II. Planning Process

Planning at Texas State is undertaken with many purposes in mind. These include:

  • To guide us toward achieving our mission and shared values through identified goal statements;
  • To reflect our university goals and initiatives in the development of the university budget;
  • To assess our progress toward achieving these goals at all levels of the institution through identified key performance indicators;
  • To support the integration of planning, budgeting, and assessment at the department, school, college, division, and university levels;
  • To allow for responsiveness in intervening and adapting to unforeseen opportunities and catastrophic events;
  • To continually involve the entire university community in the development of plans at various levels of the institution;
  • To direct the use of assessment results to improve processes and revise plans; and
  • To regularly provide feedback to the community on the progress made toward achieving our goals.

The 2023-2029 University Plan development process took nearly two years to complete. In early spring 2022, the president announced the launching of the 2023-2029 planning process which concluded in summer 2023, in time for implementation in fall 2023.

Mission and Shared Values

The mission and shared values illustrate to internal and external audiences Texas State's unique place among public universities and reaffirm the university's identify. As Texas State began developing the 2023-2029 University Plan, a university-wide review of the Texas State mission and shared value statements was conducted to determine if there were critical areas where changes should be made to better reflect the identify of the university. In early spring 2022, key stakeholders including all faculty and staff had the opportunity to respond to an online questionnaire containing eight questions: 1) What commitments, emphases, directions, or actual statements contained in the current mission statement remain critical to our university mission? 2) What sets Texas State apart from other universities, whether it is our students, our programs, our location or some other aspect of the university? 3) What commitments, emphases, directions, or actual statements contained in the current shared values are no longer critical to our university mission? 4) What values or concepts are missing in the current shared values that should be included? 5) What commitments, emphases, directions, or actual statements contained in the current goals remain critical to our university mission? 6) What values or concepts are missing in the current goals that should be included? 7) What are or should be the University’s top 3 priorities for the next 6 years? 8) List any other comment(s) concerning the mission statement, shared values, and/or goals that you would like to include. Once feedback was received, the president appointed a task force to review the feedback and to draft a new university mission statement. 

Goals

Based on the new mission statement, goals were created to narrow the focus and guide the university in the desired direction. In spring 2022, the President’s Cabinet drafted a series of university goal statements for the 2023-2029 University Plan. Goals included supporting student success, advancing academic excellence through new academic programs and alternative forms and locations of delivery; expanding discovery, innovation, creativity, and research activities to align with Carnegie R1 measures; and developing the necessary infrastructure and resources needed to successfully move the university forward.

Background Briefs

The President’s Cabinet established task forces to study each goal. Each task force was led by upper administration closely associated with the goal and a team of key stakeholders from various units across campus. Task forces were charged with developing a Background Brief  that provided an Overview summarizing the state of affairs; the Status about where Texas State is in the context of the overall environment, Implications describing the expected ramifications for the university during the term of the next strategic planning cycle, and Further Readings to gain additional information. Copies of the Background Briefs were shared with the university at large through the University Plan website. 

Initiatives

The task forces assigned to each goal were later asked to develop a preliminary set of initiatives for their respective goal. By spring 2023, Texas State had produced the 2023-2029 university mission statement, goals, and initiatives to achieve those goals. A planning template incorporating the approved university goals and initiatives was then crafted to ensure consistency and guide college and division actions toward achieving the University Plan. 

College and Division Plans

Using the provided template, academic and administrative units identified actions and established plans that directly linked to the university goals and initiatives. In May and June, college deans and division vice presidents presented in open forums an overview of their 2023-2029 planning priorities developed within colleges and divisions. 

University Plan

In summer 2023, the President’s Cabinet formally approved all division plans and elevated key actions to the University Plan. Upon final President’s Cabinet approval, all revised college and division plans, as well as the 2023-2029 University Plan, were published on the planning website and formally announced via email to the university community. During the fall 2023 State of the University address, President Damphousse officially launched the 2023-2029 University Plan, Hopes & Aspirations High which became effective on September 1, 2023 and will remain in effect through August, 2029. 

In fall 2023, the plan was submitted to Texas State University System Board of Regents and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for official review and recording. The President’s Cabinet also identified and approved key performance indicators (KPIs) for each goal in the University Plan to allow for better assessment of annual progress toward accomplishing these goals.