North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has contracted with MGT Consulting to create a new strategic plan for 2025-2030. This plan will guide NCCU's future. The planning process will involve individual interviews, focus group sessions, a comprehensive survey, and numerous strategy meetings. Multiple stakeholder groups will be encouraged to participate.
Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon appointed a strategic planning steering committee to oversee the planning process. The university also created a liaison committee to work with the consultants to facilitate the completion of each phase of the planning effort.
The plan should be completed by June 30, 2025, and will help us reach academic, operational, and community goals. Your feedback is critical to ensuring we use our resources well to meet the university's highest priorities. Join us by taking the survey here.
2025-2030 Strategic Plan
Work Plan and Revised Timeline
The work plan is the document we use to monitor our activities internally and keep the planning process on schedule. It also serves as the basis from which NCCU’s project manager can track the progress of the planning process. It should be noted that it may be possible to perform some tasks and activities simultaneously while others must be performed sequentially due to the nature of the activities involved.
MGT Consulting's timeline is based on the proposed work plan and would ensure the presentation of final deliverables within five months of project initiation. Firm dates were agreed upon and finalized during the Project Initiation phase.
Task 1.0: Project Initiation and Assessment
This task sets the stage for the entire planning process. It involves conducting an initiation meeting with key NCCU stakeholders, including the project manager, Strategic Planning Committee, senior leadership, and the Board of Trustees. The goal is to review the project's objectives, communication protocols, and expectations. Additionally, MGT Consulting will review existing data, reports, and organizational documents to assess the university's current standing. An environmental scan will also be conducted to understand demographic, economic, and social trends relevant to the university. The task culminates in the finalization of a revised work plan and project schedule.
| Tasks, Activities, and Deliverables | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | ||||||
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| 1.1 | Schedule and conduct the project initiation meeting with NCCU’s project manager, Strategic Planning Committee, senior leadership, Board of Trustees, and any appropriate key representatives. | |||||||||
| 1.2 | Review key project objectives, expectations, communication protocols, and reporting requirements. | |||||||||
| 1.3 | Discuss timing of project activities relative to NCCU’s events/activities, and the roles and responsibilities of those engaged in the strategic planning process and MGT Consulting. | |||||||||
| 1.4 | Collect and review data, reports, plans, organizational charts, and other source documents pertinent to the strategic planning process. MGT Consulting will submit a data request for source documents not available on NCCU’s website. | |||||||||
| 1.5 | Revise the work plan and corresponding timelines (if necessary) and submit for final approval. | |||||||||
| 1.6 | Review and assess key data, including key focus areas as noted in RFP, status and trends in higher education. | |||||||||
| 1.7 | Collect and analyze data on service area demographic, educational, economic, employment, and social/cultural trends and projections. | |||||||||
| 1.8 | Prepare and submit environmental scan and institutional comparison summary with supporting exhibits. | |||||||||
| 1.9 | Work with NCCU’s project manager to determine the selection of sections for the strategic plan. | |||||||||
| Deliverables • Project initiation meeting • Revised work plan and project schedule • Summary assessment |
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Task 2.0: Mission, Vision, Values Development
In this phase, a facilitated meeting will be held with key stakeholders to refine and define NCCU’s mission and vision statements. The aim is to ensure that the mission and vision reflect the university’s goals and values while aligning with key strategic outcomes. Feedback will be collected and compiled to summarize the revised mission, vision, and values.
| Tasks, Activities, and Deliverables | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Conduct a facilitated meeting with the key stakeholders to review and address NCCU’s mission and vision statement, strategic goals, and values focused on building themes around the key outcomes. | |||||||||
| 2.2 | Seek input from NCCU’s project manager and other key representatives (if appropriate) based on outcomes of the facilitated meeting. | |||||||||
| 2.3 | Compile and summarize results of mission, vision, and values meeting | |||||||||
| Deliverables • Facilitate meeting • Meeting summary |
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Task 3.0: Strategic Goal Development
Building upon the previous tasks, strategic goals will be identified for each focus area of the university’s development. This will include setting measurable objectives aligned with NCCU's priorities. Draft strategic goals and objectives will be submitted to the university for review to ensure they are comprehensive and achievable.
