UNC Charlotte’s new strategic plan, Shaping What’s Next, 2021-31, is the product of one year of intensive work, led by a 22-member strategic planning committee (SPC) and based on the input of nearly 6,000 members of the University community.

In October 2020, Chancellor Sharon Gaber appointed an SPC composed of faculty, staff, administrators and students co-chaired by Pinku Mukherjee, Irwin Belk Distinguished Professor of Cancer Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and George Banks, associate professor of management, Belk College of Business and Organizational Science program in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. The SPC’s work was guided by our strategy consultant, Dr. Sharon A. McDade, and supported by a six-member working group, chaired by Mukherjee and Banks, and a seven-member support staff group.

Chancellor Gaber charged the SPC with developing a dynamic and flexible 10-year plan through a broad based, iterative process that tapped the wisdom of faculty, staff, students, trustees and friends of the University. The 2020-21 COVID-19 challenges provided a unique context for the strategic plan’s development. Chancellor Gaber urged the SPC to pursue its work, with the reminder that the University’s goals would continue despite COVID. The SPC, meeting exclusively through video conferencing, embraced the COVID challenge and Dr. Gaber’s reminder about institutional goals. The engagement activities and review of the plan were conducted electronically. The SPC worked through 52 substantive drafts.

The SPC organized four phases of engagement activities to solicit input across students, faculty and staff. In October 2020, more than 3,300 individuals participated in the discovery sessions, focus groups and survey. From this input, the SPC identified 18 themes that they distilled into four critical and strategic areas. The SPC also analyzed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and generated a set of underlying assumptions that the Committee used to analyze the emerging strategic plan. In February 2021, the SPC shared the draft plan with the UNC Charlotte community for review and input. There were 717 responses and 750 comments. Responses were overwhelmingly in support of the plan and affirmed that each of the plan’s elements would have a significant positive impact on the future of the University. In August 2021, the SPC invited Niner Nation to review the full plan and assess whether each section provided appropriate guidance for implementation and showed sufficient activities to achieve completion. More than 1,200 people responded with strong affirmation for these two questions across the entire plan. Across these community outreach opportunities, nearly 6,000 Niners answered quantitative questions and provided more than 13,000 comments. Niner Nation showed its excitement about the strategic planning process through robust participation and generously shared insights and wisdom.

The SPC updated the Mission statement to reflect the University’s current status, created a vision statement, and articulated Guiding Commitments that emerged from the input of Niner Nation. The Mission, Vision and Guiding Commitments in this plan are the product of the same broad-based process from which the strategic plan arose.

The strategic plan, as a living document, will be updated at the five-year mark. The objectives, actions and metrics will be reviewed and revised as appropriate to ensure that the goals and vision remain achievable.

Read more about the 2021-31 strategic plan here: Shaping What's Next