Week 15 - Blog #14

The End! I can't believe this semester is already over. I have learned so much I didn't know in August. Thank you for your top notch course. It was organized and easy to follow. Your feedback was always helpful. I have finished all of my projects except the Tegrity presentation. I have played with it a little and feel pretty confident that I can use the technology. This has been an excellent class!

Week 14 - Blog #13

Well, there is definately light at the end of this tunnel. I have finished my action plan and am about to put together my final project. The rubrics are SO HELPFUL! I think I would be quite lost without them. I am feeling confident about my project. I have read through my peer's project and really wish I had chosen a group with more technology needs like his. However, I guess there are all levels of needs that will be encountered. I enjoyed being able to read about someone else's project.

Week 13 - Blog #12

I really liked this week's assignment and readings on management. I like to organize things and learn new software programs so this week really had it all! I can see the action plan forming and it is all kind of starting to come together for me (hope I feel that way next week when I finish my action plan!) I am looking forward to implementing this strategic plan next semester as part of my graduate assistantship with the Career Development Center and have had some very good feedback from my boss about the project. She is very excited that I am able to combine work and school in a way that is beneficial to us both!

Week 12 - Blog #11

I don't know if anyone else in class experienced this or not, but I had a major panic with this week's lesson. I have gotten so used to having readings that lead directly into the homework (that give the answers) that I was actually lost for a bit on this one. I finally decided to look at weeks 6 and 7 and use the evaluation and analysis techniques we learned there. I hope that was the right thing to do because the given reading didn't mention any evaluation methods and what I pulled up from the internet on that topic didn't either. SO....if I'm right, yeah for me for transferring knowledge and if not, oops...

Week 11 - Bog # 10

I am still having a hard time differentiating between needs and solutions. I don't have difficulty in understanding the difference in my thoughts, but when I sit down to write, I keep including solutions in my needs assessments. The lines start to blur when you start going between what is needed and how to satisfy those needs. The readings have been interesting but still kind of hard relate to my project. I do feel like I am learning a lot about a topic I was totally ignorant of in the beginning.

Week 10 - Blog # 9

While thinking about the causes that have kept the CDC from reaching their vision, I keep coming up with the fact that they are dealing with students who are living for the moment and are very busy and just are not concerned about what they will do when they finish school. I know when I was in school, I never once thought about what would happen at the end. I was actually suprised to see that there were so many students that do use their services. They are really dedicated to advancing their services and reaching more students, so it is not for lack of trying. I am excited about helping them reach some of their goals.

Week 9 Blog # 8

This has been a very long and busy week. I don't know why but I put this class off till the end. I guess because there was a lot more to do for this class. While doing my evaluation mini project and my needs gathering and prioritizing, I found it very difficult to stick with what is currently in place instead of leaping forward into solutions, since in my mind, I have completed the whole project. I have had enough conversations with the main stakeholders to know what they want to have happen with their thechnology offerings and many of these projects are already in motion to some degree, so it is hard to go back to the evaluation stage and gathering stage. I had a hard time with the indicators, so I just winged it.

Week 8 - Blog # 7

OK, I have to eat my words! After bad-mouthing the Cassidy book earlier, I must say I was very impressed with all of the great examples given in Chapter 6. I should have read ahead when I was working on my mission and vision. It doesn't really go with my project, but will be good info to store and use later. The Witkin and Altschuld chapter gave some good practical definitions and explanations that will help with my project. As far as my project is going, I didn't even think about it this week because due to a family emergency, I was out of town dealing with other things this week. I will get back after it tomorrow!

Week 7 - Blog #6

I feel like I have a better understanding of the Analysis phase after the readings for this week. I really like the SWOT analysis, but my project doesn't really lend itself to the use of that one. It was good to read about how to set up an individual interview as well as focus groups and how to get the information you need from them. I did have a little trouble with the survey tool since I only want to know one thing, so I turned it into a marketing tool as well. My Vision meeting went well, though it was very brief. This is a very busy time of year for the Career Development Center. Everyone is on board with the project and excited to see it moving forward.

Week 6, Blog 5

I think the Evaluation/Analysis part of strategic planning is the most important part and it makes me wonder if it shouldn't come first. I know that I have been considering this part long before I put it on paper. How else do you know where you want to go if you don't know where you are? It is hard for me to see each piece as a different step when they build on each other so much. As far as the text reading goes...wow, it just boggles the mind to look at something with so much detail. I am very impressed by those who do this on that broad of a scale. I think I would go completely crazy with that much tedium and detailed planning/thinking. However I do appreciate that it has to be done and I will know what type of person to hire to do it for me!

