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Strategic Plan Through the Year 2002
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A Vision for Darlington:
The Strategic Plan through the Year 2002
Approved by the Darlington Board of Trustees on Jan. 8, 1999.
Executive Summary
During the summer of 1997, the Darlington Board of Trustees charged the school to undertake a comprehensive strategic planning process to chart the course of the school through the year 2002. The board appointed Dr. Frank Stegall to chair an eight-person steering committee, which began its work in August 1997.
The steering committee was guided by Wickenden Associates in Princeton, N.J., under the leadership of Dr. James W. Wickenden, who is now advising Darlington's search process for a new president. Wickenden Associates produced four demographic, financial, and constituent studies of Darlington, the most detailed analyses of the school ever undertaken. Through the constituent surveys, hundreds of Darlingtonians from across the globe contributed to the strategic planning process.
Eight teams of 11 to 17 people each -- made up of trustees, Board of Visitor members, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and students -- worked together from November 1997 to February 1998 to produce reports on eight different areas of the school: mission; curriculum; co-curricular; student life; faculty and staff; enrollment; leadership and governance; and finance, facilities, and development. A strategic planning retreat, moderated by Dr. Wickenden, was held in February to garner further recommendations. The steering committee used the reports and recommendations to produce the plan, which was then reviewed and revised by the Board of Trustees.
This strategic plan is the fourth Darlington has undertaken, the others having been published in 1983, 1988, and 1993. Unlike those that preceded it, this plan focuses extensively on internal affairs, including curricular, extracurricular, and faculty and staff issues. Like its predecessors, it comprehensively addresses enrollment, leadership and governance, and finance, facilities, and development.
The steering committee and the Board of Trustees recognize that a strategic plan is a guide for direction subject to modification as conditions may warrant. The committee and the Board further recognize that the school will have a change of head during the life of the plan. The new president may make changes in the plan. However, the committee and the Board feel that each goal deserves due consideration regarding future implementation.
The action steps in the plan represent the suggestions of many members of the Darlington community and are offered not as policy directives to the administration, but as ideas for the president to consider. The plan itself does not establish priorities. In adopting the plan, the trustees gave highest priority to those items carried over from the previous plan. As new goals are implemented, it will be necessary to establish priorities among those goals requiring additional resources.
A Vision for Darlington: The Strategic Plan through the Year 2002 establishes as goals for the school to:
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Strengthen its position as a top-tier day-boarding school in the Southeast;
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Emphasize values, character development, and ethics at every grade level;
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Enhance opportunities for religious and spiritual development among all students;
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Improve the quality of life of international students and students of color;
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Examine cost containment and affordability issues, while increasing faculty salaries;
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Complete the Campaign for Darlington, including the construction of the Student Athletic and Recreation Center;
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Make a smooth transition to a new president.
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