From the desk of the President The past year has brought about a number of challenges to higher education in general and McNeese State University in particular. We have weathered an unprecedented cut to our budget and made a significant internal reorganization to better serve our students in the shortfall. While the challenges remain, we must meet the opportunities they present, which is why I am excited to invite you to participate in our five-year strategic planning process. I will be using a “Hoshin Planning” technique based on concepts developed by Professors Kaoru Ishikawa and W. Edwards Deming. The philosophy of this method is to use information technology to organize the collective thinking power of all constituents to make an organization the best in its field. We need YOUR ideas, suggestions, and comments. Toward that end, I’ve developed 12 questions to gather perspectives in key areas related to the University. 1. What is your first thought when you hear the name “McNeese”? 2. What do you love most about McNeese? 3. Whether you love it or not, what do you believe is McNeese’s greatest strength? 4. What is McNeese’s most glaring area for improvement? 5. What opportunities should McNeese seize within the next five years? 6. Is there anything about McNeese that is so fundamental that we should protect it against change? 7. What threats should McNeese be guarding against over the next five years? 8. What could McNeese do to improve student learning? 9. What should McNeese be doing to increase enrollment and retention? 10. If you could identify one aspect of the McNeese experience that “brands” us as distinct from other institutions, what would it be? 11. If McNeese could engage in just one activity that would excite you into wanting to contribute more of your time and/or resources, what would that activity be? 12. What ideas do you have about improving McNeese that have not already been mentioned? My staff and I will be hosting brainstorming sessions on campus and in downtown Lake Charles, Cameron, Jennings, Kinder, DeRidder, Sulphur, Lafayette, and Houston, Texas. Each session is designed to encourage individuals to speak ideas aloud or write responses anonymously. The input received through these sessions will assist me in shaping the long-term vision and mission of McNeese State University. I hope that you will be able to join us for one of these sessions. You can go to www.mcneese.edu/president and click on “Strategic Planning” for information on meeting dates and locations, to view responses to our questions, or to complete the strategic planning survey. Thank you for your support of McNeese. I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Dr. Philip C. Williams
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