Campus community joins in Institute’s strategic vision process for 2035

Photography by Jennifer Tyner Faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of Georgia Tech gathered Sept. 3 to participate in forming the Institute’s master plan in the near and long term.

Robert Nesmith
Communications & Marketing

Following a luncheon honoring President Bud Peterson’s Investiture Ceremony, members of the campus, city and state communities turned their attention to shaping Georgia Tech’s next 25 years.

Students, alumni, faculty, staff and affiliates of Georgia Tech were invited to provide input in at least one of nine strategic themes, ranging from the Institute’s culture and preserving research preeminence to Tech’s statewide and global role. From 2 to 5 p.m., the Global Learning and Conference Center played host to the strategic planning public forums.

“Dr. Peterson made it clear when we started this process that it is to be driven by the Georgia Tech community,” said Vice President and Georgia Tech Research Institute Director Steve Cross. After his arrival on campus in April, Peterson immediately began speaking about the need to revisit the Institute’s master plan as a means for the community to envision itself in the year 2035, Georgia Tech’s 150th anniversary.

	President Bud Peterson attends a discussion group during the strategic vision planning session held on Sept. 3.

At the beginning of August, Institute leadership—administrators, faculty, staff and students, along with members from affiliated organizations—met to define potential strategic themes for the plan. After reading “Tipping Point” author Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” and participating in a survey, these core contributors formulated nine potential themes, or key areas, to inform the strategic process.

A Strategic Plan Steering Committee of more than 70 faculty, staff, student and community leaders met Aug. 24 to discuss these nine key areas, broadening their definitions. Through sample questions and discussion topics, committee members offered suggestions to shape and refine the themes.

“A fundamental challenge in higher education is reaching a consensus with faculty and staff about strategic issues and actions,” said Chet Warzynski, facilitator and executive director of the Office of Organizational Development. “A meeting of this kind is based on the premise that the people most closely associated with the work have valuable information and experience from which good decisions can be made and appropriate actions determined.

The participation of these individuals in an open and self-regulated planning and learning process leads to greater understanding, which in turn leads to greater coordination and commitment, as well as better results.” 

	John Carter Jr., president and CEO of the Georgia Tech Foundation, leads a discussion during a break-out session at Thursday’s strategic planning session.

Now, Steering Committee members will take suggestions and the “big ideas” from the Sept. 3 discussion forums and either reinforce or reshape the key points, according to Cross, who also is serving as a meeting facilitator during the planning process. “These [nine] themes may change. We want [them] to be defined by the big ideas generated by the community. These ideas will be road maps to help inform the Institute’s direction for the next 25 years,” Cross said.

The process will continue through November, Cross said, with a preliminary draft report completed by the end of that month. The final draft is scheduled to be completed by May 2010. Feedback will again be solicited from members within and outside of the campus community in summer 2010. Tech’s new strategic plan will be introduced in fall 2010.

“There has been a high degree of enthusiasm at all levels for the strategic planning initiative,” said meeting facilitator and Industrial and Systems Engineering Professor William Rouse. “At the same time, there have been many questions about how best to think 25 years into the future. We have addressed this concern by developing scenarios of alternative futures—not specifically for Tech, but of the world in which Tech will have to succeed.”

According to Rouse, who holds a joint appointment in the College of Computing, Tech’s strategic plan will have to be “sufficiently resilient” to be adaptable in the coming years, regardless of the world that exists at the time.

“Public dialogue about the future circumstances we are likely to encounter, as well as the future circumstances we hope to create, will be a very important and invaluable element of the community’s involvement in the process,” he said.

“It is an exciting time for Georgia Tech and a fun time to be here.”