Strategic Compass

This is a transcription of the slides presented at the Information Sessions for each Priority. This will be posted temporarily because these are drafts and should only be considered as works in process, subject to multiple revisions in the future.

Priority I: Advance the Power and Promise of an Education Embedded in the Liberal Arts

Provide all students with a foundational education that will prepare them to understand contemporary challenges, solve complex problems, adapt to changing professional demands and career opportunities, and become engaged citizens.

Priority I Team Members

• Nicole Guajardo, Chair
• Carrie Gardner
• Kevin Hughes
• Quentin Kidd
• Brian Puaca
• Shoshana Schwartz
• Samantha Schutt (SGA)
• Curtis Davidson
• John Nichols
• Shelia Greenlee
• Ben Lynerd
• Ryan Fisher
• Toni Riedl
• Alice Veksler
• Katie Johnston
• Michael Mulryan
• Dmitriy Shaltayev (invited)
• Sarah Hobgood
• David Salomon
• Mandi Pierce
• George Kuster
• Andrew Falk
• Jessica Kelly
• Margarita Marinova
• Rik Chakraborti
• Kelly Scallion
• Vanessa Buehlman
• Lacey Grey Hunter
• Kathryn Cole
• Chris Tweedt
• Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo
• Sarah Chace
• Victoria Dixon, Alumna
• William Mann, Alumnus

Goal 1

• Promote the timeliness and practicality of a liberal arts education and its values of intellectual exploration and curiosity
  • Transform the Liberal Learning Curriculum (LLC) to sustain student engagement and ensure timeliness and relevance of the curriculum. Submit the curricular revision for faculty feedback by December 2025
  • Communicate transferable intellectual, technological, and professional skills associated with each course
    • By Fall 2026, each academic department will identify intellectual, technical, and/or professional skills associated with each course to be published in the catalog
• Promote the timeliness and practicality of a liberal arts education and its values of intellectual exploration and curiosity
  • Continually explore new majors connected to emerging fields and potential expansion of graduate-level programs

Goal 2

• Infuse experiential and experience-based learning into a CNU education
  • Enhance opportunities for experiential learning within the curriculum and across schools/colleges by Fall 2026
  • Develop a university co-curricular framework for administrative departments to provide experienced-based educational opportunities for students by Fall 2026
  • Expand co-curricular offerings to broaden the reach of opportunities for leadership development and civic engagement for all students by Fall 2026.

Goal 3

• Advance and promote teaching excellence
  • Enhance supports, structures, and incentives that facilitate success and innovation in teaching
  • Promote an institutional culture that elevates the value of teaching excellence by expanding comprehensive support and professional development for teaching
  • Identify opportunities to expand instructor support for interdisciplinary course and curriculum development
    • Develop a curricular mechanism to support faculty teaching interdisciplinary courses and programs by Fall 2027
  • Elevate and diversify teaching expertise through mentorship opportunities for faculty
    • Enhance the teaching mentorship program for interested faculty by Spring 2027.
  • Increase support for scholarship and professional development consistent with faculty responsibilities as teacher-scholars by the start of the Fall 2025 term and each year thereafter.

Next Steps

Following this session, the Priority Team will process any new insights and finalize its recommendations to the Steering Committee, which will meet twice in October 2024 to finalize a draft Strategic Compass.

The Board of Visitors will conduct an initial review of the draft Strategic Compass in early November 2024 and offer their insights. In late November 2024, the Steering Committee will finalize its recommended Compass for presentation to President Kelly.

Priority II: Connect with Our Community

As a public regional university, Christopher Newport will enhance the overall quality of life in Newport News and Hampton Roads. Building on its strong liberal arts foundation, CNU will serve as an educational, cultural, societal, and economic hub of excellence.

The University will be a resource for residents who seek learning opportunities and for organizations who seek assistance in solving complex problems and capitalizing on unique opportunities. To model civic responsibility, students will be involved in community-engaged learning through scholarship activity and directly serving in our community, which is facilitated by collaborative organizational partnerships between the University, including its academic centers, and the community.

The Ferguson Center, Torggler Center, and academic arts programs will provide an important cultural benefit as a hub for the performing and visual arts for the entire region.

