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Exciting days for D&E

If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

This wise axiom was shared with me many years ago, and life experience has taught me that it is correct. The axiom is a good one for our lives individually, and for institutions as well.

On Sept.15, the faculty and staff of Davis & Elkins College had a unique opportunity to shape the institution’s future.

More than 125 people gathered in The McDonnell Center to add their thoughts and voices to an emerging strategic plan that will guide D&E for the next several years.

Rather than producing a voluminous plan to sit on a shelf and collect dust, we are engaged in creating a strategic framework that will provide vision and practical direction. The faculty and staff provided reaction and guidance to four themes previously developed to focus our priorities and efforts.

The Board of Trustees, alumni leaders, students and community participants will have a similar opportunity in the coming weeks. From all of this input, specific objectives and goals will emerge to keep us on track to arrive at an aspirational destination in our journey.

A successful strategic plan cannot come from a single person. In a complex organization, such as a college, the collective wisdom of the body is preferable to the wisdom of a solitary soul.

As President, I am ready and willing to lead, but the plan we follow will be the one arrived upon collectively.

As I witnessed members of our faculty and staff delve into the process of discerning strategic direction, I was heartened by the enthusiasm, animation and conviction that was evident on their faces.

I witnessed a room full of people who deeply love and care about Davis & Elkins College. Each of these people are engaged and energetic to shape our future through wisdom, hard work and ownership of the plan.

All in attendance recognized that each idea will not ultimately be included in the emerging plan, but each idea has merit and deserves consideration. For all the stakeholders in D&E, we deserve to have our opinions heard and valued.

This is essential for any organization that desires to move beyond good to great.

These are exciting days for Davis & Elkins College. Having weathered difficult financial challenges in the not-so-distant past, the College is healthier and wiser today. We must remain vigilant to keep the financial bottom line strong.

As we do this, the time is right to turn our collective attention to putting into place the building blocks of a stronger college, represented by academic excellence, co-curricular innovation and a transformative student experience second to none.

Over the coming weeks and months, the plan that will lead to an even more vital and successful D&E will emerge.

As each generation of leaders at this College has done before, we are tasked with both preserving and re-inventing the unique educational experience that has molded students at this institution for generations. Built upon the traditions of the past emerge the plans for a promising future.

The journey continues….

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