Division of Student Affairs Strategic Plan: Forward Together

STRATEGIC PLAN FORWARD TOGETHER: Our path to a campus where every student thrives.

FORWARD TOGETHER:

Our path to a campus where every student thrives.

Dear Terp Community,

The Division of Student Affairs (DSA) began its strategic planning process in the fall of 2022 with a bold vision: every student thrives. I am delighted to present Forward Together, our five-year strategic plan that will unite our efforts toward achieving this vision.

When we began our planning process, we knew that the diverse experiences and perspectives of our DSA staff, student leader alumni, families, and students should inform our future. Over nearly a year, we captured staff input from across the division through multiple gatherings. We also captured feedback from our divisional partners. The resulting plan underscores the importance of many individual contributions. Each of us drives meaningful change and innovation.

Aligned with the University of Maryland’s strategic plan, Forward Together is our shared commitment to pursuing excellence for our students and for each other. It celebrates the collective strength of our 16 departments, and our inclusive community of care. By aligning our work and resources, we will maximize our impact. Together, we invest in our students, and we invest in each other!

This plan belongs to us all. The future is full of possibilities. I am excited to see what we accomplish as we move forward together.

With gratitude and hope,

Patricia A. Perillo, Ph.D. Vice President for Student Affairs she/ her/ hers

OUR MISSION:

We are an inclusive community of care where every student can realize their full potential. Our intentional use of resources creates environments that support and enhance student learning and growth, engagement, belonging, and health and well-being.

WE ARE 16 DEPARTMENTS WITH ONE VISION: EVERY STUDENT THRIVES.

Accessibility & Disability Service

Adele H. Stamp Student Union

Conferences & Visitor Services

Counseling Center

Dean of Students

Dining Services

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Development & External Relations

Family Engagement

Fraternity & Sorority Life

Resident Life

Residential Facilities

Student Conduct

University Career Center & The President’s Promise

University Health Center

University Recreation & Wellness

THE STUDENT AFFAIRS DIFFERENCE

The Division of Student Affairs makes the difference between getting a college degree and getting an education. It’s where students figure out not just what they want to do in the world, but who they want to be. It’s the difference between succeeding in the classroom and thriving for life. Student Affairs helps students come into their own and build strength—because solving the grand challenges of our time requires courage, resilience, and self-knowledge.

 THROUGH CO-CURRICULAR LEARNING EXPERIENCES

WE DELIVER OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM, OUR STUDENTS LEARN TO:

• ENGAGE INQUISITIVELY: Terps engage with curiosity and innovation.

• PRACTICE COMPASSION: Terps seek to understand, then act with care.

• ACT WITH COURAGE: Terps do brave things.

• WORK FOR JUSTICE: Terps work toward equity for all.

OUR PROCESS

Our planning process was inclusive and iterative. It was fueled by the diverse experiences and perspectives of our DSA staff, student leader alumni, families, and students. And, it was grounded in our vision, mission, and values.

Over nearly a year, we held multiple gatherings to capture frank and thoughtful feedback from staff across the division. This feedback shaped our plan’s strategic commitments. Staff volunteered to serve on working groups that further defined each commitment’s goals and objectives.

Our final plan reflects our collective insight and our path forward together.

GROUNDING BELIEFS

WE BELIEVE that all Student Affairs staff are educators.

WE KNOW that it takes every member of Student Affairs to ensure that students learn and develop in healthy and whole ways.

WE UNDERSTAND student success holistically.

WE INFUSE our work with diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and social justice principles and ethics.

WE CENTER our work on all students: undergraduate, and graduate students.

WE ALIGN PRACTICES WITH VALUES WE STRENGTHEN OUR FOUNDATIONS

OUR STRATEGIC COMMITMENTS

WE PUT STUDENTS

FIRST

WE INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE

WE CREATE CARING AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES FORWARD TOGETHER

WE THRIVE AS ONE DIVISION

WE PUT STUDENTS FIRST

We provide resources to co-create an inclusive, innovative community where students thrive. We empower and challenge students to cultivate their well-being, empathy, resilience, civic engagement, and advocacy. We support the holistic development of students through curricular and co-curricular learning experiences that enhance their sense of purpose, belonging, and lifelong success.



Transform students through co-curricular learning experiences so that they contribute to a diverse society.

OBJECTIVES:

• Offer curricular and co-curricular experiences that promote personal growth, career readiness, and lifelong learning.

• Map and assess learning experiences to UMD’s Co-Curricular Learning Outcomes; attend to equity issues.

• Build experiences for students to explore interests and develop skills and agency to participate actively in their learning and development.

