The Process & Acknowledgments

Climbing New Peaks

The Process

Black Hills State University adopted “Climbing New Peaks” as its strategic plan in  after an extensive planning process that began in .

The process commenced in  when Kristi Wagner from Rushmore Center for Civic Leadership and John Beranek from Intersections Consulting were hired as consultants. Soon after, members of the Strategic Planning Leadership Team were announced. The Leadership Team was made up of two groups: The Administration Team, which consisted of top-level University administration, and the Design Team which was made up of staff, faculty, and students appointed by the President. The initial meetings centered on developing a focus question for the Strategic Plan and coordinating the upcoming listening sessions.

In person listening sessions were held in . BHSU staff, faculty, alumni, and students were invited in addition to members of the Spearfish community. In February, the University hosted several virtual listening sessions to allow for those who could not be present in person to attend. The final listening session in February was hosted specifically for current students. Information from these sessions were harvested and provided to the Strategic Planning Leadership Team initially, and then used throughout the planning process.

In March, the President sent out invitations to additional staff, faculty, and community members to join a new group---the Strategy Team. The Strategy team would be responsible for the development of the Strategic Plan goals, objectives, and strategies. After the goal statements for the Strategic Plan were developed, the Strategy Team broke into smaller focus groups to refine the objectives for their assigned goal. These groups met continuously between March and July.

In , the Strategy Team was expanded to include even more members of BHSU staff and faculty based on expertise alignment with each goal. With goals and objectives complete, the group now turned their attention to the Year-One Action Items and naming of the Strategic Plan. Meetings were held in July, August, and September. The Strategy Team agreed on “Climbing New Peaks” as the title for the new Strategic Plan.

In early , the first draft of the Strategic Plan was completed by the Strategy Team. Plans were made to present this draft in a Town Hall forum on campus where attendees could engage with team members about each goal and present feedback. The Strategic Plan Town Hall was held on  and over 130 University staff, faculty, students, and alumni were in attendance. After feedback was collected, the Strategy Team met again to review comments and make edits.

Following the Town Hall, an email was sent out to all BHSU students, faculty, and staff with a draft of the Strategic Plan as well as a survey to submit feedback. Recipients were given a week to review and complete the survey. Once the responses were collected, the comments were sent to the Strategy Team for review and additional edits were made. A final draft was developed by the Strategy Team in November and the plan moved to the President.

In November, the Provost and Interim Associate Provost worked with President Nichols to rewrite the plan for better tone consistency throughout each goal. The final draft was completed and approved in early . With the finished document in hand, the BHSU Marketing & Communications Office began work on the Strategic Plan website. That same month, Implementation Teams were developed for each goal with President Nichols inviting select individuals to serve for the five-year term of the new Strategic Plan. These Implementation Teams will be responsible for overseeing the action steps, progress, and reporting of their assigned goal. The Black Hills State University Strategic Plan “Climbing New Peaks” and its website officially launched in .

Acknowledgments

Strategy Team

Dr. John Allred
Vice President for Enrollment Management,
Enrollment Management		 Dr. Cynthia Anderson
Dean,
College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences		 Laurel Boss
Brand Coordinator & Senior Graphic Designer,
Marketing & Communications		 Dr. Pamela Carriveau
System Associate Vice President for Academic Programming,
South Dakota Board of Regents
Ryan Delzer
Tech Integration Specialist,
Network & Computer Services		 Maegan Detlefs
Assistant Director,
Marketing & Communications		 Dr. Abigail Domagall
Associate Professor, Geology,
School of Natural Sciences		 Dr. Brian Eberhard
Sara Freng
 Interlibrary Loan Librarian,
Library		 Dr. Amy Fuqua
Interim Associate Provost,
Academic Affairs		 John Ginther
Director,
Residence Life		 Julianne Graham
BHSU Student
Jessie Gramm
Student Engagement Coordinator,
Academic Affairs		 Melissa Hart
Director,
Human Resources		 Heidi Hendrick
(Community Member)
Acquisition Consultant,
Lumen Technologies		 Janette Hettick
Director,
Student Success Center
Kathy Johnson
Vice President,
Finance & Administration		 Dr. Jon Kilpinen
Provost & Vice President,
Academic Affairs		 Dr. Jane Klug
Dean of Students,
Academic Affairs		 Gregory Krajewski
Director of Military & Veteran Services,
Enrollment Management
Dr. Charles Lamb Deborah Liddick
Assistant Director,
Facilities Services & Sustainability		 Padraic McMeel
 Steve Meeker
Vice President,
University Advancement
Mistie Caldwell
(Community Member)
Director,
Visit Spearfish, Inc.		 Ruth Moore Dr. Laurie Nichols Joe Rainboth
Director,
Admissions
Dr. Ben Sayler
Director/Professor, Sanford Science Education Center,
Sanford Underground Research Facility		 Jesse Shelbourn
Digital Media Specialist,
Network & Computer Services		 Dr. Daluss Siewert
Interim Dean,
College of Liberal Arts		 Dr. Betsy Silva
Samantha Smith
Academic Coordinator,
West River Health Sciences Center		 Thayer Trenhaile Becca Walters
Senior Director,
Marketing & Communications		 Malinda Weidenbach
BHSU Student

Logistics Team

Laurel Boss
Brand Coordinator & Senior
Graphic Designer,
Marketing & Communications		 Julianne Graham
BHSU Student		 Dr. Charles Lamb
Deborah Liddick
Assistant Director,
Facilities Services & Sustainability		 Jesse Shelbourn
Digital Media Specialist,
Network & Computer Services		 Malinda Weidenbach
BHSU Student

Facilitators

Krisit Wagner
President/CEO,
Rushmore Center for Civic Leadership		 John Beranek
President,
Intersections Consulting