Trustees Review ECSU Draft Strategic Plan Ahead of Regular December Meeting

Dr. Chris Brussalis, left, of the consulting firm The Hill Group, gives a presentation on the draft strategic plan to the ECSU Board of Trustees Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Elizabeth City State University’s five year strategic plan process is moving forward and the responses are positive according to Dr. Chris Brussalis, president and CEO of the management consulting firm, The Hill Group.
Dr. Brussalis was on hand Wednesday, Nov. 6, for a special ECSU Board of Trustees meeting. The meeting was a presentation of the current draft of the strategic plan and gave trustees the opportunity to not only review the plan, but offer feedback and ask questions.
The Board of Trustees will vote on the approval of the plan during its regular December meeting. For now, however, the draft has entered its final phase of revision and the response to an online survey, according to Dr. Brussalis, is largely “strong.”
Dr. Brussalis told the trustees that an online survey opened to the public garnered 66 responses to questions about the new proposed mission, vision, and values statement, as well as goals and objectives set forth by the new plan.
Throughout the survey, positive responses to the draft came from a majority of the respondents. The positive response rate ranged from 69 to 98 percent, with much of it averaging around 90 percent.
“In my experience administrating surveys, anytime you get close to 90 percent, it is a huge success,” he said.
And by that measure, ECSU’s strategic plan draft is a big success.
“It’s been a long process but the reality is, we have a comprehensive plan,” said ECSU Chancellor Karrie Dixon to board members.
Every five years, University of North Carolina System campuses are tasked with developing a strategic plan that moves the institutions forward, addressing goals as they pertain to the needs of students and the institutions. For ECSU’s part, changes in the language of the mission, vision and values statements have been included with a set of six goals and their objectives.
The goals focus on academic excellence, student experience, sustainable growth, institutional advancement, operational excellence, and regional development. Each goal has a set of objectives to be met throughout the next five years.
Chancellor Dixon told the board members Wednesday that over the course of five years, the plan is to work with her senior administrative staff to roll out action items pertaining to the goals and objectives. Each of her senior staff, she explained, will also go through the plan to identify items that require new funding.
“They will look in their current budgets to establish priorities,” she said.
Each year, over the subsequent five years, the administrative team will, said Chancellor Dixon, rank the objectives according to priority. As the institution continues to grow, “we will prioritize,” said Chancellor Dixon.
“Priorities will change each year, and that’s a good thing,” she said.
During the plan’s first year, enrollment will be the top priority. The focus will be placed on marketing, recruitment, and student retention, she said.
The ECSU Board of Trustees will vote to approve the new strategic plan during its Dec. 16 meeting.