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FAQs

Frequently-asked questions on Stanford’s long-range planning vision

General FAQ

What is a vision, anyway?

Our vision is the culmination of our year-long process of soliciting ideas and proposals from our community and input from experts and leaders beyond the university. Our vision sets a strategic directional course to be mapped out through implementation planning during the coming academic year. The vision establishes a university-level framework and strategic priorities, while retaining flexibility for further refinement and the ability to respond to new opportunities.

 

Why is the vision called “Navigating a Dynamic Future”?

Major societal changes are upending the ways of thinking, working, learning and governing in our world. Scientific and technological change are creating both opportunities and disruption, while urgent social problems demand attention on a broad scale.  We believe that Stanford’s can-do spirit, our optimism and our track record of innovation position us strongly to help society navigate this dynamic future, in order to accelerate benefits and to address challenges.  Through the long-range planning process, the Stanford community overwhelmingly expressed the will to seize transformative opportunities and to tackle pressing societal problems. The vision is intended to establish institutional priorities that acknowledge these important considerations.

 

Why aren’t all the details worked out?

The planning process for an organization as complex and large as our university typically takes place in multiple stages over a few years—even when the process doesn’t involve over 2,800 ideas. The ideas and proposals from our community that served as the basis for the vision typically were submitted at a conceptual level. We need to rely on the disciplinary and operational experts in our community to design the specific objectives and implementation plans to execute the vision. We have completed the first phase on schedule, which started in April 2017, and will complete remainder of the process, and in some cases start execution, during the next academic year.

 

How does this vision tie back to the 2,800 ideas submitted by the campus community?

The vision  is organized around the four areas covered by the planning process and is directly inspired by the ideas submitted in those four areas: Education, Research, Our Community and Engagement Beyond Our University (now covered in a Presidential Initiative). The Initiatives in these four areas reflect strategic interests identified by our community through the ideas and Area Steering Group (ASG) White Papers as opportunities for Stanford to make a difference in areas of urgent need. For instance, with respect to Our Community, the vision reflects key themes that emerged earlier in the process for opportunities to improve the quality of life and work on campus, including in the areas of inclusion and diversity, mental health, affordability, communication, personal development, residential education and decentralization.

 

What’s new in this vision that Stanford hasn’t done before?

The vision reflects both new ideas and the application of tested practices to entirely new contexts. Some new concepts include:

 

What is an Initiative?

The University Initiatives are the starting point for opportunities for engagement across campus. Initiatives will not have “one-size-fits-all” structures but will have flexibility to evolve to meet specific objectives. Structures for the research and education initiatives could include: affiliations or networks, hubs, flexible short-term entities and/ or longer-term institutes or an equivalent entity. The initiatives will provide a new set of nimble organizational models to complement existing department, center, and institute structures. The recommendations for frameworks and priorities for the Initiatives will be developed by Design Teams during the next academic year.

 

Is the vision solely focused on new projects as part of a capital planning process?

No. Our process delivered a broad range of ideas. Many ideas call for improvement of existing practices or complement existing programs and can be implemented without incremental funding. Other aspects of the vision will require the University to set priorities, establish phased implementation and secure additional resources.

 

What happens next in the process?

During spring quarter, the President and Provost will continue discussions with our community.

During summer quarter, the groundwork for implementation will begin by organizing Design Teams to build out the vision.  The chairs of the Design Teams will be appointed by the President and Provost, in consultation with the Executive Cabinet. The charge will be given to each Design Team by the President and Provost.  The chairs will propose membership of their Design Teams for approval by the President and Provost, in consultation with the Executive Cabinet.

In September, the Design Teams will begin their work, which will include conducting outreach for stakeholder advice and making recommendations regarding: specific operational goals, timing of implementation and metrics for success. The Design Teams will have varying deadlines to complete their overview planning during AY2018-19, depending on their scope of work. After analysis by Design Teams and acceptance by Executive Cabinet, the university leadership will develop plans to secure resources for execution of the vision. Additional groups also will work on major projects such as the Housing Task Force focused on a long-term horizon and a team working on a master space plan for reimagining central, communal space. The Design Teams will also build affinity groups for interested members of the campus community.

 

Campus community see also: