On October 28, Interim Dean Don O’Meara held the first Dean’s forum for the 2008-2009 Academic School Year. Others in attendance were Julie Gill, Chair of the RWC Strategic Planning Committee; William J. Schroer, Strategic Planning Consultant Facilitator; and faculty, staff and students.The forum was held to get input from faculty, staff and students for the strategic planning process to help guide the Strategic Planning Committee as they work with Mr. Schroer to begin the development of a new five-year strategic plan for the College.
Schroer made a comparison to Alice in Wonderland, saying that strategic planning is important because it gives the College direction and helps our campus to focus on how to get where we want to get.
He also emphasized the importance of strategic planning. “In a sea of uncertainty and a sea of confusion, the organization with a plan and a destination has a significant competitive advantage.”
Schroer defined strategic planning as a process of shaping the future of Raymond Walters College. He also went on to say that the five-year strategic plan will give the College “an opportunity to make a statement within the next five to ten years.”
Students, faculty, and staff all have an opportunity to stand up and make their voices heard. They also have an opportunity to make an impact and have some influence on future decisions made by the Provost and Board of Trustees. In order to have any say in the direction of the College, Schroer says now is the time to form a strategic plan.
According to Schroer, the reason why a lot of organizations do not get involved with strategic planning is that “the farther you get out in time, the less you are able to predict what is going to happen.”
But he went on to say that having a strategic plan in place will enable “you to be more coherent, more focused, in our discussions, our resource allocations and our petitions.”
Developing and implementing a strategic plan will drive home the point to the President of the University of Cincinnati, the Provost, and the Board of Trustees the direction the community at RWC would like to go and how they would like to do it.
Throughout the presentation, Schroer expressed great enthusiasm for strategic planning.
Mr. Schroer is the owner and principal of W.J. Schroer Company, based out of Battle Creek, Michigan. He has an extensive corporate marketing background with Consolidated Foods, Stokely-Van Camp, Jeno’s Inc.and the Kellogg Company. He consults for a range of private and public sector groups and provides business strategy planning, organizational development planning, communications strategy and design, new business development and other management consultation.
Schroer has a B.A. from the University of Wyoming, and a MBA from Western Michigan University. He has served with the U.S. Army as an instructor at West Point and attained the rank of Major within the Army Special Forces Reserve, participating in Central American and European operations. He was named Marketer of the Year in 1999 by the West Michigan Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
If anyone was not able to attend the forum, the E-Media has placed a recording of the forum online. Anyone can view it at http://www.rwc.uc.edu/rwcmedia/video/deanforum.html. For more information on the process of strategic planning, visit http://www.rwc.uc.edu/downloadables/StrategicPlanFinalOct08.pdf.