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Lebanese American University owes its inspiration from and pledges fidelity to its Presbyterian founders. The University has a proud and distinctive history. Founded in 1924 by American Presbyterian Missionaries as the American Junior College for Women, the founding institution was a force for the education of women in Lebanon and the Middle East long before most of the world recognized the need and moral obligation to educate women in a collegiate setting.
By 1950, the two-year American Junior College for Women transformed into a four-year institution of higher learning and became the Beirut College for Women. In 1955, the College was chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York and in 1970 the Bachelor’s degree was recognized by the Lebanese government as equivalent to the License. In 1974, fifty years after its founding, the College became co-educational and was renamed Beirut University College.
In 1995, Lebanese American University emerged as a multi-campus university with its historic home in Beirut firmly ensconced and a new campus in Byblos. Enrollments grew rapidly. Engineering and Architecture, and Pharmacy offerings were added to the Liberal Arts and Business offerings. In August of 2004, Dr. Joseph Jabbra was called to serve as the new President of the institution and assertively articulated his vision to: (1) promote and inculcate academic excellence throughout the institution; (2) ensure a student-centered University that prides itself in the formation of leaders for the future; (3) promote the dignity of and respect for faculty, staff and students in word and deed; (4) celebrate the many contributions of the alumnae/alumni of the institution; (5) establish a “one University” culture while recognizing the distinct gifts and attributes of the different campuses; and (6) achieve accreditation through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Shortly after his installation as the President of Lebanese American University, President Joseph Jabbra committed himself to creating a University-wide strategic planning process that was intentional, thought-provoking and focused on the sustainability of the institution at even greater levels of excellence. In order to accomplish these ambitious objectives, President Jabbra decided to create an inclusive, and open process, led and conducted by a committee of designated faculty and staff of the University that would provide opportunities for input and participation from virtually all members of the University community.
After President Jabbra conducted a series of conversations with various members of the university community shortly after his arrival at LAU, he quickly determined that the University was in immediate need of a dynamic five-year strategic plan. Upon sharing the concerns, aspirations and expectations of the community that were expressed to him, the President then shared this feedback with the Vice Presidents, Deans as well as the University Executive Council. These deliberations led LAU leaders to conclude that a strategic plan was needed to focus assertively on:
In October 2004, a Strategic Planning Steering Committee was appointed along with nine sub-committees charged with addressing the key issues described previously. Each sub-committee, in turn, was chaired by a member of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. The mandate of the Steering Committee and the sub-committees was to address the nine key issues and propose appropriate strategic initiatives designed to address them in a timely and creative manner. Toward that end, the Pappas Consulting Group Inc. (PCG) was engaged to provide experienced consulting support to the strategic planning process and its various committees.
In January 2005, the Steering Committee and its sub-committees began their work in earnest. The Consulting Firm conducted training sessions on strategic planning for Steering Committee members. Subsequent to this training, each sub-committee chair started working with his/her sub-committee to educate themselves on the details and background of their assigned planning topic and to develop strategic priorities for action.
Concurrent with the work of the Steering committee and sub-committees, steps were taken to ensure that all faculty, staff and students would have the ability to provide the input concerning their perceptions of the University’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and subsequently set the stage for determining priorities for action. An electronic survey was made available to all three cohorts at the two campuses for anonymous input. In addition, the Pappas Group facilitated multiple focus group sessions with faculty, staff, and students on the Byblos and Beirut campuses. This approach included outreach to the Board of Trustees, the Board of International Advisors, the President, the Central Administration, the Deans, the University Executive Council, Directors, faculty, staff and students. More than 600 individuals expressed their views. A number of overarching themes emerged among these stakeholders and they were shared with the Steering Committee as part of their consideration of strategic needs and priorities. The major themes are:
At this juncture in the strategic planning process, the Chair of the Steering Committee, Dr. Raymond Ghajar, met regularly with the University Executive Council. During these meetings the UEC was informed of the tasks completed to date and the themes emerging from the information gathering processes. Dr. Ghajar also continuously sought the feedback of the UEC regarding the process and its interface with the emerging NEASC accreditation process.
As a result of the sub-committees’ work and the campus input, the Steering Committee developed a preliminary set o f University planning statements and recommended Strategic Initiatives for review by Central Administration and the University Executive Council. This feedback enabled the preparation of an initial draft strategic planning concept document presented to the Board of Trustees at their May 2005 meeting.
