Despite what its name may signify, First in 2009 was created as a framework to visualize Miami University's future, and was never a concrete plan with a bicentennial deadline.
Former Miami President Garland set the wheels in motion in February 2000.
"It was the turn of the century and the beginning of a new millennium, so it seemed an appropriate time for Miami to take stock of itself and start planning for its future," Garland said via e-mail.
Getting started
In early 2000, Garland and former Provost Ron Crutcher wanted the entire university to undergo some strategic planning exercises. The idea was to identify ways to make Miami the best it could be in the future.
Crutcher pulled together a group of faculty and staff, which became the first Coordinating Council, during the 2000-01 school year and held brainstorming sessions to help identify goals for the university.
According to Allan Winkler, distinguished professor in the department of history and a member of the original Coordinating Council, the group discussed different strengths and weaknesses of the university while simultaneously identifying opportunities for improvement and possible threats the university should address head on.
The group felt most strongly about diversity, curriculum, university infrastructure and liberal arts critical thinking.
"We came together in a series of meetings for the rest of the year, honing in on these issues," Winkler said.
The eight main goals of First in 2009 came out of those discussions following the initial brainstorming and have guided the vision for the past six years.
Purposefully broad
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Many administrators who have been involved with the First in 2009 initiative have acknowledged that the eight established objectives were intentionally made to be broad to allow for flexibility. However, this has led to some confusion about what exactly falls under the purview of First in 2009.
Steven DeLue, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science, explained his understanding of the purpose of First in 2009.
"It was a loosely assigned set of goals," DeLue said. "(It said) here are some general goals ... and then left it to the people at the levels where teaching goes on to decide how to interpret that," he added.
DeLue thinks this was the right way to go about implementing the goals because it allowed the creativity and energy from a lot of different people and programs come out, instead of stifling that energy with a rigid set of goals and guidelines.
However, Garland said that he wanted to make sure the guidelines were detailed enough to actually affect change.
"In my experience, university strategic plans are often long on platitudes and noble sentiments, but short on content," he said. "They often make good news stories when they're announced, but frequently accomplish little. I wanted First in 2009 to be different."
Monitoring progress
During the next few years, the Coordinating Council was expanded to include student input and their role became more defined.
"The first Coordinating Council's role was to provide a way for faculty, staff and students to give input on the goals," said Dennis Roberts, associate vice president for student affairs and a member of the original Coordinating Council.
Garland said the council was created with an eye toward making sure that all the different areas of the university were pulling in the same direction rather than against in each other in their efforts. The council was also a body that could take in and organize all the quantitative aspects of the vision.
"Each department and office was asked to develop benchmarks for itself, based on the best practices elsewhere. The year-to-year progress could then be measured against the benchmarks," Garland said.
The Coordinating Council then played a role in organizing annual reports to the board of trustees to show year-to-year progress.
Winkler said in the beginning, most of these sessions were behind-the-scenes discussions, but in the second year there was an effort to start getting the word out about these goals.
"Once the groundwork was laid ... then it was announced at a (board of trustees) meeting," said Stephen Snyder, executive assistant to the president.
In the third year the Coordinating Council began to form subcommittees to start monitoring and guiding the progress of First in 2009.
Naming the initiative
Winkler also said the name "First in 2009" was not originally part of the strategic planning exercises and doesn't remember who came up with the name or when it began being used.
Roberts expressed a similar sentiment.
"I don't know where the terminology came from," Roberts said.
Snyder said he also doesn't know exactly who came up with the term but said it was an attempt to tie the project to the university's bicentennial anniversary.
Garland explained that the word "first" wasn't necessarily intended to be taken literally.
"First in 2009, doesn't mean that the entire university should be first among other universities, but rather that each area of the university should strive to be first among comparable units at other universities," Garland said.
Regardless of the origin of the name, First in 2009 became an umbrella for all efforts to move forward and improve in the areas outlined by the original goals.
Since those first sessions the university has undergone a great amount of change in many of the areas identified both visibly, with new structures all over campus, and behind-the-scenes with changes to curriculum and the examination of particular programs.
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