institutional strategic plan

Georgia Military College Strategic Planning Report 1

Strategic Planning and Georgia Military College

Strategic Planning and Georgia Military College

Laura L. Lee

Georgia Southern University

EDLD 8135: Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning ReportGeorgia Military College


Milledgeville, GeorgiaDLCs

Atlanta, GeorgiaAugusta, Georgia

Columbus, GeorgiaSandersville, Georgia

Valdosta, GeorgiaWarner Robins, Georgia

Georgia Military College was established in 1879 as Middle Georgia Military and

Agricultural College by an act passed through the Georgia General Assembly. According to

Georgia Military College, the act cited that it was established to “educate young men and women

from the Middle Georgia area in an environment which fosters the qualities of good citizenship.”

Georgia Military College was chartered in Milledgeville, Georgia – which served as the

Civil War era capitol city of Georgia from the years 1806 – 1868, eleven years after the capitol’s

relocation to its current city of Atlanta. As a result, the state’s former Old Capitol Building in

Milledgeville along with its surrounding property was deeded to the college.

According to the college, its name was officially changed to Georgia Military College in

1900. State legislative acts in 1920 and 1922 severed all ties between Georgia Military College

and the University System of Georgia, as it still remains today in 2008. A Board of Trustees was

appointed to oversee all operations of the college, making the college a private state institution.

In 1950, the War Department declared Georgia Military College a “Military Junior College,”

where today the academic institution remains one of only five military junior colleges remaining

in the United States.

The Georgia Military College website www.gmc.cc.ga.us states the following, “The

Georgia Military College of today is made up of a two-year liberal arts multi-campus junior

college and a preparatory school (grades 6-12). The college is a co-educational public institution

operating under the direction of a publicly elected Board of Trustees.”

http://www.gmc.cc.ga.us/


Georgia Military College is a SACS (Commission on Colleges of the Southern

Association of colleges and Schools to award associate degrees) accredited, co-educational

junior college of Georgia with a liberal arts focus. The college’s “home” campus still resides in

Milledgeville with its Board of Trustees still conducting its official academic business in the

promotion of the day-to-day operations of the college within the walls of the historic Old Capitol

Building chamber. In the decade of the 1980s, Georgia Military College expanded its education

to include satellite DLCs (Distance Learning Centers) in five major Georgia regions – Atlanta

(Union City), Warner Robins, Augusta, Columbus and Valdosta – and smaller developing

satellite campus in Sandersville. Each of these cities are representative of major Army or Air

Force bases in Georgia, for instance, Warner Robins is the home to Robins Air Force Base,

located approximately thirty miles outside of Macon in the middle Georgia community.

Georgia Military College notes that ninety-five percent of its student body consists of

commuter students (the other five percent live in campus housing facilities located only on the

Milledgeville campus). The college boasts that its faculty is well-equipped to work with junior

college students who may need extra assistance with remediation/learning support courses. The

Georgia Military College website states that Georgia Military College students transfer in

impressive numbers to four-year colleges or universities in Georgia or elsewhere where they find

they are fully competent to complete bachelor degree-level work. Others gratefully report that

the Associates Degree they earned at Georgia Military College has assisted their advancement in

the workplace.”

Georgia Military College’s strategic plan report is posted to the school’s website for FY

2005 – FY 2009 with the date October 2003, effective date of Fall 2004. The contents include

the vision statement, with three targets that include Improve Enrollment, Improve Student


Learning and Improve Character Education along with a strategic planning calendar for the

academic year 2003 – 2004.

Mission Statement

The mission of Georgia Military College is to produce educated, contributing citizens by

providing its high school and middle school students an inclusive college preparatory curriculum

and its college students a liberal arts based two-year undergraduate curriculum in an environment

conducive to the holistic development of the intellect and character of its students.

Vision Statement

Georgia Military College will be an institution that is recognized by the citizens of

Georgia as a model of educational excellence and student success. Its renown will arise from the

character, intellectual skills, and performance of its graduates. The students will respect the

faculty for their caring attitude and ability to help them grow in all human dimensions and for

their mentoring in a community of learners. The institution will be respected for its caring and

high-qualified faculty and staff who are focused on student learning and student success. It will

possess facilities that support the institution’s mission and purpose. The students and graduates

will be proud to claim Georgia Military College as their alma mater and will be known and

sought after as men and women destined to be leaders in their generation.

