About the “comments” tab:

The comments tab available on each major window in the Strategic Planner opens a separate window in which comments can be left about any component of a units’ strategic plan and/or functional tasks.

It is here that a formal dialog may be undertaken and recorded to garner and collect insights from the campus at large regarding any unit’s Strategic Plan. Stakeholders and supervisors alike are encouraged to record their constructive thoughts and ideas for the overall enhancement of a unit’s planning. This built-in capacity permits all university stakeholders to participate meaningfully in developing the University’s Strategic Plan and to record clear evidence of their participation.

Specific officers within the university will, from time to time, review planning components and record here their advice and suggestions for consideration by unit planners (e.g.: Budget Officer; Planning Officer; Effectiveness Officer; SACS Liaison Officer, etc.). Unit leaders too are encouraged to post responses to comments by recording their reactions to entries here for the record.

Above all, it is expected that supervisors will regularly track the planning and implementation of plans by sub-ordinate units and record their reactions here for the record.

Capturing a record of institutional knowledge in this way is expected to gradually build up a valuable collection of wisdom that is often lost in an institution as a result of staff attrition and turn over. If used as designed, this integral component will save the university from having to begin operations anew with each staff turnover.

To leave a comment, click on the comment button in the lower right-hand corner of a window, whereupon a “viewer’s comments” window opens. Click on the “Post New Message” button on the lower right-hand corner of this window to open a blank text box in which you can record your comments. (Note that an individual comment is limited to 500 characters—about the length that will fill the text box.) All comments are date and time stamped automatically. A counter in the lower left hand corner of the “post new message” window tracks how many words have been entered.

Be aware than any comment posted becomes a permanent addition to the Strategic Planner data base and is available for viewing by any stakeholder of the university.