Strategic Planning Community Update: Fall 2023
A Message from Renée T. White, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Co-Chair; and Lara Penin, Professor of Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons School of Design, Co-Chair
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
As we approach the end of the semester, we wanted to provide a brief overview of where we are today in our University Strategic Planning Process, and what you can expect when we return to campus next semester.
Where We Are Today: A Quick Recap
This semester, our work followed two phases: outreach to the colleges, departments, and governing bodies across the university to share data and findings from Spring 2023 engagements; and the launch of our Fall 2023 Visioning Sessions which invited all members of our community to reflect, ideate, and actively come together to imagine future possibilities for The New School.
Since September, over 500 members of our community have participated in Strategic Planning meetings and Visioning Sessions. Students, faculty, and staff have provided input into how we can include the community in decision-making, practice transparency and care, develop more sustainable systems, empower shared governance structures, and center publicly engaged learning spaces. Our Strategic Planning Steering Committee will use the coming weeks to synthesize data and feedback we have collected this Fall to prepare us for our final phase of data gathering and reporting next semester.
Where We’re Heading: Spring Engagement Opportunities
Community research, scholarship, and creative practice as data methodology will animate our ways of coming together this spring, as we move to the final phase of work.
- January – a campus-wide survey that aims to refine and affirm the insights gained in our visioning sessions. Look for the Steering Committee on campus the first week of classes.
- February – will concentrate on increased student participation, with in-person and asynchronous opportunities to imagine our future.
- March and April – will be focused on assembling all of the data and insights to inform the initial draft of our university’s strategic plan which will be shared with governance bodies for refinement and collective endorsement.
- May – will mark the culmination of this work with the release of the final report and a Community Celebration.
We extend our gratitude for the time, energy, and feedback students, faculty, and staff have contributed as you participated in Compassionate Critiques last semester, welcomed us to your meetings, and joined us at Visioning Sessions this Fall. Each round of input has anchored our commitment to ensuring this process is grounded in increased transparency and that future outcomes honor and reflect our community’s investment in a more equitable and sustainable future here at The New School.
We wish each of you a replenishing and restorative winter break and look forward to sharing more details when we return to campus.