The plan states that the purpose of Georgia Military College is to impact the educational

process of its students through two dimensions. Having these two dimensions include, according

to Georgia Military College, “the capacity to act upon one’s knowledge, provide an individual

the ability to function as a responsible citizen within a republic. Georgia Military College

graduates shall have an appreciation for the centrality of education as a lifelong pursuit.” The

report’s purpose continues to reinforce the importance of its students to be strong community


leaders, role models to their fellow citizens, respectful of the dignity and humanity of others and

adaptable to changing environments. This report also encourages a strong partnership between

students, faculty and staff. (Kaufman, et al, 2002 p. 3-4)

The strategic planning process encompasses three greater elements to include, scoping,

planning and implementation and continuous improvement. During the first phase of scoping,

one must identify and pinpoint the institution’s needs and define the institution’s current mission

statement. For the second phase of planning, one must identify the SWOTs (or strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of the organization, determine the long-term and short-

term missions and establish the strategic plan. In the third stage of implementation and

continuous improvement, the tactical and operational plans are settled, necessary resources are

secured, which are then either implemented or used for enhancements, or a combination of both.

At the end of the process, there becomes the opportunity to determine efficiency and

effectiveness for the next future strategic planning process. With strategic planning there are six

areas of critical success factors, each will be highlighted in the following paragraphs.

1. Shift your paradigm to be larger and more inclusive – focus at the mega-level,

and think globally as you act locally. According to the authors in the text Educational Planning:

Strategic, Tactical, and Operational, “educational planning intends to create a better future for

individuals, groups, organizations, and a shared society.” (Kaufman, et al, 2002 p. 13). At the

mega-level, one must detail the kind of society he/she wishes to create -- the ideal future world

for following generations. Within the Georgia Military College mission statement, the college’s

focus is on emphasizing the leadership, character and citizenship of each student within his/her

community. It stresses the importance of building strong, healthy relationships between the

faculty and the staff and the student. It its worded of “students will be proud to claim Georgia


Military College as their alma mater and will be known and sought after as men and women

destined to be leaders of their generation,” it gives the indication that the motives behind

developing the student’s leadership, character and citizenship traits is less for the benefit of the

community – and more for the benefit of the college itself. To fall better in line with the text

book’s mantra of thinking globally, it should instead strive to develop leaders with the aspiration

to produce positive change in the world for the greater good of the community, not simply for the

college’s own reputation.

2. Differentiate between ends and means (distinguish between what and how). The

“ends” are the final product and the “means” are what yield the final product. In education, the

text authors provide the following examples of the ends: the graduates, the self-sufficient

students, the license holders, etc. In education the means are time, money, resources, people,

facilities and methods are teaching, learning, supervising, planning, etc. (Kaufman, et al, 2002 p.

18) It is important for one to focus on the ends and then determine the means in strategic

planning measures. As the authors observe, “By distinguishing between ends and means, the

differences between mastery and competence versus teaching and learning become clear.

(Kaufman, et al, 2002 p. 19) This is a difficult objective to be achieved by many strategic

planners. It is all too often easy to get caught up in actions that are thought to be needed. One

must train himself/herself to take a step back and consider the big picture. The Georgia Military

College plan is guilty of this predicament. Most every sentence in this plan begins with every

single one of these action verbs, achieve, improve, implement, redress, evaluate, develop,

promote, assess, review, provide, refine, strengthen and conduct. There is not a lot of meat to the

plan either, many phrases and loose statements. That is a lot of acting, where the focus needs to

be on what the accomplishments/ends ideally need to exhibit. Instead the strategic goals would


make a stronger statement if the projected end results were stated first. Once these goals have

been established and stated as objectives, then the planning group should address each one

individually.

3. Plan using (and linking) all three levels of results. There are three levels of

planning, and these are the mega, micro and macro. The mega-level results require one to

identify the desired outcomes and brainstorm the processes or products that will deliver these

desired results. Instead of thinking about planning as assembling a bunch of puzzle pieces to

achieve one big picture, one should view the planning process as a system that flows in different

directions and possesses multiple options in order to attain optimal results. As the text authors

point out, “Linking and integrating all the levels provides effective and efficient educational

consequences – if we first have chosen the correct outcomes.” (Kaufman, et al, 2002 p. 30) The

Georgia Military College vision, mission and statement of purpose makes statements about what

the college will do (action), such as “Georgia Military College graduates will produce…will

understand…will be successful.” It is as though the college is issuing vague proclamations that

are admirable but not exactly concise. The document is not representative of a seamless,

organizational process. The strategies are simple, one sentence efforts for most every objective.

