2021 Strategic Plan

How we got here...

Much of the Strategic Plan that Limestone is currently operating began prior to 2017, when Limestone’s Board of Trustees contracted with the consulting firm Brailsford & Dun-lavey to work with Limestone’s Strategic Planning Committee to conduct market research and interview stakeholders with the major deliverable being a new Strategic Plan. From that information, Brailsford & Dunlavey recommended to the Board of Trustees that Limestone focuses on four primary strategic goals. The execution of the Strategic Plan was projected for 7 to 10 years with three phases: Stabilization (2-3 years), Transformation (5-7 years), and Maturation (5-10 years). The Board of Trustees voted to implement the consultants’ Strategic Plan in Spring 2017 starting the academic year 2017-2018.

In January of 2018, Limestone leadership instituted 14 task forces to gather additional feedback from faculty, staff, and students, to reinforce and update the Strategic Plan that was initially adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2017. The actionable items were added to the Strategic Plan tracking document as action items to address strategic goals, tactics, and objectives. Limestone leadership also recommended adding a fifth strategic goal: Ensure Limestone’s stability and growth through support, recognition, transparency, and fostering a family culture for faculty and staff with goals, tactics, and objectives which also stemmed from the task force recommendations. The updated Strategic Plan was presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2018.

That updated plan provided a direction that was ambitious but achievable and a logical extension of Limestone’s historic strengths that would require the institution to stretch and change. The updated and adopted 2019 Strategic Plan – aimed at stabilizing Limestone and paving the way for growth -- focused on goals surrounding recruiting, support infrastructure, community, resources, and culture.

Where we are going...

With Limestone completing its “Drive To University” initiative in the summer of 2020, Limestone leadership set a course later that year to develop a Limestone University Strategic Plan that will be considered for adoption by the Board of Trustees on April 16, 2021. Now is the time to focus on transformation.

As it charts its path forward, Limestone will undoubtedly continue its mission to educate students from diverse backgrounds in the liberal arts and selected professional disciplines. In a nurturing, supportive environment based on Christian ideals and ethical principles, the University will also continue to offer opportunities for personal and professional growth to individuals who may find access to higher education difficult.

Running parallel with those essential beliefs and values, Limestone has also developed and implemented new programs and partnerships to enhance the University’s status and to reposition Limestone to better serve the needs of South Carolina and its students. Limestone University is dedicated to offering a private university quality education with the career pathways students want, but at a net cost comparable to the state’s regional public institutions.

With new programs and partnerships underway and more on the horizon, the time was right to develop the 2021 Strategic Plan that will take Limestone University to new heights.

Gathering input for the plan...

Limestone Leadership partnered with Credo to build the framework needed to develop and implement a new Strategic Plan that is flexible, adaptable, and iterative.

Credo is a comprehensive higher education consulting firm that specializes in working with independent colleges and universities. Credo has partnered with Presidents and Cabinet members around the country, garnering unprecedented access to and trust with independent higher education leadership.

Limestone’s newest strategic planning started with Credo reviewing the University’s existing data and plans, and then the process began to build on our success by incorporating wide-reaching community buy-in and infusing that input with best- and next- practices.

The President’s Cabinet met in-person with Dr. Parker and representatives from Credo for an 11-hour Strategic Plan Workshop on October 8 & 9. In addition to gathering input from the Vice Presidents, the group invited additional staff and faculty members to form a Strategic Plan Committee that would begin meeting in the early part of 2021.

During the two-day session, as part of its “Strategy Map” development, the group identified three areas of concentration in creating a new Strategic Plan:

• Commitment To & Belief In Success
• Transforming Expectations
• Focus On The Future

From there, the group identified four different objectives to consider (referred to by Credo as “file cabinet drawers”) under each theme.

To categorize initiatives (referred to by Credo as “folders in the file cabinet drawers”), the group linked their objectives to four criteria:

• Students & Stakeholders
• Internal Processes
• Organizational Capacity
• Financial Resources

On October 21, Credo conducted a virtual “Community Day” to gather input from the entire campus community. Well over 200 staff and faculty members took part in the three-hour session.

The Credo virtual input session with the Board of Trustees took place on October 30.

Building a strategic road map...

In January of 2021, the President’s Cabinet and Strategic Plan Committee met three different times – twice virtually for a total of four hours, and a third time face-to-face for four hours – to review the data gathered from the Board of Trustees and the faculty/staff in order to prepare for the next steps in the planning process.

Through those meetings, the Strategic Plan Committee developed three Theme Teams that would go on to meet in February four times for a combined total of eight hours each. A portion of those Theme Team meetings were held virtually, while others were held face-to-face.

As agreed upon during the Theme Team Launch meeting with the President’s Cabinet and Strategic Plan Committee on January 22, 2021, the three Theme Teams were Co-Chaired by Mike Cerino/Stacey Mason, Monica Baloga/K.C. Barnhill, and Michael Scharff/Charles Wyatt. During that January 22 meeting, the Executive Committee did in-person training with Credo to practice suggested activities with the respective Theme Teams.

. Also, as part of the training on January 22, the President’s Cabinet and Strategic Plan Committee did training that would be used during the four February meetings with the Theme Teams. That training included reviewing/organizing data from the campus community (to create “file folders” for each drawer), determining what might have been missed that needs to be added to the file folder and shaping up some of the identified initiatives, identifying paths to success by giving each initiative a time-frame for completion, and prioritizing each initiative.

Following the four meetings of the Theme Teams in February, the co-chairs of each team then summarized its findings and presented those to Dr. Parker for his review and consideration.

The Theme Team co-chairs submitted reports to Dr. Parker that identified objectives (drawer title), initiatives (folders in each drawer), initiative descriptions, a success matrix for year one, a success plan for years 2-5, an Ultimate Success Metric to identify the aspirational/full goal for each initiative, and a prioritized list of initiatives.

On March 18, 2021, the President, the President’s Cabinet, and the Strategic Plan Committee met virtually for six hours to provide feedback and recommend prioritization of the Theme Team summaries. From there, Dr. Parker edited the recommendations to formulate the Strategic Plan to be presented to the Board of Trustees on April 16, 2021.