Operating as one of four universities in the University of Missouri system, UMKC´s planning was framed by system-wide planning and goals, which are sanctioned by the UM Board of Curators. In addition to system-wide objectives, UMKC’s current Strategic Planning process was informed by several previous internal and external self studies and evaluation reports. Among these were Life Sciences Task Force (Danforth Report), UMKC Trustees’ Initiative, Blue Ribbon Task Force ("Time to Get It Right" and "Time to Get Things Done," reports), and the Provost’s Academic Commissions.

The Process

Beginning in October 2008, UMKC initiated a Strategic Planning process. The Strategic Planning Steering Committee, chaired by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Gail Hackett, had 27 members representing the breadth of UMKC constituents: faculty, staff, students and community members. The names of the Strategic Planning working groups, which began meeting in December 2008, reflect UMKC’s historic mission areas and several other broad objectives important to UMKC’s mission: Undergraduate Education/Student Success; Life/Health Sciences; Visual/Performing Arts; Urban Vision/Community Engagement; Diversity/Campus Climate; Science and Technology; and Economic Development.

In early March 2009, the UMKC Strategic Planning working groups submitted their reports to the Steering Committee. These findings were compiled into a single, comprehensive report by a writing team, made up of faculty and staff. In order to solicit and encourage campus-wide participation in the review of the draft, the Provost and members of the Steering Committee scheduled a series of meetings, including Town Halls on both campuses, during the month of April 2009. Based on responses from these meetings and the web site, a final version of the Strategic Plan’s Goals and Objectives was completed in October 2009.