Athletic excellence will foster community spirit, bolster the local economy, and serve as a rallying point for our Captains for Life and dedicated CNU supporters in the community.

CNU will be a major contributor to the regional economy and workforce, and will rely on this region for internship and service opportunities for students.

Educational opportunities may include academic credit courses, continuing and part-time education, micro-credentials, completing degrees, arts classes, athletic camps, Lifelong Learning, and other enrichment programs.

We will connect with our community to enhance the quality of life in Newport News and Hampton Roads, serving as an educational, cultural, societal, and economic hub.

Priority II Team Members

• Lisa Duncan Raines, Vice President for Enrollment, Student Success, & Institutional Effectiveness
• Jana Adamitis, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities
• Jim Hanchett, Chief Communications Officer
• Kenneth Kidd, Deputy Chief of Staff and Alum
• Jason Lyons, Associate Provost for Accreditation & Assessment
• Kyle McMullin, Director of Athletics
• Kelly Rossum, Associate Professor and Director of Jazz Studies
• Bruce Bronstein (Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts)
• Vanessa Buehlman (Community Engagement)
• Justin Chezem (Athletics)
• Brooke Covington (Community Engagement & Faculty Member)
• Michelle Erhardt (Chair of Art & Art History & Faculty Member)
• Sheri Gretka (Alum)
• Zephyr Hall (Student Government Association)
• Sean Heuvel (Graduate Studies)
• Sarah Hobgood (Career Planning)
• Rachel Holland (Chair of Music, Theatre, & Dance & Faculty Member)
• Brandon Jones (Community Captains & Alum)
• Holly Koons (Torggler Fine Arts Center)
• Tom Kramer (External Relations)
• Lynn Lambert (Assoc Provost & Dean of Graduate Studies)
• Melanie Munn (Alum)
• Toni Riedl (Chair of Physics, Computer Science & Engineering & Faculty Member)
• Rob Silsbee (Athletics)
• Remy Thompson (Alum)
• Jonathan Toms (Alum)
• Peyton Townsend (Alum)
• Shekinah Tung (Student Government Association)
• Mary-Margaret Wells (University Advancement)

Goal 1

The University will be a resource for people seeking learning opportunities and organizations seeking assistance in solving complex problems and capitalizing on unique opportunities.

• Objective 1 - Demonstrate policies, procedures, and a physical campus facilitating community participation in learning opportunities.

• Objective 2 - Grow the number of Peninsula nonprofit organizations with which our students serve to strengthen our community while providing students career readiness skills.

• Objective 3 - Enhance the frequency and depth of partnerships between local and regional organizations, faculty, and staff, while securing additional external funding to support these collaborations.

Goal 2

Be a major contributor to the economy and workforce, and collaborate with this region for employment, internship, service, and leadership-development opportunities for students.

• Objective 1 - Enhance regional talent pipelines.

• Objective 2 - Recruit, enroll, and develop more out-of-state students who remain in Virginia after graduation, enriching the state’s talent pipeline and workforce.

• Objective 3 - Expand the percentage of graduates in the Commonwealth, Hampton Roads, and Peninsula workforce.

• Objective 4 - Increase the percentage of students with a work-based learning opportunity before graduation.

• Objective 5 - Improve and grow educational and relationship-building opportunities with community agencies.

Goal 3

By fostering synergy between the Ferguson Center, the Torggler Center, and our academic arts programs, CNU aims to be a leading nationally recognized cultural and arts campus. This will allow us to serve our region by offering performances, exhibitions, educational programs, and events that enrich our local community and support economic development, benefiting both our region and the Commonwealth.

• Objective 1 - Establish a School of the Arts to provide a centralized, dedicated environment for fostering creativity, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration among students, staff, and faculty in the arts.

• Objective 2 - Expand community engagement opportunities in the arts.

• Objective 3 - Market the arts, our facilities, and our offerings to internal and external audiences using a variety of solutions, tactics, and technologies.

• Objective 4 - Leverage the arts in the recruitment, admission, and orientation process.

Athletic excellence will foster community spirit, bolster the local economy, and serve as a rallying point for alumni and other supporters.

• Objective 1 - Grow attendance at camps, clinics, and/or tournaments - hosted on our campus and in the community.

• Objective 2 - Increase engagement of non-student athletes in athletic events.

