Key Terms

• Guiding principles⁵: an expression of the philosophical convictions guiding the organization on a successful journey.  They serve as a foundation for the organization’s mission, vision, and strategy.
  
  
• Louisiana Board of Regents¹:  a state agency created by the 1974 Louisiana Constitution to plan, coordinate, and have budgetary responsibility for all public postsecondary education and to have other powers, duties, and responsibilities provided Article VIII, Section 5 of the Constitution or by law.
  
  
• Louisiana GRAD Act²: The GRAD Act was approved by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal in June, 2010.  As a result, the Board of Regents has entered into six-year performance agreements with each of the participating institutions.  In the agreements, the institution commits to meeting specific performance objectives in exchange for increased tuition authority and eligibility to participate in certain autonomies. 
  
  
• Mission³: a statement that indicates what the organization plans to do and to whom it will be done. The statement indicates the reason the organization exists. The Mission Statement serves as the basis for the development of the organization’s focus areas/issues, outcomes, and strategies.
  
  
• Stakeholder⁷: a person or group that has an investment, share, or interest in something, as a business or industry.
  
  
• Strategic focus areas³: Major areas of the organization that are of concern and that need to be addressed to enhance or improve the organization (e.g., administration/governance, research, professional development, etc.).
  
  
• Strategic objective⁴: A broadly-defined target that the organization needs to achieve to make its strategy a success.
  
  
• Strategic planning³: the systematic process through which an organization agrees on and builds commitment among key stakeholders to priorities that are essential to its mission and responsive to its operating environment. The intent is to sharpen the organization’s focus so that resources are optimally used to achieve the organization’s mission.
  
  
• Strategy⁵: a process for determining the direction in which an organization needs to move to fulfill its mission.
  
  
• University of Louisiana System⁶: one of the nation's twenty largest public systems of higher education, consisting of nine universities located throughout the state. 
  
  
• University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors¹: a state agency created by the 1974 Louisiana Constitution to have supervision and management of state colleges and universities not managed by a higher education board created by or under Article VIII of the Constitution.
  
  
• Vision¹: A statement of what the organization wants to be in the future. The Vision Statement provides the major long-term direction for the organization’s planning and is the ultimate outcome to be achieved through the planning process.

 

¹Adapted from http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Documents/Constitution/Article8.htm

²Adapted from http://regents.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=181

³Adapted from http://www.asha.org/academic/DSPDefinitions.htm

⁴Adapted from http://thelawdictionary.org/objective/

⁵Adapted from Morrissey, G. L., 1996.  Morrisey on Planning: A Guide to Strategic Thinking.  Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.  119 pp.

⁶Adapted from http://www.ulsystem.net/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&nid=19&pnid=0&pid=50&fmid=0&catid=0&elid=0

⁷Adapted from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stakeholder?s=t