• Increase collaborations with student, divisional, academic, and other campus partners to enhance students’ access to and use of programs and resources.

 GOAL 2

Prioritize physical, mental, and social well-being grounded in self-understanding.

OBJECTIVES:

• Develop definitions and aspirations grounded in national trends to unite campus efforts related to students’ well-being, and physical and mental health.

• Assess, reimagine, and recreate current programmatic, resource, and service offerings.

• Implement culturally relevant and equity-centered resources and programs that meet the present moment.

• Promote anti-racist efforts that enhance the well-being of all students and the community.

• Strengthen collaborations with students, campus partners, alumni, families, and the local community to enhance holistic student wellness.

 GOAL 3

Empower students to develop a sense of belonging and agency.

OBJECTIVES:

• Cultivate pathways for developing community through civic engagement, campus employment, student organizations, and residence hall communities.

• Educate the campus community about the role that students, families, staff, faculty, alumni, and administrators have in empowering students’ equitable access and utilization of existing campus resources.

• Empower students to use and practice their agency to co-create inclusive communities and environments that prioritize accessibility, safety, and well-being.

• Collaborate with students to identify and resolve inequities and injustices, eliminate barriers, and increase access to success in college, career, and life beyond UMD.

WE INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE

Our staff is our most valuable resource in achieving our vision, fulfilling our mission, and living up to our values. To ensure that our staff feel a sense of belonging and purpose, we commit to investing in them in three key areas: health and well-being; supervisor empowerment and accountability; and professional growth, development, and advancement.

 GOAL 1

Create a positive and supportive work environment that enhances job performance, and celebrates the intrinsic worth of all staff.

OBJECTIVES:

• Provide staff and supervisors a framework for identifying early signs of burnout and equip them with practical strategies to mitigate and manage stress effectively.

• Foster an organizational culture that promotes work-life balance and wellness.

• Help supervisors and staff develop workload management strategies.

• Improve business continuity.

• Create systems for celebrating staff accomplishments and cultivating a passion for service.

 GOAL 2

Advance the skills of supervisors, enhancing their ability to guide, support, and champion their teams.

OBJECTIVES:

• Develop a comprehensive training course for Student Affairs supervisors that teaches them how to support staff in career development, workload management, wellness, communication, recognition and engagement, ethics, and diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.

• Strengthen supervisory relationships throughout the division.

• Review job descriptions, departmental structures, and compensation to ensure they are equitable and aligned across the division.

 GOAL 3

Deliver robust opportunities for skill development, comprehensive support in identifying career advancement pathways, and dedicated guidance to help staff achieve their professional goals.

OBJECTIVES:

• Foster staff members’ capacity to advocate for their professional interests and needs.

• Build a comprehensive professional development program that provides regular opportunities for staff at all levels and classifications to expand and improve their personal and professional skill sets.

• Create pathways for mobility and growth within the exempt and non-exempt experience.

• Create opportunities for professional growth, career advancement, and skill and experience development, such as job sharing, cross-training, and externships.

• Incentivize staff to develop their careers by offering funding for training and forging new professional development pathways.

• Equip staff with the tools that they need to succeed at their work.

WE CREATE CARING AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES

Our goals coalesce around four key areas to transform organizational culture and behavior within the division. These areas are culture, climate, and community building; recruitment and retention; infrastructure; and learning and development. Focusing on these four areas is critical to integrating this work into all that we do.

 GOAL 1

Cultivate a supportive and respectful climate that values differing perspectives and experiences.

OBJECTIVES:

• Build strategies to sustain an environment that acknowledges and celebrates diversity.

• Employ inclusive excellence practices in daily operations.

• Evolve a culture where all community members feel welcomed, valued, and have a sense of belonging.

• Establish a restorative community of practice where the Division of Student Affairs comes together in a restorative philosophy to build trust, community, and healing.

 GOAL 2

Recruit and retain diverse staff at all levels.

OBJECTIVES:

• Develop and implement policies and practices that ensure successful recruitment, retention, and promotion of staff with marginalized identities.

• Support inclusive excellence within job descriptions and functions.

• Enhance professional development and mentorship opportunities for staff, specifically those with marginalized identities, to facilitate retention and promotion.

 GOAL 3

Ground our infrastructure and decision-making in inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, and social justice.

OBJECTIVES:

• Ensure policies, practices, structures, resources, and metrics drive diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism and justice commitments.

• Demonstrate departmental accountability for strategic plan components.

• Collaborate across departments to leverage and enhance inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, and social justice programming, learning, and development.

• Fully resource the Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

 GOAL 4

Enhance competencies and build capacities related to inclusion, diversity, equity, antiracism, and social justice.