| Tasks, Activities, and Deliverables | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Based on prior tasks, identify strategic goals for each focus area. | |||||||||
| 3.2 | Develop measurable objectives aligned with NCCU’s priorities. | |||||||||
| 3.3 | Draft and submit strategic goals and objectives for NCCU’s review. | |||||||||
| Deliverables • Strategic goals and objectives |
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Task 4.0: Community Engagement and Validation
A crucial aspect of the planning process is engaging with both internal and external stakeholders. This task involves developing a list of 20–30 key representatives from various groups, including administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners. These stakeholders will provide input through interviews, focus groups, and a web survey. A Future Envisioning workshop will also be held to explore future opportunities and challenges. The gathered data will be analyzed and used to refine the strategic goals and objectives.
| Tasks, Activities, and Deliverables | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | ||||||
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| 4.1 | Develop a list of the 20–30 key internal and external representatives from whom input will be gathered using multiple appropriate data collection methods, which could include interviews and focus groups. Stakeholders may include: • NCCU’s administrators and leaders • Strategic Planning Steering Committee • Board of Trustees • Faculty, staff, and students • Parents • Graduates/alumni • Community partners, workforce boards, and major employers of NCCU’s graduates • Nonprofit organizations or governmental agencies that partner with NCCU • Other individuals as identified |
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| 4.2 | Prepare guides and instruments for each data collection method. | |||||||||
| 4.3 | Conduct 10–15 phone interviews with key stakeholders. | |||||||||
| 4.4 | Provide NCCU with the parameters to schedule and host three virtual focus groups for stakeholder input. | |||||||||
| 4.5 | Conduct a broad stakeholder engagement via a web survey questionnaire. | |||||||||
| 4.6 | Analyze the responses and data from prior tasks to prepare for a planning session with NCCU. | |||||||||
| 4.7 | Plan, organize, and facilitate a 2-hour Future Envisioning workshop with NCCU’s project manager and key representatives. | |||||||||
| 4.8 | Compile and summarize results of stakeholder input, including key issues, challenges, opportunities, and priorities. | |||||||||
| Deliverables • 10-15 key interviews • Three focus groups • Web survey questionnaire • 2-hour workshop on Future Envisioning • Summary of perceived key issues, challenges, opportunities, and priorities with refined strategic goals and objectives. |
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Task 5.0: Integration, Implementation, and Assessment Plan Development
This task focuses on the development of an actionable implementation plan. MGT Consulting will assist NCCU in creating a schedule for implementing the strategic plan, identifying goals, strategies, responsibilities, and timelines. Additionally, the task includes aligning funding sources with the implementation goals and determining the metrics for measuring the success of the plan. A draft implementation and assessment plan will be submitted for review.
| Tasks, Activities, and Deliverables | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Assist NCCU’s project manager and officials with the development of an implementation schedule across the plan horizon. This schedule will include the goals, strategies, activities, responsibilities, communication plan, and timeline for the implementation of the Strategic Plan. | |||||||||
| 5.2 | Match the implementation goals with funding sources within the current budget or potential external funding sources. | |||||||||
| 5.3 | Determine metrics, key performance indicators, and assessments to measure the successful implementation of the plan and NCCU’s performance in meeting the established goals. | |||||||||
| 5.4 | Draft and submit implementation and assessment plan. | |||||||||
| Deliverables • Integration, implementation, and assessment plan |
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Task 6.0: Finalization and Approval
The final task involves compiling all the information from previous tasks into a comprehensive strategic plan report. This report will be submitted to NCCU for feedback and revisions. The finalized strategic plan, complete with an executive summary and supporting materials, will be delivered by June 10, 2025, ensuring that all feedback is incorporated into a polished and actionable document.
These tasks collectively aim to create a strategic plan that is inclusive, data-driven, and aligned with NCCU's long-term goals.
| Tasks, Activities, and Deliverables | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Create a comprehensive strategic plan report with all analysis performed in the tasks above. | |||||||||
| 6.2 | Submit report to NCCU for edits and revisions. | |||||||||
| 6.3 | Based on feedback, develop finalized comprehensive strategic plan report with appendices with all analysis performed in the tasks above, as well as an executive summary, which could serve as a standalone document. | |||||||||
| 6.4 | Submit report to NCCU for final edits and revisions. | |||||||||
| 6.5 | Prepare the final report document and supporting materials. | |||||||||
| Deliverables • Final Strategic Plan Report delivered by June 10 |
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