Clear Strategic Principles to Planning
This is first in a series of articles sharing insights from our work with St. Cloud State University鈥檚 (SCSU鈥檚) Comprehensive Facilities Planning process 鈥� a rich experience, full of learning for all.
It鈥檚 a basic tenet of planning that clear, aligned, strategic principles, articulated and understood from the highest level and throughout an institution, are foundational for a successful plan. The St. Cloud State University (SCSU) Comprehensive Facilities Planning process had that kind of clarity in spades.
At the start of the Comprehensive Facilities Plan (CFP) update process, SCSU leaders established high-level guiding principles to steer the tone and direction of the plan. These included an integrated student experience, rigorous programs that offer applied learning, community engagement, the development of a diverse campus, sustainability, and a capacity for excellence and innovation.
The guiding principles were fundamental 鈥� but they weren鈥檛 enough. With the help of their consultants, planning team members created a set of 22 specific priorities they wanted to accomplish with their Comprehensive Facilities Plan 鈥� from 鈥淩educe the campus footprint by up to 10 percent,鈥� to 鈥淓nhance connection to Mississippi River.鈥�
鈥淭hese priorities didn鈥檛 come just from administration,鈥� said Jonathan Martin, 黄瓜社区鈥檚 project manager for the process. 鈥淭hey came from all kinds of voices across campus 鈥� people representing so many different perspectives. The planning group really dug into all the input to come up with a list they could all agree on, and that laid a great foundation of agreement that set the process on a positive track.鈥�
The clear, specific strategic principles and priorities 鈥� defined at the beginning of the process 鈥� were the underpinning for all other elements of the process, and for the resulting Comprehensive Facilities Plan.
At 黄瓜社区, we鈥檝e seen this time and again in our work with campus planning projects. The ultimate success of a plan depends heavily on the clarity of principles and priorities laid out at the beginning of the process.
Lists like the ones developed at SCSU:
Ground the planning team, so they know they鈥檙e all on the same page and working toward the same ends.
Are a touchstone for planners to return to when (as often can happen) they鈥檙e overwhelmed with data and input during the process.
Provide a road map for prioritizing decisions and coming to clarity about what should be included in the final plan.
Give confidence to those who aren鈥檛 on the planning team, that there will be a strategic 鈥渢hrough-line鈥� to the process and the resulting plan.
See an extended account of the SCSU Comprehensive Facilities Planning Process here.