The ODU Libraries strategic planning process began informally in November 2022 with two activities: first, a leadership team retreat at which members discussed potential priorities for the coming fiscal year and beyond; second an official response from the Libraries to the University’s draft strategic plan. The latter document outlined some of the ways that the Libraries directly align with and contribute to the University’s values, opportunities, challenges, and strategic goals. In January 2023, the process officially began with the publication of Old Dominion University’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, Forward-Focused: Where Innovation Meets Possibilities. With the institutional plan and its seven strategic goals in place, the Libraries were ready to begin our own process of identifying key priorities for the coming five years.
With the assistance of Dr. Jay O’Toole, Associate Professor in the Strome College of Business, the Libraries’ leadership team created a Core Purpose and set of Core Values to serve as the philosophical framework of the planning process. From there the team turned to analysis of the Libraries’ activities, its competitive environment, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) the Libraries face. These three analyses are summarized under the tabs at left. The last piece of the planning framework was the creation of a Visionary Goal that describes where the Libraries hope to be in the next two to three decades. At each of these stages the leadership team shared drafts with all Libraries staff, soliciting feedback via email and anonymous forms; as feedback came in leadership team members incorporated it into the draft documents and continued revising.
