In 1999, Texas A&M University adopted Vision 2020 as a strategic plan for growth over the following two decades. As this plan’s 20-year tenure comes to an end, the A&M Office of the Provost is working to develop a new plan for the next 10 years.
The executive committee, co-chaired by Michael Benedik and John Zachry, has been working with faculty, staff and students to create a new comprehensive vision statement and strategic plan to be implemented at A&M following the end of Vision 2020. In the creation of the new vision statement and strategic plan, the Office of the Provost held numerous forums for faculty, staff, students and community members to learn what the A&M community needed most.
The new plan, which is yet to be officially named, focuses on four vision pillars and six strategic priorities.
“[These priorities include] increasing our global impact, positioning Texas A&M University as a best place to work, live and learn; growing and supporting faculty, staff and research; and enhancing and reinventing education for students,” the Office of the Provost says on its website.
Benedik said Vision 2020 was a longer vision statement than most, but helped to shape A&M into the university it is today. The new vision statement has been narrowed down to four main focuses: the university as a community, transformational education, discovery and innovation, and impact on the state, nation and the world, as said in the rough draft for the new plan. Benedik said this concise vision statement, coupled with the six comprehensive strategic focal points, will help the A&M community thrive.
“Vision statements tend to be a set of aspirational visions, and strategic plans are much more operational,” Benedik said. “Vision 2020 really transformed the university, but we are already there, so we’ve been working on this new vision statement to continue growing for about three years. We’ve been working on the strategic plan since last spring, hosting a number of public forums where we collected all the feedback to be incorporated into each section.”
The new vision plan is intentionally shorter than Vision 2020, focusing on how the university can further shape what was previously implemented, Benedik said. It is based around the core values of A&M, but is intended to help the university adapt with the faculty, staff and students’ needs as times change.
“Our quest for excellence as a preeminent public land-, sea- and space-grant university will be realized through our commitment to transformational education, ground-breaking research and a university community unfettered by discipline boundaries but focused on society’s vital challenges,” the new vision plan reads. “We will do so with integrity and respect as we prepare the next generation to lead by our example.”
Psychology sophomore Hannah Pierdolla, who attended one of the forums hosted by the Office of the Provost, said the forum helped to educate faculty and staff on things to be improved on, and helped students voice what they need for success.
“I think it’s important to A&M to plan out general goals like these so that they have an outline for what they want to accomplish,” Pierdolla said. “Then, as time goes on, they can get more specific and fill it in. It’s good to know what problems they need to address so they can more actively look for solutions to those problems.”
While the new vision statement and strategic plan are still in the final stages of being made official, Benedik said the goal is to have it released by January 2020. Whether it is published by January or not, Benedik said it will definitely be made official at some point in Spring 2020.
To read the rough draft of the new vision statement and strategic plan, visit tx.ag/RoughDraft.