At this Board meeting, members engaged in a thoughtful and animated discussion about the proposed mission, vision nd proposed strategic initiatives that would enable the University to embark upon a path that would realize its full potential. The Board praised the President and the Steering Committee for their planning work as so much had been accomplished in such a short period of time.
Upon the Board’s receipt of the draft plan, the second phase of the planning process was immediately initiated. The Steering Committee and its sub-committees began to refine the draft strategic recommendations. Each of the sub-committees was charged to identify further detail on the expected level of effort and potential costs of each initiative, together with the required major implementation and anticipated timeline. Objective measures of success were to be identified in order that the administrative and academic outcomes of the strategic initiatives could be measured against University expectations. This subsequent version of the strategic plan was once again reviewed by university leaders as well as the University Executive Council.
The proposed LAU Strategic Plan was presented to the Board of Trustees at their September 2005 meeting in Dearborn, Michigan. The Board unanimously approved and adopted the LAU Strategic Plan for 2005–2010 and asked the President to start its implementation in October 2005.
Lebanese American University is committed to academic excellence, student-centeredness, the advancement of scholarship, the education of the whole person, and the formation of students as future leaders in a diverse world.
In both planning for its future as well as conducting its ongoing daily activities, LAU seeks to act in a manner that is guided by a deep-rooted sense of shared ethical values and aspirations. Built upon this foundation, Lebanese American University:
The Vision of Lebanese American University is driven by its mission and values. The Vision for LAU will be carried out through:
The overarching goal of Lebanese American University is to function as “one University” with two campuses in an effective, efficient and nimble manner. The Strategic Goals are:
From these strategic goals, nine strategic initiatives and their corresponding action steps were developed. A diagram linking, the mission, values, vision and strategic goals to the initiatives is given below.
A number of university-wide Strategic Initiatives will be employed to achieve the Overarching and supporting goals just described. These Strategic Initiatives have been purposefully designed to be interdependent and mutually supportive, providing benefit to one or more of the Goals. Within each Strategic Initiative, various Action Steps are defined that will be required to accomplish the Initiative. A detailed summary of the action steps, key metrics and their targets, and budgets can be found in Attachment 1. The targets for the key metrics have been identified in order to assess LAU's progress towards accomplishing the expected academic and administrative outcomes. A summary of the financial investment anticipated to realize this Strategic Plan over the next five years is a total of $2,116,486 of one-time costs, and $2,235,000 in additional annual costs in the operating budget and these are presented in details in Attachment 2.
To fulfill its mission of commitment to academic excellence and the advancement of scholarship, Lebanese American University will make the necessary commitment to strengthen its faculty and academic programs. This includes: a significant increase in the budget for the hiring of full-time tenure-track faculty to reduce reliance on part-time instructors; the reduction in the course load requirements of full-time tenure-track faculty; the development of benefits and salary scales according to rank, program, performance and competitive demand; a continuous curricular review and reform; the development of smart classrooms and the utilization of the latest information technology in learning; commitment to the centrality of the liberal arts through the creation of new majors and minors; avenues for faculty development, orientation, mentoring and recognition; the creation of incentives for excellence in teaching, research and scholarship; the strengthening of the academic affairs management team to provide greater support to the programs and personnel of the academic enterprise; and commitment to achieve NEASC candidacy by 2007 and plan for the accreditation of academic programs where appropriate.
The University will develop a strong enrollment management program that includes all the components of student enrollment, advising, retention and graduation. The enrollment plan will incorporate the results of market analyses as well as facilities and resource feasibility studies and will provide the opportunity to train personnel in recruitment planning and systems. Lebanese American University will develop an integrated advisement program that is student focused and that rewards individuals who are proficient advisors. The new program calls for mandatory advisement for students having academic difficulties, early alert mechanisms, web-based advising, training in successful advising practices, and a new orientation program. The ultimate goal of the enrollment management program will be to improve the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of students and to use merit scholarships and financial aid packages.
Lebanese American University is committed to becoming the higher education employer of choice in Lebanon by implementing a human resource function that: boasts a well-defined job classification system; regulates recruitment, placement and compensation practices; establishes a fair and equitable performance evaluation process that is consistently applied and utilized positively for career development; instills a culture of ownership, empowerment, fairness, accountability, integrity, and reward for achievement; continuously revises University-wide personnel policies and procedures and effectively communicates them; provides the necessary orientation and training required of staff and; is a key element of strategy and support to employees throughout the University.