• Objective 3 - Utilize athletic events to engage alumni, family, and friends in their communities.

Next Steps

Following this session, the Priority Team will process any new insights and finalize its recommendations to the Steering Committee, which will meet twice in October 2024 to finalize a draft Strategic Compass.

The Board of Visitors will conduct an initial review of the draft Strategic Compass in early November 2024 and offer their insights. In late November 2024, the Steering Committee will finalize its recommended Compass for presentation to President Kelly.

Priority III: Create a Stronger Culture of Inclusion

Christopher Newport University is a public institution chartered to serve the Commonwealth and beyond.

We will seek and embrace all persons who wish to belong and thrive in a community committed to inclusion, opportunity, and excellence and founded on our core values of honor, scholarship, service, and leadership.

CNU will be known for its culture of caring and kindness, as this quality is integral to a community that embraces the full spectrum of human attributes and experiences, including race, ethnicity, gender, faith beliefs, sexual orientations, and intellectual perspectives. This culture and community will enable us to engage and learn from each other, thus enriching the working and learning experiences across and beyond campus.

To be a modern, world-class university means preparing students to thrive in a diverse and interconnected world where we support freedom of expression, civil discourse, and mutual respect. Thus, CNU will seek and model global and intercultural fluency and competence.

Our commitment to diversity will include students, staff, and faculty, whom we will welcome from our immediate community and from across the globe.

Priority III Team Members

• Ashleigh Andrews, Chief People Officer & Sr. Associate Vice President
• Vidal Dickerson, Chief Diversity Officer
• Tatiana Rizova, Dean of the College of Social Sciences
• Leon Cole, Instructor, Physics Computer Science and Engineering
• Mckenzie Hurley, President of Student Government Association
• Olga Lipatova
• Jason Carney
• Leslie Rollins
• Quinton Pace (Alum- MAC)
• Mandi Pierce
• Jasmine Batth
• Qingyan Tian
• Jackie Barnes
• Shoshana Schwartz
• Monique “Moe” Bates (alum)
• Anna Salazar

Goal 1

Cultivate an environment where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive within the university community.

• Objective 1 - Ensure equitable and supportive institutional policies, practices, and decision-making processes.

• Objective 2 - Promote a culture of active listening and conflict resolution, where diverse perspectives are welcomed and respected.

• Objective 3 - Invest in professional development opportunities for all members of the campus community to enhance interpersonal skills and cultural competence, enabling them to effectively support and engage with individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

• Objective 4 - Collaborate with community partners and stakeholders to address institutional barriers and inequities, to promote and advance equity and inclusion.

Goal 2

Develop and implement comprehensive initiatives that foster a welcoming, supportive, and accessible campus environment for diverse students, faculty, and staff, ensuring equitable access to resources, opportunities, and support systems for all members of the university community.

• Objective 1 - Increase recruitment and retention efforts for diverse students, faculty, and staff through outreach and development programs.

• Objective 2 - Create and sustain inclusive spaces and programming that encourages diversity. Provide platforms for dialogue, collaboration, and community-building to foster a sense of belonging.

• Objective 3 - Conduct campus climate survey regularly, review results and draft outcomes.

Goal 3

Create an inclusive and respectful learning environment that values diverse perspectives, backgrounds and experiences for all learners, making Christopher Newport the most inclusive university in Virginia.

• Objective 1 - Determine an inclusivity index to benchmark our level of inclusivity among peers.

• Objective 2 - Integrate different perspectives and voices into the curriculum across disciplines through teaching, research, creative works, volunteerism, service, and advocacy activities.

• Objective 3 - Encourage and support research that explores issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and participation in conferences, workshops, and seminars focused on diversity and equity issues.

• Objective 4 - Develop a pathway for international students to visit and enroll in CNU.

• Objective 5 - Integrate global and intercultural education into the curriculum across disciplines, providing opportunities for students to engage in immersive experiences such as study abroad programs and cross-cultural exchanges.

• Objective 6 - Establishing partnerships and collaborations with institutions, organizations, and communities to promote cross-cultural understanding, collaboration, and innovation.

Next Steps

Following this session, the Priority Team will process any new insights and finalize its recommendations to the Steering Committee, which will meet twice in October 2024 to finalize a draft Strategic Compass.

