If you love SUNY Old Westbury’s core values and its current plans for academic excellence, innovation and creativity, read no further.
But if you want a say in the future of your school — your alma mater for life — this is your chance.
Student representation was low at the Sept. 17 preview of the draft of the university’s strategic plan for 2026-2031. But time is not up. Students still have a chance to leave feedback on the school’s planned metrics until Oct. 10.
“I do want to say that our president … and the cabinet want to hear from you,” Dr. Randall Edouard, Vice-President of Student Affairs & Dean of Students said at the presentation. “Your participation will be a direct influence on how we move forward.”
For a university, a strategic plan is a formal document that outlines the school’s future goals, how it will achieve them, and what resources it needs to do so. It helps guide a college’s future decisions and is a way to measure progress on objectives. Each key objective, or goal, has specific strategies and metrics attached.
The four goals in the draft of Old Westbury’s strategic plan are: Academic Excellence and Research, Innovation and Creativity, Institutional Resilience and External Profile, and Student and Enrollment Success.
A strategy is a concrete action or method used to achieve specific goals over a timeline. For example, within each of the four goals listed above, there are five to six strategies to reach that goal.
A metric is a way to precisely measure and track the progress of a school toward successfully achieving its goals. They help the college know if their strategies are working and give it the chance to adjust strategies if need be. In Old Westbury’s case, the strategic plan is set to measure metrics in 2029 and 2031. To be clear, the feedback being solicited at this point is on the metrics linked to each goal.
“Your voice shapes our future,” said Sam Kloeckener-Soszynski, Associate Dean of Students & Junior Class Dean, also during the presentation. “The decisions right now are going to impact your college experience and the future of Old Westbury.”
Participation is open through Oct. 10 online via Goal 1 Metrics, Goal 2 Metrics, Goal 3 Metrics, Goal 4 Metrics.