As LAU embarks on its first disciplined strategic plan for the next five years, establishing a shared governance model among faculty, staff and students is key. This initiative calls for: creating a Faculty Senate that actively encourages substantive dialogue among faculty as well as between faculty and administration; providing a forum for discussing and communicating staff perspectives to the administration; and establishing a student council that will act as a forum for dialogue among students as well as with faculty and staff while providing opportunities for the student development.
Lebanese American University is committed to: utilize information technology as a support to stakeholders and a catalyst for change through the reengineering of processes across all academic, administrative, student and community functions; create university-wide committees to engage all constituencies in planning for the use of information technology; establish a University-wide institutional research function for gathering, analyzing, and reporting planning outcomes; begin the analysis required to establish a data warehouse to maximize the use of such management information; and enhance computer skills within the University community by providing the necessary training for students, faculty and staff.
In order to assertively respond to the highly competitive, global higher education marketplace, LAU will create a Marketing component in the proposed new division of University Advancement to: coordinate all aspects of communication, image and awareness activities; develop proactive public relations and communications functions; create an image & awareness committee to further enhance its hospitality and protocol services; support the University business/economic development effort through market research; continuously research the Lebanese higher education market to evaluate LAU’s competitive position per degree program and canvass the market for potential students; assist academic Deans with their ongoing academic program planning and evaluation utilizing realistic market data; and develop and maintain a market database to track marketing activities, reports, studies, etc.
To increase outreach to alumni, Lebanese American University will: implement a PRIDE program that stresses the value and importance of alumni as key members of the University community. The program calls for: Professional networking for alumni and business leaders; Relationships with alumni; Involvement of alumni in partnerships; Devotion to LAU; and Education for alumni. To implement the PRIDE program, alumni affairs which will be under the auspices of the proposed new division of University Advancement will officially recognize LAU alumni chapters, establish an annual alumni forum, create an alumni association board, provide facilities for alumni on Beirut and Byblos campuses, and promote affinity groups of alumni.
To support revenue diversification and reduce LAU’s reliance on tuition, the University will develop a plan for increasing fundraising by creating a compelling case for support, determining targets and evaluating prior period performance, enhancing the development of staff, enhancing website communication, conducting research of fundraising potential, developing new and significantly improved methods of fundraising, expanding internal and external donor base, responding to donor interests, and improving advocacy. The fundraising and development functions will be under the auspices of the proposed new division of University Advancement.
Lebanese American University will seek improvements to existing facilities and the addition of new ones to create an environment that enables the University to successfully achieve its goals and to promote a culture of academic excellence. To this end, LAU will engage the University community in the preparation of a facilities master plan that reflects academic priorities and projected growth and is responsive to the University’s multi-campus needs. LAU will also develop a financial master plan that integrates the academic, enrollment, and fundraising plans with the facilities master plan. The financial master plan will include an aggressive revenue diversification plan and the identification of an appropriate spending rate from the endowment to support ongoing operations and strategic initiatives
To promote excellence in teaching, learning and research, Lebanese American University will:
As enrollment management is a prerequisite for good strategic planning in institutions of higher learning, Lebanese American University will:
To become the higher education employer of choice in Lebanon, and to instill a culture of ownership, empowerment, fairness, accountability, integrity, and reward for achievement, Lebanese American University will implement a human resources environment that will:
In order to establish shared governance among faculty, staff and students, encourage communication and discussion, and help develop leadership skills, the University will:
To honor its commitment to use information technology as a support for stakeholders and a catalyst for change, the University will:
To help coordinate all aspects of marketing, communication, image and awareness activities and assist academic deans in their ongoing planning efforts, the University will:
To increase outreach to alumni, LAU will implement the PRIDE program that will stress the importance of alumni using:
The PRIDE program and the new alumni division will officially recognize LAU alumni chapters, establish an annual alumni forum, create an alumni association board, provide facilities for alumni on Beirut and Byblos campuses, and promote affinity groups of alumni.
To support revenue diversification and reduce LAU’s reliance on tuition, the University will:
To promote a culture of academic excellence and student-centeredness, the University will:
More detailed information and resources are available on the internal Strategic Planning website.