The Board of Visitors will conduct an initial review of the draft Strategic Compass in early November 2024 and offer their insights. In late November 2024, the Steering Committee will finalize its recommended Compass for presentation to President Kelly

Priority IV: Build a Foundation to Thrive

Christopher Newport will develop sufficient public and private financial resources to invest in achieving its mission. CNU will invest in recruiting, retaining and developing its students, faculty, and staff. CNU will acquire sufficient endowment funding to provide scholarships to enroll prospective students and support endowed faculty chairs.

The University will be a dedicated fiduciary of all of its resources, leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to improve efficiencies, implementing system integration and data sharing across campus, and containing costs in a manner that shows responsible stewardship.

CNU will foster an environmentally sustainable campus and use its natural resources in an environmentally conscious way. The University will maintain its beautiful grounds and facilities and continue to invest in its technologically-advanced classrooms and laboratories so that every aspect of learning, working, and living will be anchored in excellence.

Priority IV Team Members

• Alan Witt, Dean - Luter School of Business
• Linda Manning, Associate Professor, Communication
• Rob Lange, Dean of Admission
• Chip Filer, Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations
• Adelia Thompson, Senior Counselor to the President
• Richard Long, Vice President for University Advancement
• Andrew Falk
• Drew Velkey
• Evanne Raible
• Sean Heuvel
• Jamie Steigerwald (SGA)
• Spencer McDonald
• Baxter Vendrick
• Lynn Shollen
• Lynn Lambert
• Bruce Bronstein
• Scott Millar (Alum)
• Taya Jarman (Alum)
• Ed Brash
• Jessica Kelly
• Sarah Herzog
• Gage Gates (SGA)
• Ben Redekop
• David Guglielmo
• Philip Melillo
• Brian Kelley

Goal 1

Determine enrollment right-sizing for sustaining the traditional student population and identify opportunities for enrollment growth.

• Objective 1 - Determine attainable overall and specific student type (freshman, transfer, and graduate) enrollment goals for 2025-2026 and projections through 2028-2029 by June 1, 2025.

• Objective 2 - Identify ways to address challenges (e.g., net cost, institutional reputation, and academic program mix) to admitted student yield across student types (e.g., freshman, transfer, and graduate) and develop mitigation strategies for funding in the 2025-2026 budget.

• Objective 3 - Identify ways to address challenges (e.g., academic unpreparedness, mental health challenges, etc.) to student retention and completion/student learning outcomes across student types (e.g., freshman, transfer, and graduate) and develop mitigation strategies for funding in 2025-2026 budget.

• Objective 4 - Identify opportunities for enrollment growth in traditional student types (e.g., freshman, transfer, and graduate), and new non-traditional student populations (e.g., part-time, adult, degree completion, non-degree/micro-credential). By January 2026, prioritize three new programs or partnerships with the potential to attract additional new students for 2027-2028.

Goal 2

Increase and expand funding sources for the University through private contributions, new partnerships, investment growth, and grants - thereby reducing the financial burden on students and families, creating greater independence from state support, and affording new possibilities for the University to thrive.

• Objective 1 - Grow the current endowment corpus value by no less than 3% annually by 2030.

• Objective 2 - By 2030, secure - annually - 25% more than the current $5 million total raised in each year, specifically for expendable purposes (not for endowment, not planned gift commitments, and not support related to capital - building - projects).

• Objective 3 - Increase unrestricted annual expendable support by growing the university-wide annual giving program across all constituencies who are part of the CNU family/University family.

• Objective 4 - Expand and increase government and foundation grant resources annually by 2030 by at least 25%.

• Objective 5 - Position appropriate leaders across campus (e.g., Academic Deans, coaches, center directors, etc.) to successfully engage as active fundraising partners with Advancement, specifically in connecting with alumni, parents and new prospective corporate and foundation supporters.

Goal 3

Improve operational effectiveness and efficiency

• Objective 1 - Establish the academic organization, structure, resources, and policies to create a foundation for the future (e.g. examine curricula, review offerings between colleges, right-size departments, evaluate appropriate faculty level ratios, faculty support and professional development, and student academic experience).

