Consultation process

At the February meeting of Council, I committed to the development of a Strategic Plan to take Griffith through to 2025 which marks fifty years since it began life as a university. The initial discussion paper shared with staff was formed around the premise that while Griffith has much to be proud of, action is needed to ensure that the University continues to thrive in a more competitive and rapidly-changing operating environment.

Seven months of intensive consultation have followed entailing two discussion papers, one-on-one meetings and focus groups, town hall gatherings attended by more than 2,000 staff and followed up by over 200 written submissions, student focus groups and surveys, meetings with key stakeholders from government, industry and community, and input from our alumni.

From the outset our internal and external stakeholders held Griffith up as an institution defined by core values and it became clear that our strategy should commit strongly to embedding those values in all that we do. There is also a confidence emerging that Griffith can succeed on its own terms and differentiate itself much more clearly in the way we undertake all of our core functions.

I am therefore pleased to present you today with an overview of the Strategic Plan 2020-2025 to be presented in full at the next meeting of the University Council on 14 October. It is the expression of a collective view that for Griffith to grow and continue to build its reputation for excellence in teaching and research we must be more ambitious and confident. This means taking bold decisions around providing the right campus environments, supporting our people, and committing to excellence in learning and teaching, research and engagement through mutually-beneficial partnerships.

Subject to Council approval, I will share the final Strategic Plan in November. While this overview document provides a snapshot of the key outcomes, the final version carries greater detail around the specific actions and the extent of investment required to implement the Plan. At the launch of the Plan, I also hope to be able to provide some exciting updates on progress around campus developments, research and teaching initiatives.

The positive engagement and thoughtful feedback from staff is deeply appreciated and, as you will appreciate, there was no shortage of excellent ideas, many of which cannot be fully reflected in a University-wide plan. I want to assure those who provided input, that many of the sensible ideas and feedback will receive further consideration as we implement at the divisional and group levels throughout 2020.

While the major elements of the Plan are now fairly clear, if colleagues have specific concerns or ideas that they wish to raise they should do so before 14 October at: vc-comms@griffith.edu.au