OBJECTIVES:

• Grow awareness, knowledge, and skills that center inclusive excellence in students and staff through division-wide learning and development opportunities.

• Promote a shared framework for divisional and departmental learning and development opportunities.

• Implement training and development on White supremacy characteristics in decision-making, policies, and practices.

WE THRIVE AS ONE DIVISION

Collaboration across departments and teams creates strategic advantages for resource access and better connects us to each other and our work. Partnerships and cooperation among our departments maximize the quality and cohesiveness of student outcomes, as each department’s mission helps students thrive.

 GOAL 1

Form meaningful connections among staff to promote individual and community well-being.

OBJECTIVES:

• Provide time and space for staff to interact with each other outside the business-related context.

• Permeate our workplace, events, and programs with evidence of our value of care.

• Develop internships and mentorships so students can develop, engage, and connect with our division.

• Onboard all staff with intentional training and messaging to connect them to our vision, mission, and values.

• Create opportunities for staff at all levels to see how their work contributes to the whole.

 GOAL 2

Build a community based on our connection to our vision, mission, values, and each other.

OBJECTIVES:

• Create opportunities for divisional leadership to engage with staff at all levels to build relationships and to model the values and behaviors that underscore our culture.

• Create time and space for non-exempt staff to participate in connections, knowledge-building, and committee involvement opportunities.

• Highlight our current work to support our community, and encourage staff at all levels to utilize these resources.

• Use technology to be better informed about each other’s work, celebrate achievements, support others through challenges, and build meaningful connections.

 GOAL 3

Act with a “One Division” mindset to achieve our mission in the most creative, efficient, and values-driven manner.

OBJECTIVES:

• Promote adequate and equitable resourcing to solve institutional issues while considering the perspective of departments.

• Use intentional, collaborative initiative to create unified student experiences, raise awareness of and access to resources, create efficiencies, and enhance communication between departments.

• Employ inclusive and transparent decision-making, while equipping all staff with rationale and information to understand the changes and decisions.

• Invest in ways to unify our efforts to promote our values.

STRATEGIC COMMITMENT:

WE ALIGN PRACTICES WITH VALUES

Cohesive policies, processes, and procedures support and reflect the work and values of the division. They provide direction to ensure our operations are consistent, equitable, and transparent. We will establish and maintain these essential tools.

 GOAL 1

Establish a formal structure for managing divisional and departmental policy and procedure documents.

OBJECTIVES:

• Formalize, standardize, and organize policy and procedure documents, including maintenance, format, and location. Explore policy management tools and software.

• Establish continuity and change management plans for policies and procedures, including training and communication.

• Review and evaluate policies and procedures that apply to multiple departments.

• Integrate inclusivity into all policy and procedural practices by using plain language in multiple language translations.

• Remove barriers to electronic access where they exist for staff.

 GOAL 2

Systematize the review and evaluation of policies and procedures so that they align with departmental and divisional values and operations.

OBJECTIVES:

• Define the policies and procedures that need review and evaluation, and inventory them.

• Develop a measurable rubric or framework for evaluating policies and procedures, which includes a review schedule to ensure they support values and operations.

• Work with policy and procedure owners to create a productive way to contribute feedback, request changes, and resolve differences.

• Integrate inclusive excellence into all policy and procedural practices, including development, accessibility, communication, and application.

WE STRENGTHEN OUR FOUNDATIONS

Our physical and financial infrastructures are the agents that provoke, speed, or halt significant change. We must continually evaluate our systems and services to create a conduit for equitable, sustainable, and community-driven progress across the division.

 GOAL 1

Develop and implement a multi-year Division of Student Affairs facility renewal plan.

OBJECTIVES:

• Identify and prioritize the physical infrastructure needs for each Student Affairs building.

• Develop a Facilities Condition Assessment Program internally to monitor the condition of our buildings in real time.

• Prioritize and schedule infrastructure repairs and improvements, anticipating risks and rewards for each project.

• Deliver a preventive and predictive maintenance program with new campus projects.

 GOAL 2

Diversify income streams and identify divisional efficiencies to achieve department and divisional financial goals.

OBJECTIVES:

• Evaluate the benefits of aggregating resources from Student Affairs departments and identify purchasing, staffing, and resource-sharing efficiencies.

• Explore the feasibility of replacing or supplementing the current self-supporting funding model with funding from the university, state, endowments, or corporate sponsorships.

• Partner with academic units to explore how we can fund residence hall renewal.

• Develop a financially sustainable capital renewal and deferred maintenance funding plan for renewing existing infrastructure.