for talented students. Looking at current and projected growth, our new strategic plan will be a critical driver advancing our historic mission of access and affordability.

The 2020-2025 strategic plan will be designed based on input from a broad representation of faculty, staff, students and community members. Key areas of focus now, and in the years ahead, all determined by the greatest needs of UNCP and the community identified in the data gathered through this process. 

To lead the effort, I have appointed Dr. Mark Milewicz, Dean of the Maynor Honors College and Christie Poteet, Director of the Office for Community and Civic Engagement. Together with their sponsors—Provost Dr. David Ward, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Lisa Schaeffer, and Chief of Staff Mark Gogal—the chairs have assembled a broad group of individuals to represent our stakeholders. They will form the Strategic Planning and Resource Council (SPARC) which will be responsible for research, data collection and development of the proposed plan.

To keep you informed of our progress as an institution and ensure you each have an opportunity to provide input into the process, SPARC will communicate progress and key milestones at least monthly to our campus and community. Information on the process and upcoming opportunities for feedback will be available at www.uncp.edu/sparc. 

These are exciting times for our great university as we chart our course into the future, building upon the foundation laid by those leaders who have come before us. I look forward to engaging in this process alongside each of you, serving our institution and our region and developing a plan that exceeds expectations in a culture of excellence.

Sincerely,

 

Robin Gary Cummings, MD

Chancellor

BraveNation,

On behalf of the Strategic Planning and Resource Council (SPARC), we would like to take an opportunity to update you on UNCP’s Strategic Planning process. Over the summer, members of SPARC met to identify key stakeholder groups and discussed the best methods for ensuring all voices are represented in this process. During the next few months, we will engage in research and data gathering to inform the development strategic plan that employs a variety of methods to engage stakeholders of our university. Because your input is valuable to this process, we hope you will take advantage of opportunities to share your thoughts.  There are multiple ways to participate in this important process:

• Complete the UNCP Strategic Planning Stakeholder survey linked here. Also, the survey can be found on the SPARC website (uncp.edu/sparc).
• Attend the open forum to be held on Tuesday, September 10 in the UC Annex from 3-4:30 p.m.
• Participate in focus group sessions for stakeholder groups (students, faculty, staff, and community) hosted by SPARC. Dates for these events will be determined and listed on the SPARC website.

As we continue to move forward, we are committed to keeping the university community informed about the process. Please look for monthly communication from SPARC co-chairs and check the website for regular updates.

Sincerely,

Mark Milewicz

Christie Poteet

Chairs, Strategic Planning and Resource Council

Dear campus community,

As co-chairs of the strategic planning effort on campus, Christie and I want to again share some brief updates about our work.

1. Please note that the strategic planning survey is still active. If you have not done so, please complete the survey here. It will only take 5-10 minutes of your time.
2. The Strategic Planning and Resource Council will host an Open Campus Forum to solicit additional input on Tuesday, September 10^th from 3:00-4:30 in the UC Annex. Please attend and share your thoughts on UNCP’s future direction.
3. Finally, the SPARC website will be continually updated with information about the process, including upcoming dates for smaller focus group meetings to offer additional feedback in support of the strategic planning effort. Please reference the website regularly for the newest information.

Thank you all for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the UC Annex next week.

Sincerely,

Mark Milewicz

Christie Poteet

Chairs, Strategic Planning and Resource Council

BraveNation,

The Strategic Plan and Resource Council (SPARC) is in the final stages of data collection to inform UNC Pembroke’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. Hopefully, you have had an opportunity to complete the Strategic Plan Survey or participate in one of the many focus groups held on campus and in the community. If you have not completed the survey and wish to do so, it will remain open until Friday, October 4. 

Also, we have two final focus groups for staff this week. The first one will be held today, October 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the University Center Annex. The final focus group will be on Thursday, October 3 at 10 a.m. in the University Center Annex. Please take advantage of the opportunity to attend one of these sessions or to complete the survey to ensure your voice is heard in this important process.

Over the next month, SPARC will meet to begin analyzing and synthesizing the data to identify key themes and goals that will form key components to UNCP’s next strategic plan. We are on target to have a completed first draft by early December with hopes of sharing it with the campus in the early spring. The strategic planning process is scheduled to be completed later in the spring with formal approvals by campus governing bodies and finally the UNCP Board of Trustees.

If you have any questions about the Strategic Planning process, feel free to reach out to SPARC co-chairs, Dr. Mark Milewicz and Christie Poteet.  Please check the SPARC website for regular updates on the process. We appreciate your input and appreciation in helping to create the future of UNCP. 

In service,

Christie Poteet

Mark Milewicz

SPARC Co-chairs

BraveNation,

This is another brief update regarding the strategic planning process from the Strategic Planning and Resource Council.

The campus survey and forum opportunities are now closed. Thank you for your feedback and participation. The committee is now reviewing the information you have shared and is in the process of evaluating that data for common themes that will form early drafts of the strategic plan.

That process is ongoing and we expect to be in a good position to have early drafts of that work in December, for larger review by campus governing bodies in January.

As always, please look to the SPARC website for all the latest updates and let Christie or I know if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm as we move into the final phases of the strategic planning process.

Sincerely,

Mark Milewicz

Christie Poteet

Dear Campus Community,

Over the last few months, members of the Strategic Planning and Resource Council have collected and synthesized data from stakeholders throughout our campus and community to develop a strategic plan that would provide direction for our university over the next five years.  As the fall semester comes to a close, we are happy to report that we have an advanced draft of the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan.  After a final review from members of the cabinet this month, the document will be shared with the campus and community for public comment via the SPARC website in early January.   When available, you will be notified via email.  

Thank you for your continued support and participation in this process.  For the latest updates on the plan and process, please visit the SPARC Website.

Sincerely,

Christie Poteet

Mark Milewicz

Dear campus community,

From August to October of this academic year, the SPARC Committee has been gathering data on a variety of topics in support of the 2020-2025 UNCP Strategic Plan. During that time, over 10 forums and focus groups were conducted which included participants from all areas of the campus and surrounding community. In addition, over 1,800 survey responses were collected and reviewed.

After a considerable period of analyses and revision, an advanced draft of the 2020-2025 strategic plan is now available for review and comment on the SPARC website.  The SPARC committee is also in the process of sharing this draft, personally, with all of the campus representative bodies, during which additional conversations about the draft will also occur.

Your voice continues to be an important part of this process and we invite you to review the plan and provide feedback on the current draft. It will be available for you to review and provide comments through February 11, 2020.  At that time, all final revisions will be made before presenting to the UNCP Board of Trustees for review.  It is our hope that a vote of approval by the BOT may be considered in April.

On behalf of the entire SPARC Committee, please accept our appreciation for your continued support and input throughout this lengthy process. We look forward to additional conversations about the draft plan and are excited to share the results of our collective efforts as we reach the advanced stages of the strategic planning process.

Sincerely,

Mark Milewicz and Christie Poteet

Chairs, Strategic Planning and Resource Council (2019-2020)

Review the plan and comment now