• Objective 2 - Enhance operational efficiency and expense control through a comprehensive analysis of systems, contracts, and organization structure. By reducing siloing, removing unnecessary obstacles, and increasing transparency, increase the dissemination of data to support and enhance data-driven decisions

• Objective 3 - Expand the use of technology to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

Goal 4

Proactively Enhance Campus Environmental Sustainability (Going Greener)

• Objective 1 - Reduce energy intensity over the next 10 years by 20% from FY22 and incorporate renewables into our energy portfolio.

• Objective 2 - Increase the participation of students, faculty, and staff in sustainability programs occurring on campus.

• Objective 3 - Use sustainable best practices in the management of campus grounds.

• Objective 4 - Reduce overall waste generation through the elimination of products, enhancement and expansion of campus reusable programs, and improvement of waste management/recycling infrastructure.

• Objective 5 - Reduce overall water usage on campus.

• Objective 6 - Promote and support sustainable and alternative forms of transportation.

Next Steps

Following this session, the Priority Team will process any new insights and finalize its recommendations to the Steering Committee, which will meet twice in October 2024 to finalize a draft Strategic Compass.

The Board of Visitors will conduct an initial review of the draft Strategic Compass in early November 2024 and offer their insights. In late November 2024, the Steering Committee will finalize its recommended Compass for presentation to President Kelly.

You are invited to attend four information sessions that will provide updates on the four Priorities in the Strategic Compass. These will occur in the Torggler Presentation Hall from 1215 to 115 p.m. as follows:

• Tuesday, September 24: Priority IV – Build a Foundation to Thrive
• Thursday, September 26: Priority I – Advance the Power and Promise of the Liberal Arts
• Tuesday, October 1: Priority II - Connect with Our Community
• Thursday, October 3: Priority III – Create a Stronger Culture of Inclusion

A narrative explaining each Priority can be found here.

All members of our campus community are welcome to attend any or all of the sessions. Each Priority Team will present the draft goals and objectives for that Priority. Time will be reserved at the end of the presentation for questions or comments. There also is a webpage “drop box” where comments can be offered following the session: https://cnu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bPnDb1dGCashCui.

The information sessions are one step in a thorough and inclusive process. You can find a full description of the process on the September 10, 2024, Update.

After the Strategic Compass (priorities, goals, objectives) is reviewed by the Board of Visitors and published, President Kelly, members of the Cabinet, and University leaders will make decisions on what tactics/strategies will be pursued and funded, and to what extent, and where any offsetting spending reductions are to be made. This will be done in consultation with the campus community.

Strategic Compass update by Dr. Bob Colvin, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives

10 September 2024

Looking Back

At the onset of Academic Year 2023-2024, President Bill Kelly, acting in accordance with the University Handbook, appointed initial members of a Strategic Planning Steering Committee. As the process unfolded, he subsequently added to the committee several AP faculty members and four instructional faculty members (who were recommended by the Faculty Senate). As of 6 August 2024, there are 26 members on the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee “defines and conducts the strategic planning process for the University and makes recommendations to the president regarding all aspects of a proposed University strategic plan” (University Handbook, 2023-2024 Edition, p. 225).

Beginning in September 2023, the Steering Committee launched a major outreach effort and obtained insights from literally hundreds of stakeholders. That effort lasted throughout the fall semester. President Kelly conducted a campus-wide town hall on 23 October 2023, which was attended by more than 100 faculty, staff, and some students. On 6 November 2023, President Kelly in conjunction with the SGA held a town hall for students, which was also well attended. During Fall 2023, there were eight (8) Stakeholder Synthesis Teams who held multiple town hall meetings for faculty and staff, along with small group and individual interviews. Further, a website survey was announced many times via email to our community and resulted in 227 persons offering their insights in writing. This extensive "crowdsourcing" effort resulted in a formal External Scan and then Internal Scan.

Using that scan data, the Steering Committee met on 15 December 2023 to conduct the SWOT analysis. The committee then broke into three groups to separately identify Strategic Issues/Priorities resulting from the SWOT analysis. Those three groups reported to the full committee on Friday, 19 January 2024 and a consensus set of four Strategic Issues/Priorities was achieved. These four Strategic Priorities each contained a narrative to faithfully but concisely convey the desired future for CNU as expressed by our broader community. These four Strategic Priorities were reviewed by President Kelly and then announced by him via email to the CNU community on 11 March 2024 and placed on the University’s website. On Wednesday 27 March 2024, EAB presented a two-hour session on the state of the higher education sector, Reckoning with Relevance, in Peebles Theater. This event was very well attended by faculty, staff, and students, and its explicit purpose was to help keep our teams focused on the external realities as the goals and objectives were crafted.

