First, academic strategic decision making means that a university and its leaders are active rather than passive about their position in history. We must determine our destiny, not let our future be determined by events from outside. Second, strategic planning looks outward and is focused on keeping the university in step with the changing environment. Third, strategy making is competitive, recognizing that higher education is subject to economic market conditions and to increasingly strong competition. Fourth, strategic planning concentrates on decisions, not on documented plans, analyses, forecasts and goals.
Decisions are the product of human beings thinking.
Let us collectively think about our future. Fifth, strategy making is a blend of rational and economic analysis, political maneuvering and psychological interplay. It is therefore participatory and highly tolerant of controversy. I have every confidence that a spirited analysis and debate will accompany our effort. But in the end, most importantly, strategic planning concentrates on the fate of the institution above everything else.