Dominican University of California
PAE-2: Strategic Plan

Although environmental sustainability isn’t addressed at the highest level as one of the vision themes for the strategic plan, it is included in the key performance indicators for Vision Theme 7: State-of-the-Art Facilities and Processes. The key performance indicator is Carbon Footprint, which sets goals for reductions in emissions. The strategic initiative developed to help meet this performance goal reads, “Develop and adopt a campus-wide greening project, including transportation plan, leading to a Sustainability Campus Leadership Award from the Association to Advance Sustainability in Higher Education.”

The mission statement included in the strategic plan addresses social sustainability, as it reads, “Dominican University of California educates and prepares students to be ethical leaders and socially-responsible global citizens who incorporate the Dominican values of study, reflection, community, and service into their lives.” The strategic plan at a high level is infused with social sustainability by emphasizing and prioritizing the experience and welfare of the people at the institution, namely the students. The highest level of the Strategic Plan consists of nine vision themes, and Vision Theme 4 is Student Intellectual and Personal Growth. It states, “Student development will encompass intellectual, physical, and spiritual growth,” and outlines measurable performance goals to track progress toward this objective, including student satisfaction surveys. It also includes two strategies initiatives that were developed to accomplish the performance goals. They are as follows: 1) Redesign system for career and life planning, internship, and placement assistance to ensure that all students have had at least two internships and at least three competitive job offers or graduate school admission offers by the time of graduation and 2) Design, develop, and implement Student Center, living-learning communities, and opportunities for well-rounded university life, thereby promoting total wellness through the integration of the academic, spiritual, social, emotional, and physical dimensions of student lives. Three of the other vision themes address social sustainability as well: Vision Theme 3: Engaged Students and Alumni, Vision Theme 6: Motivated and Developed Faculty and Staff Aligned with Institutional Need and Vision Theme 8: Visionary, Effective, and Mission-Driven Leadership and Culture.

The executive summary for Dominican’s Strategic Plan states: “The Strategic Plan will be the roadmap for achieving a financially sustainable university that is fully prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century.” The highest level of the Strategic Plan consists of nine vision themes, and Vision Theme 1 is Financially Sustainable University. The plan provides an explanation of how the realization of each of the other vision-themes will create the end result of financial sustainability for the university. There are key performance indicators listed that are used to assess progress toward achieving a financially sustainable university. Performance goals are given for each of the key performance indicators of financial sustainability, as well as the strategic initiatives that will be implemented to accomplish the goals.