Each Strategic Priority was then assigned to a Priority Team comprising members of the Steering Committee. The team was charged with initially crafting several (3-5) draft goals that reflected the narrative in the priority. In total, 16 goals resulted across the four Strategic Priorities. A work group was assembled for each goal, and the work group chair was asked to invite additional members from our community. As such, the membership of these 16 Goal Groups extended well beyond the Steering Committee. In total, more than 100 people worked on those 16 goals in late spring and through the summer months. This included 38 instructional faculty, 9 students, and 10 alums, and the remainder were staff members.

The 16 Goal Groups were charged with refining their goal statement and recommending possible objectives needed to measure progress toward the goal. The Goal Groups recommend their work to their respective Priority Team, which in turn will synthesize or coordinate the work of its several Goal Groups. The Steering Committee met on 3 May 2024 to review the progress and plan its fall work.

The four Priority Team chairs met with President Kelly to provide an update on the summer’s work during the first week in September.

President Kelly provided an overview of the four Priorities and corresponding draft Goals during the 9-10 September 2024 Board of Visitors Meeting.

Looking Ahead

The Steering Committee will meet on 13 September 2024 for a work session on draft goals and objectives. Then, to keep our community informed as faculty and students begin fall semester, to answer questions, and to receive any comments for consideration, the four Priority Teams each will hold one information session to present their draft goals and their top objectives under each goal. These will occur in the Torggler Presentation Hall from 1215 to 115 p.m. as follows:

• Tuesday, September 24: Priority IV – Build a Foundation to Thrive
• Thursday, September 26: Priority I – Advance the Power and Promise of the Liberal Arts
• Tuesday, October 1: Priority II - Connect with Our Community
• Thursday, October 3: Priority III – Create a Stronger Culture of Inclusion

An email invitation will be sent to students, faculty, and staff.

Following these information sessions, the Priority Teams will process any new insights and finalize their recommendations to the Steering Committee, which will meet twice in October 2024 to finalize a draft Strategic Compass.

The Board of Visitors will conduct an initial review of the draft Strategic Compass in early November 2024 and offer their insights. In late November 2024, the Steering Committee will finalize its recommended Compass for presentation to President Kelly.

In February 2025, President Kelly will present the formal Strategic Compass to the Board of Visitors. Then, the final Strategic Compass will be communicated to our campus community and beyond via our website, emails, hard copy documents, one or more town halls, and other means. Once the university-level plan--our Strategic Compass--is published, we are not finished, but only beginning. There will be plenty of innovation, adaptation, decisions, and effort required over the next several years as we identify and undertake tactics, tasks, and strategies to achieve the objectives and goals.

The goals and objectives will be assigned to the appropriate staff and faculty to develop and recommend implementation plans (tactics/strategies), along with fiscal impact projections, to President Kelly and other University leaders (as appropriate) in order to fulfill and execute the Compass that was developed with our campus community. The decisions will need to include what tactics/strategies will be funded and to what extent, and where offsetting spending reductions are to be made. The budget must balance.

Procedural Notes

Not every idea that has been discussed and not all possible objectives will be included in the final Strategic Compass. That is not strategic! Indeed, our University-level work is intended to be strategic (rather than all encompassing), clear, and concise in guiding CNU forward in the next several years.

Goals should be expressed in the form of one or two brief, powerful, easily understood sentences free of jargon. Similarly, objectives are straightforward expressions of the milestones to achieve the goal. Discussions of potential tactics or tasks under each objective have been helpful as a means of clarifying some of the objectives. However, tactics will not be part of the published Strategic Compass. Tactics are more technical, will require evaluation and fiscal impact by the persons assigned to achieve the objectives, and are subject to change over three to five years. To be clear, the objectives will be assigned to the appropriate persons/offices/departments on campus for achievement. As such, a record of the possible tactics that were discussed by the Goal Groups will be important information for the persons/offices/departments assigned to achieve the particular objective.

