Members of the OU Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences community,
The University of Oklahoma Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences embarked on a strategic planning process over a year ago. Based on the initial input we received from a broad range of stakeholders in our college community, we drew from your ideas to draft a plan that represents a set of pathways to excellence for our college. We are now excited to be at a stage in the process to share this draft with you for review. Completed in May 2022, our draft is available now on our college website.
Following the completion of Lead On, the University strategic plan for the Norman campus, President Harroz charged each college to support this effort with well aligned plans of their own. Since the University’s founding, our college has played a substantial role in OU’s success and this plan seeks to build upon and extend our mission as we master existing knowledge, create new knowledge and understanding through research, scholarship, creative activity, and professional development, and put that new knowledge and understanding to work to make our communities and the human condition stronger.
During academic year 2020-21, our units crafted their strategic plans and the needs, goals, and strategies outlined in those documents informed this college plan. In addition, we conducted surveys and interviews with staff, faculty, alumni, and students in spring 2021 to gather insights from our stakeholders on the college’s strengths and weaknesses. These efforts were facilitated by a Working Group and an Executive Team. During June 2021, the Executive Team compiled the first draft document. A revised draft was then completed and received feedback from the Provost’s Office. This latest draft was completed in May 2022, and we now invite feedback from all college stakeholders.
The Pathways to Excellence plan places the DFCAS at the leading edge of OU’s Lead On, University plan and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships Research Strategic Framework, paralleling and reinforcing their focus on achieving AAU-level benchmarks by 2027.
The plan first outlines our Four Transformative Goals
I. Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
II. Teaching, Mentoring, and Learning
III. Graduate and Postdoctoral Education
IV. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Each of these areas of focus features several strategies, each underpinned by a set of tactics. Our efforts to achieve our Transformative Goals are supported by two sets of Structural Pathways: Advancement, and Operations.
I am proud of the work that has been done by so many members of our college community and I invite you to please review this draft. We anticipate the completion of input gathering by June 15. We will then make adjustments to the plan based on the feedback we receive and post the revised document on the college website. When completed, then the important work of implementation begins. Ours will be a living plan that takes into full consideration new realities during the coming years. We will work together across the college to coordinate our efforts and ensure maximum engagement of all of our constituencies.
Sincerely,
David Wrobel
Dean, Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences
Merrick Chair in Western American History & David L. Boren Professor
