5-Year Action Plan Overview and Template
The OBPR does not end when all applicable sections have been filled. It is important for programs to determine what changes they should implement to advance in areas in need of improvement as well as to assess the effectiveness of any improvements already implemented. Action planning and mid-cycle follow-up, the two final components of OBPR, address these important steps.
- Proposed Action Plan
- Questions to Consider
- Action Plan Checklist
- Final Action Plan
- Mid-Cycle Action Plan Progress Report
- OBPR 5-Year Action Plan Template
Proposed Action Plan
After the applicable OBPR sections have been filled, the OBPR self-study lead, program faculty, chair, and college dean will collaborate to develop a proposed action plan based on continuous improvement and considerations made through the OBPR process. The proposed action plan may also include goals based on information from other sources that have come to light during the OBPR process. The proposed action plan serves as a five-year planning document for the program and should be as concise as possible.
The self-study lead will notify the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) via email at oie@unf.edu when the Proposed Action Plan has been uploaded to Nuventive and is ready for review.
The proposed action plan should identify the following:
- Program goals/recommendations
- Goals/recommendations from other sources
- Proposed actions/responses to the program goals/recommendations (These should include a rationale if appropriate.)
- Responsible persons
- Start date for each goal/recommendation implementation
- Completion date for each goal/recommendation
- Measurements of success for each goal/recommendation
Questions to Consider
- What are the program goals for the next year?
- What are the program goals for the next 5 years?
- In pursuit of continuous improvement:
- How will the program specifically address any weaknesses identified in the sections above?
- How will the program build on existing strengths?
- What internal improvements are possible with existing resources (through reallocation)?
- What improvements can only be addressed through additional resources?
- Where can the formation of collaborations improve program quality?
Action Plan Checklist
- Is there an action plan to indicate how the results of the OBPR will be used?
- Does the action plan include clear goals and steps based on continuous improvement and considerations from the OBPR process?
- Are specific tasks that need to be completed included?
- Is the primary responsible party for the task completion listed?
- Does the action plan include the time frame for implementing the decisions?
- Does the action plan provide suggestions for how it will be determined successful?
- Have the appropriate people approved the action plan?
- If applicable, have a plan and/or budget for new resources, policy changes, or other information required to improve the program been included?
- If applicable, have all notes on any changes that will be made to the program goals, outcomes, evaluative criteria, planning processes, and budgeting processes because of higher-level organizational feedback, been organized and input into the action plan?
Final Action Plan
OIE will schedule a meeting to include the provost (or provost designee), college dean, program chair, and OBPR self-study lead for strategy and educational effectiveness to discuss the Proposed Action Plan. This meeting could be in-person or virtual and is based on the availability of the provost (or provost designee). After this meeting, the program will revise the Proposed Action Plan as needed to reflect the provost’s recommendations. The Proposed Action Plan then becomes the Final Action Plan.
The Final Action Plan should respond to all the recommendations made by the provost (or provost designee). If the program does not plan to implement a recommended action, the recommendation should be listed with an explanation as to the rationale for non-implementation.
Once the Final Action Plan has been completed and signed by the program chair, college dean, and the provost (or provost designee) it must be uploaded to Nuventive. The program will contact OIE via email when the Final Action Plan is ready for review.
Mid-Cycle Action Plan Progress Report
It is important for programs to follow up on previously implemented action plans and the effectiveness of these changes. This step is an integral part of the OBPR process and highlights the focus on continuous improvement. By providing information regarding previous action plans and their effects, departments, faculty, and administrative leaders gain a better perspective on how much progress has been made, and how they might continue making improvements in the future.
Programs will be asked to submit a brief progress report on action plans at the mid-point of the 5-year OBPR cycle. In other words, this should be uploaded approximately 2.5 years after the most recent Final Action Plan was submitted. Mid-cycle progress reports are uploaded to Nuventive. The program will notify OIE via email when the Mid-Cycle Action Plan Progress Report on action plans is ready for review.