Week 5 - Blog #4

Ah the vision statement! I have recently worked on creating vision, mission, and values statements for my last work department when we got a new boss and a new name. Our new boss had an MBA so he was well versed in this process and led us well. It was nice to see in the readings that he was following a plan and we engaged in many of the same gathering and brainstorming techniques. While working on my vision plan, I was a little confused as to whether to just go with the vision STATEMENT plan or work on the actual VISIONING plan that is discussed in chapter 4. I ended up mainly sticking with the statement and adding a revision of scope if necessary, since I already laid out most of the visioning part in my scope. I hope that is what you were after. I'm still enjoying the learning experience. When reading the book, I get to wishing my plan were more wide reaching and on a grander scale like those in the book, but I know I need to start small and work my way up!

Week 4 - Blog #3 (trying to get on the same naming)

I am really not a business type person, but the great thing about this course is that it is centered around technology, which greatly interests me. I know that these are very valuable skills to have so I will suffer through the "business" part and gear my creative urges into my plan.

I did actually find this book a little more reader friendly. I liked the concept of a Needs Assessmant bridging the gap between the present and the future. That you are dealing with unmet needs whether recognized or latent. In my project, the unmet needs are recognized so that is an added bonus. When I first met the CDC team, they were all very excited that I had technical skills and had developed online courses. They already had the start of a plan in mind. According to the book, my target groups are: Level 1 service receivers - students; Level 2 service providers - CDC staff; and Level 3 resources or solutions - access and time.

For Phase 1, preassessment, most of the work has been completed. My drafted scope has come from talking individually with the main stakeholders. I will hold a meeting with the full stakeholder group later this week to flesh out the ideas and get buy-in from the group. I don't forsee any problems with getting group buy-in because the cost is small and the outcomes will be beneficial to all stakeholders as well as to the students and administration.

Blog for Week # 3

I am settling in a bit more in my new town with my new job and being a full time student. It is not quite so overwhelming now. Whew!

I have really enjoyed my readings about stakeholder analysis. When I first started looking at stakeholders, I had envisioned one person, my boss, but as I read more, I realized that she wasn't even going to be the main stakeholder and that adding others would really add to the knowledge and experience of the planning. I had not thought of the importance of including staff earlier, but one of the web readings made me re-evaluate that. The staff members are going to be the main ones carrying out the plans, so they should have a say and be able to give their perspective and on the planning and the feasability of the steps of the plan as it relates to their jobs.

As far as the Cassidy reading goes, I believe the type of governance structure I am working with is mostly democratic. The boss makes the final decisions, but everyone has a say in the decision making. I like the charts in this book, but the reading is really not very interesting. I much prefer the web readings!

Week 2 Blog

I have been inundated with reading! My head is so full it may just pop! The good thing is that all the topics are complementary. The bad thing is keeping it sorted out into separate classes. This weeks' Strategic Planning reading was all about different strategic planning models and the purpose of information systems strategic planning. I really enjoyed the web readings and feel I have a much firmer grasp on the steps involved in strategic planning. The book reading was pretty dry, but it did have some nice charts. I am very visual, so charts are my friends!

As far as confusing areas from the reading goes...I still don't really see the need for the different models. The basic model seems to embody everything you need to get a plan going. It just seems like all the other models are variations of the same thing without much point. Maybe that is just beginner ignorance speaking. There are probably strategic planners out there who would be highly offended by my dismissal of the finer points of the different models.

Anyway, I feel more confident about speaking to my planning group for my project on developing a strategic plan for their technology needs on Monday. I have a good idea already what the needs are going to be and some ideas of how to go about reaching their goals. I can't forsee any setbacks at the moment, but I imagine there will be some along the way.

Week 1 Blog

What a first week! I finished my masters in 2003 and even though I have taken a few classes here and there, nothing could have prepared me for jumping back in as a full time student! Just trying to keep all the assignments and deadlines straight is a bit overwhelming! What was I thinking signing up for 4 classes to start with! Well, like any new experience, I guess it's best to just jump right in and do your best! I have such a lot of very interesting clesses. This Strategic Planning class seems like it will be a fun and very practical class. It will really give me some marketable skills, which as we all know are desparately needed to land and keep a good job. Everyone wants their business to flourish and to have someone on staff who knows how to successfully strategicly plan will be a definite plus! I am looking forward to learning a lot this semester.
Crystal