Our Strategic Planning Process
Evergreen, the strategic plan of Alma College, will be continuously updated in order to meet the needs of an ever-changing world.
This work began when more than 40 individuals from our community joined the board of trustees for their meetings in Midland in February 2020. The work of this group, feedback from campus meetings and open forums, the previous good work of groups like the task force on institutional distinctions, and cabinet leadership led to the development of the themes shared at fall conference.
Evergreen, A Dynamic Plan for Alma College
Feedback from those all-campus meetings was refined into “Evergreen: A Dynamic Plan for Alma College” by the campus leadership group, and then presented to the Board of Trustees in October 2020. It was unanimously approved.
We will review and renew the plan on a regular basis, and our planning process will be dynamic and ongoing. This approach to strategic planning is called an evergreen planning process.
Strategic Plan Themes
The following themes were collaboratively developed by a broad range of participants from our campus community and represent our highest goals for the future of Alma College.
Purpose and Place: As citizens of this place, we must deepen our efforts to model citizenship for our students by committing to improving Alma and Gratiot County.
Experiential Learning: Experiential learning opportunities, along with our career development programming, must become a statement of excellence for Alma College.
New Programs and Innovation: While staying true to its liberal arts core, the college must develop new programs, offer new avenues for learning, and serve new markets.
Financial Vitality: The College cannot thrive on the edge of financial viability. We need to be creating a budget surplus that can be reinvested into our core liberal arts curriculum.
Creating a Just and Inclusive Community: We must become a more diverse and inclusive campus community. We must also invest in our faculty and staff, value and support the good work that they do to help students, and hold each other accountable for any actions that do not support our community’s expectations.