The Strategic Planning Process


The Strategic Plan is a result of a collaborative effort. Some 50 faculty, students, and staff participated in six task forces to make recommendations to strengthen the Graduate Center’s intellectual and academic life, its diversity, and its financial capacity taking into account the financial, academic, and administrative resources necessary to achieve these recommendations.
Convened by President Robinson in March 2015, the Strategic Planning Committee was charged with overseeing the process of developing the Strategic Plan. The Strategic Planning Committee held its first meeting on May 19, 2015. Thereafter, the five task forces met periodically to address their respective areas of focus. The task forces were: Faculty, Students and Programs; Student Experience; Research; Communications and External Outreach; and Finances. The sixth task force, Assessment, was also convened and is assisting in determining the measurable performance outcomes for each of the goals. The chairs/co- chairs of the task forces also served on the Strategic Planning Committee.
Each task force produced a report identifying recommendations to address its area of focus. The task force reports were then submitted to the Strategic Planning Committee for review. A summary of the reports was posted so that the Graduate Center community could review options discussed in the task forces. A draft 2017–2022 Strategic Plan, crafted from these task force reports, was posted on the Strategic Planning website in November 2016 and presented for comment to the Graduate Center community. The Provost held an open meeting to receive public comment on the draft 2017–2022 Strategic Plan on December 6, 2016. The draft Strategic Plan was then revised to take into account the various comments from the outreach process, and the final plan, upon approval by President Robinson, will be presented to the Graduate Council in March 2017.