Initial Progress Made for 2024–29 Strategic Plan

In July 2024, ACUI officially started work on the 2024–29 Strategic Plan that was first released during the 2024 Annual Conference. The initial focus of volunteers and Central Office staff are tasks anticipated to be completed during the first few years of the plan. Highlights that showcase some of the current work are below. You can find the full 2024–29 Strategic Plan at https://acui.org/about/#strategic. 

Pillar 1:  Pursue education, learning, research, and initiatives that advance the field.

Goal 1: 

Develop educational content to support the creation
of inclusive communities.

• The Education Council created a definition for “content specialists” within ACUI. The team is now determining the best way to allow members to self-identify and staff/volunteers to gain access to data when planning events. 
• The Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Program Team is compiling a list of research conducted in the last five years that relates to the field and seeking insight into how AI tools can assist in maintaining the information. 

Goal 2: 

Curate existing and create new opportunities for undergraduate students, graduate students, and other professionals to learn about and grow into our profession.

• ACUI staff are developing a press kit that will be accessible by members and nonmembers via the ACUI website. It will bring together informational and promotional materials about the Association into one place to showcase “who” ACUI is. 
• Last year, several Regional Conference Planning Teams implemented special tracks for graduate students, undergraduate students, and emerging professionals. It is intended that all eight regions will offer these tracks at the 2025 events. 

Pillar 2:  Reengage and support members at the local level through active and revitalized regions.

Goal 2: 

Strengthen Regional Conferences by having a clearly identified core purpose, structure, and intended audience to drive content development and participation.

• The regional directors developed a new regional volunteer structure plan that is being reviewed by the Board of Trustees. The intent is to put the new structure into place later this year. 
• The regional directors and Central Office staff are working on ways to encourage members to update profiles to provide more data points for understanding representation within ACUI’s membership. 

Goal 3: 

Create and encourage avenues for regional engagement through regional community building opportunities, networking, and local educational experiences.

• Each region hosted a community building event at the Annual Conference outside of the Regional Business Meeting. The regions continue to work on plans for seminar/drive-in opportunities. 
• The regional directors developed a concept to strengthen the brand of the regions overall. The next step is to work on marketing collateral. 

Pillar 3: Focus on opportunities for the engagement, retention, and growth of members and volunteers.

Goal 1: 

Expand membership outreach to diverse member institutions.

• The Central Office is working with external partners to implement engagement scoring within the membership management system. This will allow ACUI to understand the extent to which member campuses and individuals take advantage of ACUI’s many benefits and offerings. Once in place, staff will develop strategies to encourage further engagement. 

Goal 4: 

Refine and strengthen volunteer recruitment, engagement, and recognition efforts.

• The Volunteer Development Team mapped the responsibilities of the volunteer lifecycle, including recruitment, onboarding, and offboarding activities. This was presented to the Board of Trustees in March. 

Pillar 4: Advance initiatives to support active dialogue and civic engagement on college campuses.

Goal 2: 

Curate existing and create new resources to support member efforts that encourage active dialogue on their campus and help them to navigate associated contentious situations.

• Findings from the Active Dialogue Working Group were reviewed. Of the recommendations, several are reflected in the current strategic plan or were previously implemented. Work on those recommendations that fall within the current strategic plan is underway. One recommendation was tabled due to the current political climate. 
• A working group was established to develop an Active Dialogue Self-Assessment Plan. 

Goal 4: 

Explore resources to help campuses foster community building opportunities around difficult campus conversations.

• The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program Team is compiling a list of active dialogue programs on campuses and doing outreach to gain permission to use the examples as part of an Active Dialogue Showcase.