2023-2030 CRP STRATEGIC PLAN

MISSION STATEMENT

The Community and Regional Planning (CRP) Program at the University of Texas at Austin seeks to continuously strengthen, adapt, and improve our teaching, research, and service activities to create and support healthy, safe, just, and environmentally resilient communities. Our mission is to provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities that empower students to accomplish these goals through practical engagement in transparent and socially inclusive planning processes in a variety of settings in the United States and around the world.

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

Between August 2022 and September 2023, the faculty and students of the Community and Regional Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-CRP), together with alumni and members of the professional planning community, undertook an extensive strategic planning process. We reviewed our previous strategic plans (2016 and 2020 revision) and created an updated plan that reflects emerging challenges in the planning profession and guides our actions over the next five to seven years. The updated strategic plan retains the mission and vision of the previous plans but expands the Program goals and objectives based on the priorities that CRP faculty, students, alumni, and other stakeholders identified in the plan-making process.

READ THE FULL PROCESS HERE

The 2023 UT-CRP Strategic Plan began with a faculty retreat in the Summer 2022. During that time, faculty reviewed our then-operative 2016/2020 Strategic Plan (PART IVC: SSR EVIDENCE, S1.2, page 33). This was followed by a review of our current curriculum, degree requirements, and learning objectives that measure how our current programming and structure was upholding the vision and goals set forth in the Plan. These discussions isolated important programmatic and strategic issues that we hoped could be informed by a deeper and more systematic process to create a new strategic plan for the Program.

Throughout the Fall of 2022 and into the Spring of 2023, we identified key stakeholders to work with during the strategic planning process: full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, current students, alumni, and employers of CRP Program graduates. We then held five focus groups to review the current curriculum, learning objectives and degree requirements, as well as Program culture and student preparedness for employment. The objective of these focus groups was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Program’s curriculum, students and faculty support, contribution to the field, and the preparedness of the graduates. The focus groups also helped identify potential opportunities to take advantage of and threats to be aware of. 

Focus group participants were asked to do a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis of CRP before they attended in-person meetings. They received a SWOT analysis form in advance by email and were asked to respond individually to the following questions (the employer focus group, which was moderated by the third-party consultant, followed a different set of guiding questions):

  1. What are the top three strengths of CRP? 
  2. What are the top three weaknesses of CRP?
  3. What are the top three opportunities that CRP can take advantage of?
  4. What are the top three challenges or threats we will face in the next five to seven years?
  5. (For the current student and alumni groups only) Given our current curriculum structure and load (core vs. elective for a total of 48 hours), 
    1. What are the top three topics that you think we should increase time and resources to?
    2. What are the top three topics that you think we should reduce time and resources?
  6. Please use four keywords to characterize future CRP as you envision it.

When the participants gathered at the group meetings, they shared their responses to the above questions and were encouraged to offer additional thoughts beyond the SWOT questions.

The various perspectives of the stakeholders provided a holistic critique of the Program. The following highlights the key aspects of CRP strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified collectively by the focus group participants and other stakeholders involved in the strategic planning process. The highlights are listed in descending order of mentions observed during the focus groups. Please refer to PART IVC: SSR EVIDENCE, S1.1 for detailed narratives and data from each focus group. 

GOALS AND MEASURABLE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

Goal 1: ENRICH LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES – The CRP Program aims to prepare students with the capacity to become innovative practitioners and skilled leaders in the planning related professions. We seek to provide a comprehensive curriculum offering a strong foundation in planning history, theories, institutions, and methods in order to address the urgent challenges facing the planning profession, including climate change, social and environmental justice, and the new and disruptive technologies. We offer diverse options for students to embrace multi-/interdisciplinary training and to engage in service and experiential learning in the local and global communities. 

  • Objective 1.1 - Strengthen the Curriculum
  • Objective 1.2 - Promote Interdisciplinarity
  • Objective 1.3 - Broaden Learning Opportunities

Goal 2: NURTURE A CULTURE OF INCLUSION FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY – We aim to maintain our excellence in planning research and scholarship. CRP student and faculty researchers will deliver top-quality output that has high academic, professional, and societal impacts. We strive to integrate research with teaching and connect faculty and students with practitioners.

  • Objective 2.1 - Improve Recruitment and Diversity
  • Objective 2.2 - Enhance Program’s Culture of Inclusion

Goal 3: INCREASE VISIBILITY AND IMPACT OF CRP RESEARCH – Students will value and seek to serve the public interest, work effectively in diverse contexts and cultures and engage all stakeholders with compassion, professionalism, honesty, and dedication.

  • Objective 3.1 - Promote Innovative Basic, Applied, and Community Engaged Research
  • Objective 3.2 - Increase Student Involvement in Academic and Practical Scholarship
  • Objective 3.3 - Augment Research Impacts

Goal 4: ENHANCE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT;  INCREASE LOCAL AND GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AND INFLUENCE – The CRP Program aims to streamline the transition from student to professional. We seek to actively engage with the public, private sectors and non-profit organizations locally, regionally, and globally. CRP’s visibility and influence are up and coming currently. We aspire to become internationally recognized as a top planning program. 

  • Objective 4.1 - Enhance Professional Development
  • Objective 4.2 - Strengthen Alumni Connections
  • Objective 4.3 - Increase CRP’s Local and Global Influence