Phase 1: Create a Shared Understanding
December 2023–May 2024
Community input is a cornerstone of successful strategic planning. Alongside the Strategic Planning Executive Committee and Steering Committee, Huron Consulting Group, the College's strategic planning partner, facilitated focus groups and interviews with senior leaders, faculty, Trustees, Advisors, administrators, and alumni groups. All Emersonians were encouraged to share their personal feedback, ideas, and perspectives using a confidential feedback form. Huron also conducted a market scan to identify higher education trends on a national and international scale that should be considered as context for the plan.
Phase 2: Assess the Current State
April–July 2024
Key findings from Phase 1 were summarized to identify action items that will be prioritized based on the needs and goals of the College. Additional interviews and focus groups were conducted to continue to probe emerging themes and dig deeper into strategic issues and aspirations raised in Phase 1.
Phase 3: Develop and Prioritize Strategic Initiatives
August–October 2024
Through the Strategic Planning Working Groups and Executive Team, with strong support from the Huron Consulting Group, final community feedback will be gathered through additional focus groups, interviews, and a community-wide survey. Additionally, documents and studies or reviews completed in the past and data gathered from prior surveys, such as Alumni Surveys and the Emerson360 initiative, will be analyzed. Through intense work and thematic analysis, all of the community input and other data will be synthesized to create an outline of key themes and potential initiatives. Discussions about mission, vision, and values will also take place and updated drafts of those key elements of the plan will be reviewed.
Phase 4: Draft Strategic Plan
October–November 2024
The Working Groups and Executive Team, with strong support from the Huron Consulting Group, will develop, review, and refine the new strategic plan initiatives for Emerson College and prepare the plan for final drafting.
Phase 5: Finalize Strategic Plan
November–December 2024
The Executive Team will take all input and information and work with Huron on finalizing a draft strategic plan. Following the careful review, refinement, and approval of the Board of Trustees, the Executive Team will schedule and plan community meetings to present the new strategic plan in the beginning of the Spring 2025 semester.
Phase 6: Launch Strategic Plan and Monitor Implementation
January–March 2025
The final draft of the strategic plan will be shared with the community and an implementation plan will be developed for successful project management of the strategic plan’s execution. The execution plan will also include building out regular opportunities to check progress to goals throughout the strategic plan’s lifespan.