Summer Strategic Planning Update

Mercy College’s Leadership Council gathered at Walbridge Park on Tuesday, June 21, for a Strategic Planning Retreat. The purpose of the day was to draft version 1.0 of Mercy College’s Strategic Plan to be presented to participants at the Mercy 2020 Summit on August 16 and 17. This version was developed based on the initial plan created by members of the Mercy 2020 Steering Committee.

The opening activity engaged individuals in filling in events on a time line dating from 1920 to the present. Noted were things occurring in the world, at Mercy College (Mercy School of Nursing), within one’s department or division at Mercy, and in one’s personal life. This time line provided interesting data for small group discussions throughout the day.

Work teams rotated to five stations to discuss these areas:

1. Significant events in the history of Mercy School of Nursing/Mercy College and a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the College.
2. Mission and Vision Statements for the College
3. Goals 
4. Core Values and Learning Outcomes
5. Strategic Planning Form and Guidebook – tools that will be used in the implementation of our Strategic Plan

Toward the end of the day, the leader for each “station” shared the day’s discussion with the whole group. Lastly all participated in the process of writing the mission, vision, values, and goal statements for version 1.0 of the Strategic Plan. Please review the video below

MERCY 2020 SUMMIT

Tuesday, August 16

7:30 to 8:30 a.m. – hot breakfast and registration

8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Summit

Wednesday, August 17

7:00 to 8:00 a.m. – hot breakfast and registration

8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon – Summit

Box lunch provided at noon

Location: 

Sullivan Center at Gesu Catholic Parish

2049 Parkside Blvd.

Toledo, OH 43607

Map

College Assembly 4-11-11 Summary

Mike Whalen called the meeting to order and Sister Sally Bohnett offered the opening prayer.

President John Hayward, who was in Chicago attending the HLC Conference, called to award this year’s Mind, Heart, Hand Award to Sister Karen Elliott, C.PP.S. He recognized Sr. Karen for her commitment to the Mercy Values, and for always being available to help students.

Prior to the Table Chat, Dr. Steve Cady re-introduced the “Collaboration & Change” graph from last August and Victor Monroe shared a fictional short story to explain the D x V x F x S > R formula.

Our Table Chat addressed three questions:

• What is my name? What do I do? Something good that has happened in my work recently is … 
• Diagnosing Our Culture: In terms of the 2x2Collaboration Model, I would say Mercy College is current in the _______ Quadrant. I would like to see us move in this direction…..Put an X where you see Mercy today and an O where you would like Mercy to be in the future. 
• In terms of the D x V x F x S > R Change Formula, the one element that is most important to me is … and this is why…. 

Mike Whalen announced:

• Aimee Bishop-Stuart has been named Admissions Director; Dr. Patricia McAllen has been selected as an NLN Ambassador for Mercy College; and Brandy Bennett returns on a contingent basis as Admissions Officer for Adult and Transfer Students. 
• As of today we have a 40% participation rate in the Employee Campaign. The Campaign ends on April 29. 
• The Sounds of Spring event on April 8 was a success, raising $8,000 for student scholarships. 
• The Alumni Board established the Helen Mae Dickman Endowed Fund. 

Deb Crowl provided the 2020 Update for Sister Barbara Davis, SC, who was at a conference in Cincinnati. She asked for volunteers to help her plan Strategic Planning events and the Mercy College Summit in August. The Summit will be a huge event involving students, alumni and Mercy College constituents. Those interested in helping with the planning of these events should email President John Hayward.

Dan Hoppe, Director of Distance Education, presented the Webbie Award to Todd Cotten, Instructional Technologist, and to Sarah McCorkle, Instructional Designer.

View the video to see highlights of this Assembly.

College Assembly 3-14-11 and SPC Meeting 3-18-11 Summary

President Hayward called the Assembly to order at 12:00 noon and invited Sister Sally Bohnett to offer the opening prayer.

Prior to the Table Chat, Dan Hoppe provided an overview about Desire2Learn (D2L): why D2L, how it works, what are the uses of D2L, and how one gains access. Deb Johnson spoke briefly about including videos and book in class information. Videos, or video clips, can be incorporated within D2L class shells.

Our Table Chat addressed four questions:

• What do I do and for how look have I been doing it? Why does it matter? 
• In terms of my work, these are the ways I am using technology to collaborate and learn with others… 
• As I look to the future, these are the ways D2L can be utilized in the classroom, outside the classroom, with the learning library. 
• What questions or suggestions do I have for Dan regarding D2L? 

Reports regarding the Youngstown campus, student formation, facilities, academic programs, advancement, student records, institutional research, finances, enrollment services, and Short Term Education Programs were circulated prior to this Assembly. A question for clarification was directed to Heather Hoppe regarding responses in the recent student survey related to extended hours of operation for various offices and services on campus. Heather noted that conversations are occurring now with the personnel involved in each of the areas to ascertain what changes in hours of operation might be made effective with the fall 2012 semester. Deb Johnson, head librarian, noted that there are very few students who take advantage of extended hours in the library during the week or on weekends. Currently the library remains open until the start of the last class on campus on any given weekday.

