Rocket Nation Recovery Part 8 – the last post used one element of The Principles of Strategic Management to assess the situation at UToledo. It asked if structural problems in UToledo’s strategic intent could be the root cause of the morale, enrollment and financial crisis?
Let’s explore a second element of strategy formulation – – planning. Could alignment and structural problems in UToledo’s strategic, operational, tactical and activity level plans be the root cause of the morale, enrollment and financial crisis?
In 2017, UToledo launched a new 5-year strategic plan. At that time, did senior leaders and trustees acknowledge or foresee a morale, enrollment and financial crisis in 2017-2022?https://lnkd.in/gqNj4yx9
In July 2020, as year 4 began, interim leaders took control of UToledo. Nine months later, in March 2021, the interim leaders took full control of UToledo. Upon arriving, did their assessment find a morale, enrollment and financial crisis? If yes, what actions did they take to address the crisis? If no, did they find no crisis or did they mis-diagnose the unfolding crisis? As the board of trustees reviewed metrics at their meetings from 2017 to 2022 what did their analysis show?
In June 2022, the 5-year strategic plan ended. Here’s a link to the tracking dashboard established in 2017 https://lnkd.in/grKTMY8y. Did UToledo achieve it’s 5-year goals? What are the final metrics in the dashboard?
After 2-years implementing the strategic plan how did UToledo’s senior leaders perform? Did they position UToledo for future big wins? Did they spend 2-years aggressively crafting and building consensus across The Rocket Nation for the next 5-year plan?
In February 2023 the UToledo Board of Trustees approved a new five-year plan for 2023-2028 https://lnkd.in/gtQB9uuP. Does it acknowledge a morale, enrollment and financial crisis in 2022-2027?
How does the new plan compare to the last one? August 8th marks six-months implementing the new plan. Have the dashboard action plans and metrics been updated with new goals? What are the results so far? Is the crisis over or just beginning? Have performance metrics been aligned with 2023-24 performance bonuses?
What blocked the new 5-year plan (2022-2027) from being approved until February 2023? What strategic plan were senior leaders and trustees measuring in 2022-23? What impact did this gap have on the crisis and performance bonuses?
It’s ok to feel uncomfortable in a crisis. Please pray for senior leadership as they begin their fourth year in control of UToledo.
In a few weeks the UToledo Trustees will meet to discuss performance bonuses, the past three years, and the future. Please keep praying for thoughtful, compassionate accountability and urgent actions to revitalize UToledo.
