Montana State University invites feedback about the draft of its new strategic plan prior to a vote later this fall on its adoption.

The draft of the plan will be presented at a meeting of MSU’s University Council on Wednesday, Oct. 3. The council is then expected to vote on the plan at a later meeting. If approved, the university would begin using the plan in January 2019.

The new plan describes the strategic direction of the university. It includes statements about the university’s vision, mission and values. It also lists several areas of intentional focus and goals, as well as metrics to help measure progress toward those goals and specific actions to take to help reach them. The 10-member Strategic Planning Committee prepared the draft based on the input of hundreds of faculty, staff, students and community members. Feedback was solicited throughout the process and is still encouraged.

“The Strategic Planning Committee has participated in hundreds of conversations this year – in person, over email, sticky notes and coffee, in department meetings and one-on-one, throughout our MSU community, in the Gallatin Valley and across Montana,” said Chris Fastnow, chair of MSU’s Planning Council. “We’ve been listening for the inspired ideas that yield consensus about the university’s future. Strategic plans must be disciplined to be effective, and the hardest job for the committee was to make choices between good ideas that would focus us on the work we need to do as Montana’s land-grant university to integrate education, the creation of knowledge and art, and service to our communities.”

MSU’s current strategic plan, “Mountains and Minds: Learners and Leaders,” has guided the university’s efforts since 2012. Because that plan concludes in 2019, MSU has been developing the next strategic plan over the past year in order to provide continuity of direction and purpose with no gaps between plans, Fastnow said.

The draft of the new plan may be read at the strategic plan’s website. Feedback may be made online or to any member of the Strategic Planning Committee.

“While the fundamental direction described in the plan draft has been vetted for many months, there is still the opportunity to make the plan more effective,” Fastnow said. “The Strategic Planning Committee really values all stakeholders’ participation and insight throughout this process.”