Planning is not an unfamiliar activity at Bunker Hill Community College. Over the years, it has resulted in the successful completion of large-scale community-based projects such as a new campus in the City of Chelsea as well as innovations in academic programming and better services to students.

Not until now, however, has such systematic broadbased and interrelated planning, resulting in such wholesale change, occurred at the college. From the onset, the process, leading to the goals and initiatives that follow, had to satisfy several formidable criteria. Foremost among these were the requirements that planning be participatory and include both internal and external constituencies. Equally important, the process had to be linked to the college-wide self-study in preparation for the institution’s forthcoming ten year accreditation; be capable of generating clear outcomes; tied to the college budget; form the basis for a three-year strategic plan; and be easy to use, yet effective.

The process was initiated by an ad hoc college planning committee, faculty and staff accreditation steering committee, and long-range planning committee. All played integral roles. The first task of the ad hoc planning committee was to design the major planning event which resulted in the Future Search Conference. Concurrently, the accreditation steering committee began to develop the framework for the college’s self-study. By far, the greatest challenge involved the reconciliation of the year-long college-wide accreditation self-study results with the outcomes generated at the Future Search Conference.

Further, these outcomes then had to be distilled into college goals without sacrificing content or the intent of Future Search participants so that the college community could develop related action plans. This challenging task was completed by the college’s long-range planning committee, which recommended the final ten college goals. The goals were reviewed by faculty and staff and subsequently approved at a college-wide forum. At the February 1999 Board meeting, the goals received the approval of the Bunker Hill Community College Trustees. They were disseminated to all cost center managers for action plan development. Some 350 action plans designed to accomplish almost 50 initiatives over a three-year period were ultimately approved for inclusion in the college’s strategic plan. The goals and initiatives are contained in this report and demonstrate a public commitment to a new future for Bunker Hill Community College.