NACEP Board Embarks on Strategic Planning

The NACEP Board embarked upon a strategic planning initiative at their spring 2009 board meeting, during which board members participated in a visioning retreat. Board members set a goal to complete and adopt NACEP’s first Three-Year Strategic Plan in October. In April 2010, the Board voted on a vision, mission beliefs, and strategic goals for NACEP (see related article), and action teams of Board members are currently determining goals, objectives and action steps. According to Kent Scheffel, NACEP Board Treasurer, “NACEP is at a crossroads. The organization has been extremely successful, and the resulting growth and success have placed new demands on the organization’s volunteers and resources. Examples include regulatory agencies seeking NACEP’s advice and input on quality standards and best practices, an unprecedented number of institutions seeking accreditation, and educational organizations seeking background and research data on concurrent enrollment.”

The increasing demands on NACEP demonstrate the need for a well-defined strategic plan. NACEP must ensure that it is focusing on the priorities and objectives that will have the greatest impact on current and potential members, governing bodies, and organizations that work with the member institutions. The strategic plan will aid NACEP volunteers in concentrating efforts on issues that will have the greatest impact on the organization’s constituencies.

The Board hired Peter Swatsburg, a strategic planning facilitator, to help with the process. Peter worked in Connecticut public education for 36 years (7 as Superintendent of Ledyard Public Schools) and has facilitated strategic plans for school districts and corporations since 1987. Peter met with Board members at the spring 2010 meeting in Mystic, Connecticut, and smaller action teams continue to meet with him via teleconference. According to Peter, “The process undertaken by the Board to develop a strategic plan is a bit of a hybrid in that all of the work in developing the action plans that will support the vision and mission will be done virtually. Typically individuals serving on action teams live in close proximity to one another and have more flexibility in scheduling work sessions. The Board did an outstanding job in Mystic laying the groundwork for the next phase of developing the plan – that is, identifying objectives that will become the action plans supporting the strategic goals. The Board worked very hard and was very collaborative in creating vision and mission statements, beliefs and strategic goals. They also did some brainstorming and clarified the intent behind many of their ideas, which will be helpful to the action teams.”

At the October NACEP National Conference in Minneapolis, there will be opportunities for members and other conference attendees to learn more about the new initiatives stemming from the strategic plan. The strategic plan will be presented, as well as the anticipated impact of the plan on the organization and its members. The goal of the session will be to explain the ideas and concepts behind the plan and how individuals from member institutions can work with the Board to implement the goals and objectives. Members who are unable to attend the conference will be able to access handouts and materials from the strategic planning session at the conference, on the NACEP website.