Strategic Planning Process

Strategic Planning Process

The Planning team, together with experienced and in-depth knowledgeable personnel working in the faculties/colleges/institutes and administrative units of Istanbul Arel University, facilitates strategic planning at many levels throughout the University.

At the broadest level, the Planning team coordinates University-wide strategic planning. Provides strategic planning assistance and support at the level of faculty/college/institute and administrative units.

Four-Step Strategic Planning Process

The planning team works closely with units seeking support in strategic planning efforts and can create a range of supports and resources. At a very general level, the Planning team helps the units start a planning process, provides content and foresight to be able to picture the University in a broader framework, assists the units when/if they encounter obstacles, and provides an objective perspective. The team can assist the units in particular in the following ways: preparing or responding to suggestions from the institutional Programme Review process; accelerating meetings and other types of interaction with key founders and stakeholders; providing guidance on activities and practices related to the four planning phases; facilitating connections with other relevant units, offices and resources; providing input and feedback on draft plans.

Evaluation

Where is the Unit/Faculty/Center Now Located?

In this first phase of the strategic planning process, the unit reviews its current status, collects information and analyzes both internal and external data. This assessment is important because it provides a basis to help the unit understand where it is at this point and more clearly picture where it wants to go in the future. Information is collected from a variety of sources, both in-unit and out-of-unit. Acting in line with the activities described at this stage makes it possible for founders and stakeholders to be part of the process, thus increasing transparency and support both in the short and long term.

The following activities carried out during the EVALUATION phase of the strategic planning process can help the unit to better understand its current environment: Negotiating questions to quickly initiate strategic planning; Conducting an individual study taking into account the inputs obtained from the Program Review (if any), annual reports and founding documents; Conducting SWOT analysis; Conducting benchmarking; Requesting founder and stakeholder input through surveys, interviews and focus group meetings.

Development

Where Does the Unit/Faculty/Center Want to Be?

At this stage, the unit sets its objectives, establishes a framework and prepares the first draft of the plan; within the scope of the process, the unit revises and/or defines its mission, vision and values; the first draft of the plan, built in a consistent and understandable framework, is then discussed with stakeholders in order to receive feedback before progress.

With this stage of the planning process, the resources to assist the units are currently in development.

Realization

How will the unit/faculty/center go to the place it wants to be?

At this stage, the unit sets out outputs that include milestones and responsible parties; identifies necessary support and resources; identifies metrics and key performance indicators; finalizes the planning document; begins to execute strategic objectives in line with the identified action steps. With this stage of the
planning process, resources to assist the units are currently in development.

Measurement

How will the Unit/Faculty/Center know that it is successful?

At this stage, the unit monitors the progress of the implementation of the strategic plan and measures success through the analysis of metrics and key performance indicators; progress is visualized through dashboards and communicated to stakeholders. Finally, the unit evaluates the entire process in general terms and simplifies it for the next strategic planning turnaround.

With this stage of the planning process, the resources to assist the units are currently in development.

You can find more information about planning initiatives from the following sources:

• Academic and Administrative Unit Strategic Plans(Password Entry)
• Activity Reports(Password Entry)