Dear Fellow Captains,

Earlier this week, President Kelly notified our campus community in the CNUpdate that the four Compass strategic priorities have been published and he provided the link.

This email is to provide additional information.

This past September, we launched our strategic planning process to create the Strategic Compass. A major outreach effort was then conducted in the fall to obtain insights from literally hundreds of stakeholders. This was done through multiple town hall meetings for students, faculty, and staff, a website survey, and directed surveys and interviews by stakeholder synthesis teams.

This extensive effort resulted in a formal scan of our external and internal environments. The Compass Steering Committee used that treasure trove of scan data to conduct a SWOT analysis and identify the four strategic priorities that will guide our efforts.

Please take a look at those four strategic priorities at this link: https://cnu.edu/strategic-compass/.

Our immediate next step is for the Compass Steering Committee to form four teams, one for each strategic priority. That is being done now. The job of each team is to define the goals, measurable objectives, and operational strategies/tactics to fulfill their strategic priority.

Importantly, these teams will include and bring in other members of our community to contribute their best thinking on how to address or execute each strategic priority.

It is important to be inclusive and methodical to ensure we get the Compass right. Being inclusive and methodical takes time. As such, in agreement with President Kelly, we are extending the timeline to produce the draft strategic plan to October 2024. The original deadline was envisioned as June, but some elements took longer than expected, and we knew adjustments would need to be made, and that is happening. The new timeline helps us ensure that our faculty and students have adequate time to participate after the summer break prior to the final version being written. Summer break will provide an opportunity to conduct research on initial ideas that are offered.

Finally, please know that the work ahead is important because we must consider not only what should be done to ensure that we truly thrive, but in tandem what might no longer be done in the same way. That is the essence of strategic thinking: How to align and use our resources to propel CNU. The University must adopt smart strategies to be successful in meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities presented by the new environment that higher education is facing.

Thank you!

Bob Colvin
Chair of the Compass Steering Committee

Dear Christopher Newport Community,

President Kelly launched an important initiative to develop our Strategic Compass which will help determine our vision, direction, and strategic goals. Everyone is invited to have a voice in how the Compass guides our future. Every idea and perspective matters! Here is how you can contribute:

1. Visit the CNU Strategic Compass website and click on the button to “Take Survey” and contribute your thoughts. The direct link to that tab is here: https://cnu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eg1v8pHhNJfGMwm. You may contribute anonymously or leave your name. Either way, please take that very brief survey!
2. Another way to contribute is to attend the Strategic Plan Town Hall Listening Session on Monday, October 23, from 4 -5:30 p.m. in the Torggler Presentation Hall. President Kelly will be present to receive comments with a focus on two open-ended questions: (1) How is our university doing? and (2) What are your hopes for CNU? Each speaker is asked to limit comments to two minutes so that more people can speak. There will be boxes with index cards for anyone who would rather offer their thoughts in hard copy. We are working with the Student Government Association so they can host a similar listening session on Monday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m. More details will follow!
3. Special research teams called Stakeholder Synthesis Teams have been created and they will help connect with the people in our community, such as students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and local leaders. These teams are busy gathering insights in various ways from a sample of their assigned stakeholders and will report their findings to the Steering Committee. You may hear from a member of those teams, so please respond!

You can keep up with the process by checking the Strategic Compass website at https://my.cnu.edu/strategic-compass/. There is a timeline of the entire Compass process on the website. You also can see who is on the Stakeholder Synthesis Teams and who is on the Steering Committee, and you are welcome to reach out to them. A sincere thank you is due to each of those members! Thanks also to Willy Donaldson, Amie Dale, Jim Hanchett, and Claire Rooney for their substantial work supporting this effort. It is an exciting time to be involved with CNU as we help write the next chapter of this special and amazing university. If you have questions about the Strategic Compass planning process, you are warmly invited to contact me!

Bob Colvin
Vice President for Strategic Initiatives
compass@cnu.edu or (757) 594-7972

Colleagues,

The Compass Town Hall Listening Session with President Kelly is Monday, 23 October, at 4 p.m. in the Torggler Presentation Hall. Please attend if you can!

