Executive Summary
In line with UC Merced’s mission, UC Merced’s 2021-2031 Strategic Plan established three guiding goals to which the campus remains committed: (1) Engage our world and region through discovery and the advancement of knowledge; (2) Develop future scholars and leaders; and (3) Cultivate a culture of dignity and respect for all. This strategic plan update occurs at the halfway point of our 10-year plan. Changes to specific objectives and metrics/targets of the inaugural plan are timely: UC Merced has achieved many of the targets outlined in 2021. Changes in our external and internal environment necessitate a nimble approach and more frequent updates in the future, along with processes that allow for continued structured shared governance input. This update project—led through shared governance by Christiane Spitzmueller, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Strategy, and Courtenay Monroe, Vice Chair of the Academic Senate, together with a small strategic plan update team—accomplished the following:
- Compiled UC Merced’s achievements relative to the original strategic plan
- Collected recommendations from campus stakeholders on necessary updates
- Conducted and synthesized a high-level environmental scan of political, economic, social, environmental, and technological factors impacting UC Merced’s future
- Revised a subset of objectives, targets, and metrics to reflect internal and external changes identified through the scan
- Developed a campus scorecard to enable continuous monitoring of progress
Key recommendations include:
- Sustain campus focus on the existing strategic plan objectives: commitment to world-class research, student success, and a culture of dignity and respect
- Adjust Goal 3 measures and metrics to capture our commitment to the breadth of backgrounds of our students, staff, and faculty, and add, where measures were limited, a small set of indicators reflecting how we serve our larger community through partnerships that facilitate life-long learning.
- Transition from static/fixed measures and targets to dynamic targets that adapt to changing conditions and benchmark UC Merced’s outcomes against peer and aspirational institutions (UC campuses, possibly AAU institutions)
- Goal 3.4, “Deepen our collective appreciation for diversity by developing a more robust international perspective,” was changed to, “Deepen our contribution to community life-long learning and impact.”
- Shift from a static ten-year strategic plan to a nimble, living plan that is shared, discussed, and updated annually through shared governance processes, informing unit planning, processes, and outcomes. See Appendix for a full list of consulted stakeholders.
- Leverage different mechanisms for setting targets grounded in internal and external benchmarks, and use monitoring and tracking goals in other domains. For monitoring and tracking goals, we do not necessarily pursue a set target level, but monitor changes over time (e.g., % Pell-eligible students on our campus).
- Develop tracking tools and internally-facing scorecards/dashboards to depict
Process Update Recommendations:
Evolving changes in our environment necessitate more frequent updates. Starting with in-depth consultations with the academic senate on the recommendations entailed in this strategic plan update, UC Merced’s strategic plan will be updated annually at the beginning of each academic year in consultation with campus leadership, student associations, staff council, and through work with representatives of the Academic Senate. This work will entail identification of achievements, but also highlight where progress towards objectives and target metrics is lagging behind expectations, identifying needs and pathways to facilitating continued progress. We recommend in particular, that through broader stakeholder input and a deliberate, multi-month shared governance group that includes student and community input, annual strategic plan iterations are accomplished to where our strategic plan truly becomes a living document.
Figure Above: Recommended process for annual review and updates to strategic plan
