Real talk: This one’s for the Boundless Possibility wonks. Everyone else, pull on your reading boots and waders because we’re heading into the tall grass of the strategic plan.

We want to update you on the strategic plan’s tactics, which we realize isn’t the most captivating topic. But you are reading a blog about a strategic plan, so who’s really to blame here? Still, we don’t want this to be unpleasant. To help make this less of a trudge, we’ve simulated a conversation with a person who has a bewildering curiosity about our tactics.

Hi. I was looking through the goals on the Boundless Possibility website, and I have questions.  

We hope to have answers. Whaddya got?

I noticed we have a new set of tactics but no new objectives. Why is that?

It’s because objectives are long-term milestones that are somewhat aspirational, whereas tactics are all the things we’re doing to achieve a specific objective. Think of tactics as short-term checkpoints that allow the University to be opportunistic and agile.

What do you mean by “opportunistic and agile”?

Imagine you’re taking a long road trip. Before you leave, you—or Google, if we’re being honest—map out the most efficient route. At some point on the drive, you may need to take a detour due to traffic or a road closure or because you had to see the Cabazon Dinosaurs.

Tactics are the roadways of this seven-year road trip we call Boundless Possibility. Objectives, which constitute multi-year and multi-piece efforts, are like the hotels or Airbnbs we stay at along the way, which is why they’re unlikely to change.

I’ve been on road trips where I canceled a hotel room and stayed at a roadside motel because I was too tired to keep driving.

That’s a perfect addition to the metaphor. For the University to abandon or change an objective—or, in terms of the metaphor, a reservation—it would take a significant shift or change somewhere in the institution that required it to hit pause, take a step back, and ask, “Is this still the right move to get us where we’re trying to go?”

So, I think we’ll continue to get new tactics. How do you decide what they will be?

It’s kind of situationally dependent. Some of our tactics will take time to play out while some are ongoing. Plus, there are internal and external factors that will continually influence what we do. However, leadership changes are a major contributor to some of the 2024–25 tactics.

• John Blackshear, the vice president for student life, joined us in the middle of the strategic plan’s first year
• David Linehan, the new CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, started in February 2024
• Nicole Sampson was recently named provost after stepping in as interim provost for David Figlio in July 2024

Each of these transitions prompted an examination of existing tactics to determine where they do and do not align with our new leaders’ vision.

What’s the point of sharing the tactics? Some of them are kind of vague.

Weird question to be asking at this point of the conversation. Would you rather tactics not be included? Because many universities don’t. They’ll share goals and objectives, and that’s it. There are no details around the “how.”

The University is trying to be transparent about its approach. If the strategic plan were a math problem, the inclusion of tactics is the University showing its work, which leads to granularity and, yes, some necessary vagueness. We both know that if there were no tactics, right now you’d be asking, “HoW aRe YoU GoiNG To iMPRoVe ReSeaRcH FaCiLiTieS?

Maybe. OK—Why separate the tactics by year? Are we still tracking progress on the old ones?

Again, we want to be transparent. And keeping an annual record of the work being done and how it is evolving felt necessary.

We said this early on: The strategic plan is a living document. We’ve shared what we can and will continue adjusting for accuracy and consistency.

And yes—we’re tracking progress on all tactics.

Except I don’t see any tracking on the 2024–25 tactics.

No, you don’t. But we bet you noticed that it took a while for the 2024–25 tactics to appear on the goal pages. The reason for that is many of the objectives within the research and sustainable growth goals are tied to the provost’s office. As we said, that office was in transition, delaying the creation and approval of new tactics. Could we have added some tactics while we waited for others to be finalized? Yes, but we opted to add them all at once.

Because the strategic plan’s year aligns with the academic year, the 2024–25 tactics experienced a delay of about five months. Rather than tracking progress now, we’re aiming to create a tactics “report card” around the beginning of August.

You’re going to make me ask?

Ask what?

The tactics for the health care goal…

Ah. Right.

After everything we’ve told you, you can’t be completely lost on this. Those leadership changes we mentioned were a big deal. Maybe we should have emphasized that.

David Linehan inherited strategic plan objectives and tactics for the medical center and school based on a roadmap his predecessor created about 10 years ago. Being a thoughtful, pragmatic leader, David wanted to revisit existing strategic priorities to determine if they were still the best way forward; he is also shaping his vision for those massive University entities.

To determine the particulars of the next phase of growth for health care and education at the University, David has been on an extensive listening tour with clinicians, faculty, staff, students, and community members.

And that’s just what’s happening internally. There are factors at the local, state, and now—in a big way—federal levels that influence decisions on objectives and tactics. We assure you, they’re coming.

I’ll be on the lookout. Leaders like David are listed as the leaders of the objectives, but who is in charge of tactics?

That is up to the objective leads, such as David, Nicole, and John. Although they are ultimately accountable for the progress made or not made on their objectives, the projects and initiatives that constitute the corresponding tactics are carried out by people on teams within their purview. So, pick a tactic. It either falls within one person’s portfolio or the portfolios of a group of people. That person or group is moving those projects and initiatives forward.

If you have questions about specific tactics, reach out to the objective leader or one of the co-leaders. You can also submit questions through the Boundless Possibility feedback form.

Yeah. I might. I think I’m good for now.

Thanks for checking in.