Thanks to your good work, we remain on track with our Strategic Compass development. As shown on the attached list of steps, we are on Step 5. Our Synthesis Teams provide their findings and assumptions from the external scan next Friday, October 27.

Then, the Steering Committee meets on November 3 to finalize the external scan and develop key success factors! (Step 6).

You may find it helpful to look at the attached list of steps, particularly those between now and December 15.

Thank you for helping make this process successful! See you Monday.

Bob

CNU’s Strategic Compass Steps in the Three-Phase Process

2023-2025

PHASE 1 – External and Internal Scan, KSFs, and Critical Issues -- Fall 2023

1. Establish the Strategic Planning Steering Committee (SPSC) - 28 July 2023
2. SPSC to finalize the workplan (13 Sep) and create Stakeholder Synthesis Teams (SSTs)(20 Sep)
3. Communication Plan - Announce the process and structure.
   • Create the Strategic Compass website and publicize it.
   • Share the process from the outset, and then provide regular updates to stakeholders
   • Create the Google shared drive with resources for teams.
4. Define Values What are the non-negotiable values we will pursue and advance?
   • See the values in comments from President Kelly’s inauguration address, and oath of office.
5. External Scan from 26 Sep through Oct 27 by Stakeholder Synthesis Teams (SSTs). Also review publications and external trend data. Identify findings and assumptions. Transmit their written report on Step 5 to the SPSC by Fri Oct 27
6. SPSC meets Nov 3 and finalizes external findings and assumptions, and then identifies Key Success Factors (KSFs). Communicate those KSFs to the Teams
7. Internal Scan Oct 27- Nov 27 by Stakeholder Synthesis Teams (SSTs)– What are we good at doing and where should we invest our limited resources in doing better?
8. SSTs articulate findings and assumptions from the internal scan. SSTs transmit their written report on the internal scan to the SPSC Mon Nov 27
9. SPSC meets Dec 1 to review Internal Scan’s findings and assumptions. Begin discussion of Critical Issues and Priorities.
10. SPSC meets again on Dec 15 to finalize Critical Issues and Priorities. This is the first cut at Cardinal and Ordinal Compass points.

Phase 1 is to be completed by the end of Fall 2023 Semester

PHASE 2 – Mission, Vision, and writing the Strategic Plan – Spring 2024

1. SPSC to review the Mission (if change is needed) – Why does CNU exist? What would NOT occur if CNU closed? What are our legal requirements?
2. SPSC to review the Vision. Living into our values in the environment, who will we BE in the future? Where are we headed? If we could craft the University of our best hopes, have the impact that is most important, and is sustainable in our external environment, then what would this look like in 5 years?
3. Draft Mission and Vision are circulated to sample stakeholders for feedback.
4. Major Objectives---Finalizing Cardinal and Ordinal Compass points – In pursuing our Vision, what must be our major accomplishments in the next 5 years?
5. Communicate objectives with sample stakeholders. Feedback? Adjust?
6. Strategies – How will we achieve the major objectives?
7. Measurable goals defined and the dashboard is created.
   • People, time, and budget are allocated.
   • IR and Assessment heavily involved.
8. The Draft Strategic Plan is presented to President Kelly – By March 2024
9. President briefs BoV and the final plan is published and broadly distributed.

Phase 2 is to be completed by the end of Spring 2024 Semester.

PHASE 3 – Implementation of the Strategic Compass – Beginning July 1, 2024 

1. These goals are implemented by the University’s faculty and staff.
2. Review the dashboard quarterly. Adjust course as needed. Communicate our results regularly.

Dear Christopher Newport Community:

The Strategic Compass planning process is on track with our published timeline!

With your help, information has been collected about how the world outside CNU affects what we do. Nearly 200 people have shared their insights through the Compass website survey form. There have been wonderful in-person listening sessions and discussions with faculty, staff, and students. The Stakeholder Teams have been busy researching the external environment.

We are now looking more internally, at what we do best and where we can improve. Your ideas will help there, too, and more listening sessions are currently being held. Plus, you can still contribute ideas by using the survey found here.

The Strategic Compass Steering Committee will meet again on December 1st and 15th, to review and study all of the information that has been collected. More updates will follow.

Thank you for making CNU a place anchored in excellence, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Dr. Bob Colvin
Vice President for Strategic Initiatives