In the 1980’s, I was involved, as a very junior faculty member, with the development of a university strategic plan. This massive effort consumed thousands of hours of faculty and administrative time, produced a plan that filled a 2 inch three ring binder (with many other binders as “supplementary material”), and used up so much energy in its development that there was nothing left for actually implementing the plan. Those binders sat there on shelves, a silent monument to wasted effort.
When I was asked in 2007 to join a team, led by then ASA Vice President Bob Rodriguez, to develop a strategic plan for the ASA, that and other experiences informed my approach to the project. Under Bob’s leadership, with guidance from the other Strategic Plan Task Force members (Nicholas Fisher, Gerald Gates, and Jessica Utts), and with input from all sectors of the association, the ASA developed a two page, highly functional strategic plan that continues to guide the choices made by ASA leadership.
The plan consists of eight elements, organized around two themes. These themes reflect what the ASA’s leadership considers the two most important strategic directions for our association: (1) The ASA as “The Big Tent for Statistics” and (2) Increasing the Visibility of the Profession. We’ll write more about each of these themes in later installments of this blog. For now, though, if you’d like to read more about some of the activities related to them, check out Bob Rodriguez’ 2012 president’s address (published in JASA), or take a look at Marie Davidian’s final presidential column in Amstat News.
The plan guides the direction of the ASA in two ways. First, every decision made by the Board is made in the context of the two themes (and underlying elements). Second, each ASA president prepares her/his initiatives for the association in the context of the strategic plan and in concert with on-going strategic activities of the ASA. So, as a particularly relevant example, when 2012 ASA President Bob Rodriguez formed the 175th Anniversary Steering Committee, it was an action based on the strategic plan.
Perhaps you’ve had a bad experience in your career that give the words “strategic plan” a strong negative connotation. We hope it will help you to know that the ASA’s plan is concise, operational, and successful. And we think you’ll be pleased to know that the Board reviews the plan every year, to make sure it stays fresh and relevant to our association.
In 2014, the American Statistical Association is celebrating its 175th anniversary. Over the course of this year, this blog will highlight aspects of that celebration, and look broadly at the ASA and its activities. Please contact ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein (ron@amstat.org) if you would like to post an entry to this blog.