Strategic Planning within the Context of the UoN Planning Process

In considering how best to approach the refresh exercise it was evident that the Strategic Plan cannot be considered in isolation from other activities and initiatives with the University.

Following development of the 2007-2011 Strategic Plan, a series of eight Implementation Plans outlined achievement of the overall strategic objectives in the areas of:

• Teaching and Learning
• Research and Research Training
• Indigenous Collaboration
• Community Partnerships
• Resources and Infrastructure
• Equity and Diversity
• International
• Marketing

In addition, each year Faculties and Divisions prepare an annual Operational Plan and each year the University also prepares an organisational Budget, broken down to Faculty/Division level.

It has been identified through several channels  that there is opportunity to better integrate these various planning activities and documents and thereby produce a more cohesive planning framework.

There are also external factors driving the need for a tightly integrated planning process, including the introduction of Federal Government Mission Based Compacts. The compacts will be negotiated during 2010 for 2011 and will outline the relationship between the Commonwealth and each university to jointly achieve the Government’s higher education reform agenda and each university’s distinctive mission.

Within the University there are at least three different working groups involved in reviewing and revising processes critical to the planning cycle -

• Budget Working Group : to develop income and expenditures projections in order to produce in April 2010 an indicative budget for 2011 and 2012.
• Activity Based Costing Working Group : to undertake activity-based costing exercises and analysis across the University with a view to informing future budget models.
• Performance Indicators Working Group : to review the set of performance metrics proposed by the Commonwealth and establish the University’s current performance, benchmarking position and targets.

When considering all these views and initiatives it appears that there are some ‘missing links’ which, if addressed, would strengthen the overall planning process -

• Presenting the planning cycle as an overall process rather than a series of component parts, thus increasing general understanding of how the component parts are (or should be) inter-related.
• Including in that cycle a formal milestone and responsibility for determining growth (and other key indicator) assumptions which can be used to inform the development of more detail plans.
• Correspondingly, to include in the planning cycle a formal milestone and responsibility for the setting of indicative budget parameters which can be used to inform the development of more detailed plans and budgets.
• Introducing a rolling annual review of the Strategic Plan
  • with a refresh of strategic initiatives and targets incorporated into the annual planning process to inform the development of more detailed annual plans and budgets.
  • with a biennial review and refresh of overall direction and strategic priorities
    This would enable the reflection of significant additions or changes in priorities which may emerge and also would keep the Strategic Plan current, relevant and vital as a driver of annual plans and budgets
• Eliminating separate Implementation Plans, except where required by Government, and instead incorporating strategic, financial/budget and other relevant information in annual Operational Plans.
• Introducing more explicit reporting against Strategic and Operational Plan progress
  • Transitional Planning Cycle for 2011