For instance, one objective states, “Improve academic advisement of students.” The strategy is

one mere weak sentence response to “redress specific areas of significant weakness identified by

the ACT advising survey of 2003.” Another objective/strategy is to “improve student

satisfaction by addressing customer service and staff training deficiencies.” Speaking as a

former employee from 2003-2008, there were never any customer service classes or additional

training sessions for staff and faculty to beef up their customer relations skills!


4. Use an ideal vision as the underlying basis for planning (don’t be limited by

current restraints nor limit the vision to your organization alone). The authors refer to this as a

sort of “practical dreaming.” (Kaufman, et al, 2002 p. 43) In writing an academic institution’s

visions statement, planners must incorporate a vision for an ideal world for which future

generations may thrive in harmony. Realists must overcome any aversions to this type of

thinking and allow themselves to channel their inner idealists for the planning process. In

reviewing the Georgia Military College vision statement it misses the mark. This vision does

make reference to a drive to make members of the student body into model citizens of Georgia,

possessing strong character. It further to stresses the commitment between faculty and staff to

forge caring and nurturing relationships with the students. This is a noble trait but needs more

elaboration beyond this level to ascertain the ideal vision as portrayed by the text authors.

5. Prepare all objectives – including mission objectives – to include rigorous,

precise, clear statements of both where you are headed and how you will know when you have

arrived. This critical success factor is a crucial element to the strategic planning process. A

noteworthy analogy presented by the authors sums it up nicely, “When doing a strategic plan, the

common ‘North Star,’ toward which all can steer, has to be both precise and measurable.

Strategic planning depends on precise, measurable, valid mission objectives that state the

purpose and the destination of the organization along with the precise criteria for assessing

success.” (Kaufman, et al, 2002 p. 55) The Georgia Military College mission is very broad and

nonchalant. It does not clearly and concisely address the college’s objectives in direct manner as

prescribed by the text’s authors.

6. Need is a gap between current results and desired or required ones (not a gap in

resources, methods, or means). The authors make an eye-opening point when they point out a


new way of thinking about the word “need.” Cease thinking about the terminology need as a

verb and think about it in a new light as a noun. Stop thinking, “We need this….” Think about

need as way to bridge to broken links within the plan. (Kaufman, et al, 2002 p. 76) There again,

with the Georgia Military College strategic plan, everything is written in short, choppy phrases,

often opened with action verbs. There is little to no elaboration of objectives and strategies. It is

overall a weak document.

Georgia Military College – Strategic Plan Revision

Vision Statement


Graduates will be self-reliant and self-sufficient in their lives, community and country.

Men and women will live above the poverty level and maintain employment with strong a work

ethic and survival skills. All lives will be sustained by proper healthcare and nutrition. Deaths

and weaknesses will not manifest as a result of these variables. Diseases and illnesses from

infectious diseases will never be a factor in loss of life or sickness. Violence, crimes and rape

will be obliterated. There will be destruction or harm to environmental elements and species.

Deaths or quality of life reductions will not occur at the hands of addiction, substance abuse or

emotional health disorders.

Mission Statement

The mission of Georgia Military College will be to enhance the academic, cultural,

literary, philanthropic, character and fiscal livelihoods of its student body and campus

community. Georgia Military College students will achieve the building block skills of a well-

rounded curriculum by supportive faculty and staff in their pursuit of a quality liberal arts two-

year undergraduate curriculum.

Mission Objectives and Function Analysis

Mission Objective 1

Georgia Military College will increase new student enrollments annually by a full 10% or

more throughout the Georgia Military College campuses. Retention rates will meet a goal of

100%. To keep in line with the projected enrollment growth and retention, the headcount to

credit hour ratio will increase by 5% annually.

Functions and Tasks

1. There will be 100% participation in all Georgia public and private middle and high

schools, community and PROBE fairs to maximize college recognition.


2. 100% of high school seniors will receive recruiting materials through either postal or

email initiatives.

3. Every business and organization in Georgia will be provided recruitment materials,

posters and applications, emphasizing programs for non-traditional, working college

students.

4. All Learning Support students will be closely monitored by Life Key’s faculty for

sufficient academic progress. All first time freshmen will be closely monitored by

Student Success faculty for sufficient academic progress. Free tutoring and support

services will be available at flexible times to assist students. This will lead to a 100%

annual retention rate.

