Phase one of the University’s new three-phase strategic planning process will incorporate a 10-15 minute anonymous survey open to the UT community through the spring semester, UT President Jay Hartzell announced in a Feb. 8 campuswide message.
Hartzell launched the strategic plan to align the University's operations with its mission statement and values over the next ten years, according to the UT website. Phase one began Jan. 11, according to the website.
The survey, created by UT leadership and survey experts, asks students to rate UT on topics such as affordability, campus facility conditions and diversity in order to direct phase one, according to the website.
The plan will target specific issues based on survey results and work towards solving them through funding and committees, said Sharon Wood, dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering, in an email. These implementations will be introduced on a rolling basis during the plan, she said.
Robert Chesney, associate dean for academic affairs for the UT School of Law, said the survey was created so UT could reach as many community members as possible.
“We are very much looking forward to seeing the results, and we expect them to be very important at all stages of the process,” Chesney said.
Wood said the plan contains mostly general statements because the board is still early in planning the initiative.
“Nothing has been preestablished, other than the three strengths of UT that we want to enhance: continuing to recruit elite faculty and outstanding students, creating an environment characterized by excellence, academic freedom and diversity and leveraging the unique set of opportunities afforded us by our location,” Wood said.
The survey has only been publicly advertised once through Hartzell’s message about the plan.
“Honestly, it doesn’t seem like (UT) really cares considering most people haven’t even heard of the survey, and it doesn’t seem like they’re trying to push people to take it,” journalism freshman Jessica Harden said.
Harden said she would want to voice her opinions to UT, specifically on residence hall conditions and COVID-19 safety. However, she did not hear about the survey through campus messaging.
“I have a lot of problems with the dorm I’m staying in,” Harden said. “Little things build up. The community showers are gross, and stuff just needs to be renovated.”