Dan Hoppe presented the Webbie Award to Dr. Sung-Chang Chun for his work in developing and enhancing his courses offered through D2L.

Dr. Mary Bergs reminded everyone of the Spring Humanities event that will be held on Monday, March 28, at noon in room 3302.

View the video for information about this College Assembly as well as an update from the Strategic Planning Committee below.

College Assembly held on February 14, 2011

The “table chat” at the February 14 College Assembly provided opportunity for attendees to identify which of the seven outcomes for the Mercy 2020 Initiative is most important and why. As table reporters shared responses with the whole group, it was noted that every outcome was cited by at least one table. Outcome number three, “Craft a flexible (adaptive, dynamic, evolving, living) strategic plan that addresses the immediate needs (opportunities) and focuses on the long-term vision for the College,” was cited most frequently.

Table groups also spoke to the advantages of Max-Mix seating and to those of self-selected seating. While participants noted that, at times, it is easier to be seated with co-workers, a number of advantages for Max-Mix seating were cited.

During the progress report about the Mercy 2020 Initiative, Dr. Steven Cady outlined the steps in the process which have already been completed. He noted that the Strategic Planning Committee will be working on designing the template and initial draft 1.0 of the Strategic Plan which will be used as a starting point for conversation at a Whole College Event to be held in August 2011. A separate Design Team for this event is being formed. A number of references for articles, websites, and videos related to whole system change in higher education were listed in the handout provided to attendees. All were reminded to visit www.Mercy2020.com to check the blog entries.

Take a few minutes to view Deb Crowl’s summary of the Assembly.

SPC Meeting Summary 1-31-11 - Welcoming New Member

Highlights of our meeting were:

• New committee member welcomed: At the suggestion of Andrea Price, Mercy COO, Steven Nathanson, Vice President of Planning for Mercy, has joined the Steering Committee. As he introduced himself, it was apparent that Steve brings a great deal of interest and support for Mercy College to the table. Of all the healthcare systems in this region, Steve noted that Mercy is unique by having Mercy College as part of the system. This provides a “win-win” situation in terms of our graduates seeking employment in the Mercy system and also the College provides Mercy employees the opportunity to further their education. Committee members are delighted that Steve is part of our “team.”

• Members addressed the difficulties faced by individuals trying to access the mercy2020 website. Plans are underway to move from Google to D2L. This will help meet expectations of accessibility to materials online and will keep communications open. The College community will be kept informed as this transition occurs.

• Plans for the February 14, 2011 College Assembly were reviewed. One of the topics for discussion will center on the purpose and outcomes for the Strategic Planning process. Initial outcomes were revised based on input from the August 12, 2010 College Assembly, two reviews by the Strategic Planning Committee, and Executive Leadership. Faculty, staff, and administrators will receive a copy of the outcomes before the Assembly so each person has time to review the seven outcomes and come prepared to discuss which is most important from his/her perspective.

• Committee members reviewed the next steps in the Road Map, including the design of future collaborative events that will be held starting in the fall 2011 semester.

View Dr. Kim Watson’s comments following our meeting.

The next meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee will be held on Friday, February 25, 2011 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Pat McAllen Interview Pt. 1 of 4 - Why I Said Yes

Dr. Patricia McAllen, Associate Dean and Program Chair at our Youngstown Site, shared her reasons for saying “yes” to serving on the Strategic Planning Committee. As Mercy College moves into the future, it is essential that we remain innovative and plan wisely.

SPC Holds Second Meeting - First Meeting of the New Year

The second meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee was held on Thursday, January 6.

Several key areas were addressed:

• Review of the format for College Assemblies with particular attention to the December 10 Assembly. From this discussion, several recommendations were made to assist in refining the process for future gatherings. We affirmed the value of the “max-mix” table groupings which allows the opportunity to converse with persons we may not otherwise see on a regular basis. 

• Committee members had an “assignment” to review the table comments generated at the August 12 Assembly related to the purpose and outcomes of the Strategic Planning Process as well as the question of who needs to be involved in the process. The responses for this assignment are posted on mercy2020.com (Workspace/Strategic Planning Committee/Assignment 1). 

• At this meeting we addressed only the outcomes. In triads, we carefully reviewed our committee’s responses noting common and unique themes. Each small group crafted proposed changes to the outcome statements. The whole group then refined the suggestions. Our work is posted on the website (Workspace/Strategic Planning Committee/January 6 meeting). 

• The agenda at the February 14 College Assembly will include time for discussion and suggestions for further refinement and clarity regarding these revised outcome statements. 

Dates for future meetings of the Strategic Planning Committee were established:

• Friday, February 25     8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Friday, March 18         8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 27  12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m.

At the end of the meeting, committee members were unanimous in affirming their confidence in the process recognizing that participation of all of us (not just the committee) is essential as we effectively plan for our future.

Video from SPC member Dave Evatt that provides a summary of what was discussed at the meeting.