5. Students in danger of failing or falling below a 2.5 GPA will be required to attend

tutoring sessions and faculty-lead out of class workshops and peer-tutor lead study

groups. This also will lead to a 100% annual retention rate.

6. Student Affairs will provide student-centered events, workshops and services, along with

philanthropic initiatives, to promote a sense of fellowship and community on campus and

in the campus community. This also will lead to a 100% annual retention rate

Mission Objective 2

Georgia Military College students will develop and demonstrate the college’s core

intellectual proficiencies, obtaining two-year liberal arts degrees and transferring to four-year

universities or successfully transitioning into the work force.

Proficiencies as established by the Board,

Critical and ethical thinking

Effective and analytical reading and writing


Effective oral communication

Effective mathematical and analytical reasoning

Effective use of technology and an understanding of the role of technology in society

An understanding of historical, political, social and economic development

Functions and Tasks

1. Curriculum committees will continuously review and revise master syllabi to maintain

continuity, streamline goals and meet core proficiencies.

2. Department coordinators will work one-on-one with and provide support to new faculty

and adjunct faculty to ensure syllabi goals are understood and being met.

3. 100% of graduating students will agree or strongly agree with the following statements

appearing on the official graduation survey each quarter,

a. Georgia Military College helped me to develop the intellectual proficiencies to

meet and exceed my educational goals.

b. Georgia Military College helped me develop my ability to think critically and

independently.

c. Georgia Military College helped me to learn to function in a professional setting

and to act with ethical awareness.

Mission Objective 3

Georgia Military College will improve academic advisement of students in alignment

with the annual ACT advising survey. Faculty and advisor satisfaction rate will receive a 100%

score.

Functions and Tasks


1. The annual ACT survey will reflect the level of student satisfaction in reference to

advising to be greater than that of the national norm.

2. Advisors and faculty will attend quarterly advising workshops lead by the

assistant academic dean at each campus to refresh and enhance current advising

skills and to be educated on revisions and additions to the catalog.

3. Advising manuals will be updated and printed each year, along with online

versions linked through the faculty/staff webpage, to serve as desktop references

during advisement session.

4. Registration and advising dates and times will be flexible and extensive to meet

the needs all of students.

5. Online registration portals will be available for efficient registration for upper

class students.

6. Student surveys will provide feedback on each advisor’s skills.

Mission Objective 4

Georgia Military College will improve the degree of academic success of Learning

Support Services students. Learning support students will achieve a 100% success rate and will

progress into college level courses and graduate with a two-year degree.

Functions and Tasks

1. Learning Support students will continue to be monitored by Life Key’s

coordinators to ensure sufficient progress.

2. Faculty will provide mid-term progress reports of struggling or failing Learning

Support students to these students assigned advisors for review. Advisors will


contact these students to discuss academic needs and resources available through

the college. Follow-ups will then ensue.

3. Peer Leader students will be assigned to each Learning Support class to provide

peer guidance and support to these students.

4. Free tutoring and workshops will be provided at accommodating intervals for all

students.

Mission Objective 5

Georgia Military College will promote and improve character education within its student

body.

Functions and Tasks

1. Georgia Military College students will experience an enhanced and optimal

character education and ethical issues based academic learning environment and

curriculum through classroom and campus-wide initiatives.

2. Faculty will assign at least one reading assignment that promotes ethical and

moral thinking within the context of the course’s subject matter. Students will

compose an essay on this topic.

3. 100% student participation will be required in the Honor Code workshop and

signing during freshmen orientation sessions at the beginning of each new quarter.

4. Students will have the option to earn the Exceptional Character certificate through

community, religious and campus philanthropic activities outside of class time.

5. GMC 154: Character Education course will be a part of the core curriculum for all

Georgia Military College graduates.


6. Noel-Levitz surveys will be rendered each quarter to ensure national norms are

being exceeded.

Implementation of this plan will be overseen by the President and Academic Dean, in

conjunction with the appointed strategic planning committee, representing the main campus and

the individual DLC learning centers. A trickle down measure will follow from the committee to

each DLC director and DLC assistant academic dean. From the assistance academic dean

measures will flow to department coordinators to faculty and adjunct and from the DLC directors

to the support staff.


References

Kaufman, R., Herman, J. and Watter, K. (2002). Educational Planning: Strategic, Tactical and

Operational. Lanham, Maryland and London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Strategic Plan. Georgia Military College. FY 2005 – 2009.