Plan Update

Through the process of developing a new Strategic Plan, the institution determines its key priorities for the next five years and how it will direct resources (human and financial) to achieve them. 

Most Strategic Plans also include the following:

• Mission Statement – A statement of purpose. Explains in one or two sentences what the institution seeks to accomplish, why it exists, and what ultimate result should be expected from the institution’s work.
• Values Statement – Says what the institution stands for and the way it intends to conduct its activities.
• Vision Statement – Describes what the institution intends to achieve or become within a certain timeframe. Contains the specific characteristics or features that will describe the institution in its future state.

Typically, Strategic Plans describe the institution’s future priorities broadly, in a few categories or themes, and leave the specific nearer- and longer-term actions/initiatives under each to the institution’s staff to develop and assess annually.  

Ultimately, the purpose of a Strategic Plan is to effect change and improvement of the institution and form the basis of its accreditation.

Draft Plan and Feedback

Based on the work over the course of the past year with the members of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee (SPSC) and its five affiliated Work Groups, below is a draft of the new Strategic Plan which will help guide Chatham University over the next 5 years. Chatham's strategic planning process sought input from a wide range of the campus community, including holding 18 focus groups with every department in the university from winter 2021 through spring 2022. This community feedback and additional input was used to create this draft Plan, which will be finalized over the coming months.

As the next step in our process, we are seeking additional feedback from the Chatham Community on the draft Plan. Please review the draft Strategic Plan and then provide your feedback via our Strategic Plan Input form at the links below. 

Step 1: View the Draft Strategic Plan Document. 

Step 2: Provide Input on the Draft Strategic Plan Document. 

While reviewing the draft Plan, please consider the following three questions: 

1. Are there any parts of the plan that particularly resonate with you that we should emphasize? 
2. Are there any key points you feel are missing that we should consider integrating into the plan? 
3. Do you have any questions or issues on elements of the plan that we should address? 

Timeline & Process

In October 2021, President Finegold empaneled a Strategic Planning Steering Committee (SPSC) – including students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, and Trustees - to oversee the process of developing Chatham’s next Strategic Plan (replacing the one developed from 2016-17).  The SPSC works closely with five Work Groups organized around five broad areas (Students – Academics, Students – Co-Curricular, Employees, Capacity, and Partnerships). The SPSC meets monthly, and some of the Work Groups meet even more frequently.  The membership rosters of the SPSC and the Work Groups are listed below.

The SPSC is also working in tandem with the Chatham committees that are developing separate strategic plans for DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and the Falk School/Eden Hall Campus, ensuring that the work of the other two committees is reflected in and enriches the University’s next Strategic Plan.

Our goal is to have Chatham’s next Strategic Plan approved by Chatham’s Board of Trustees by October 2022 if not earlier.

The membership rosters for the Strategic Plan Steering Committee (SPSC) and the five Work Groups are included below. If you know someone on one of the rosters, please feel free to reach out to them with any questions, suggestions, or ideas about the strategic plan or the strategic planning process. Otherwise, please feel free to email the SPSC’s Vice Chair, Sean Coleman.