Strategies 191
Strategic Accountability at Villanova University
Villanova University has shown its commitment to achieving its twelve
strategic goals (the equivalent of what we have named strategic initiatives) by
naming goal attainment teams to monitor progress in reaching each of them.
The teams include the faculty and staff members who are in the most logical
position to assess and influence the goals. One member of the team is also on the
university’s primary planning body, which is comprised of academic deans and
senior administrators. The charge to the teams is “to concentrate on a specific
goal in order to monitor progress, facilitate and suggest strategies for actualizing
goals, and in other ways to enhance goal-driven strategic planning” (Kelley and
Trainer 2004, 99).
Goals and Deadlines
Nor can accountability function effectively without time-defined goals. Dead-
lines have a marvelous ability to focus the mind. Especially in academic com-
munities, where strict deadlines for curricular projects are not customary, they
are essential ingredients in strategic thinking and planning. They build a sense
of urgency for both individuals and groups, especially committees. For groups in
particular, they create a sense of shared reality and motivation. Deadlines and
time lines also help to create a sense of systemic connection between and among
strategic initiatives and diverse goals. Projects lead logically from one to another,
from one initiative to the next. The connections between goals, the achievement
of which is facilitated by differential deadlines and timetables, become a crucial
dimension in the creation of strategic momentum.
Strategic Academic Goals
Students of strategic planning might logically suggest that measurable goals,
explicit accountabilities, and timetables make sense in the administrative, but
not the academic, sphere. Although there are major differences between the two
decision-making systems, explicit goals are relevant and important in both arenas.
The effectiveness of goals that relate to academic programs and to teaching and
learning depend on a variety of aspects of the strategy process that we have empha-
sized. An academic strategic initiative needs to be described carefully in terms of
the external or internal factors that are prompting a proposed change. The ratio-
nale for change sets the conditions that a new or revised program must meet in
order to satisfy broader strategic aspirations. The connection to other strategic
issues and opportunities should be made explicit. As we saw in the example of
Monnet University, if international studies is to become an extensive new major,
the goals of the undertaking need to be explicitly tied to the environmental scan,
the capacities and interests of students and faculty, the availability of learning
resources, and the ways other academic and university programs will contribute
to it and be strengthened by it.