doi 10.
1515/ijnes-2013-0066 International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship 2014; 11(1): 19–29
Research Article
Connie Joan Evans*, Eileen Francis Shackell, Selma Jean Kerr-Wilson, Glynda Joan Doyle,
Jodie Anita McCutcheon and Bernice Budz
A Faculty Created Strategic Plan for Excellence in
Nursing Education
Abstract: Strategic planning for nursing education, when
seen through a faculty lens creates a deeper, more mean-
ingful critical analysis of effective program development.
New strategies are required for academic institutions to
transform their curricula to meet the needs of a dynamic
healthcare and changing global environment to provide
quality education for students. In this article, an evidence-
informed process is presented that was progressively
co-created by the faculty and facilitators. Seminal business
frameworks, leadership development philosophies, and
innovative interventions enabled faculty to become
engaged and developed as they created a strategic plan for
a future-driven nursing program. Phase One presents the
process of developing a strategic plan for excellence in
nursing education by leveraging faculty potential and pre-
paring for an upcoming accreditation. In Phase Two, four
team members from Phase One continue as part of Phase
Two team serving as the collective memory for this initial
work. This method of strategic planning encouraged faculty
engagement and leadership and laid the groundwork for a
positive culture change among nursing faculty.
Keywords: innovative strategic planning, organizational
change, nursing education, faculty development
*Corresponding author: Connie Joan Evans, Department of Nursing,
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, British Columbia Institute
of Technology, 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G-3H2,
Canada, E-mail: connie_evans@bcit.ca
Eileen Francis Shackell: E-mail: Eilleen_Shackell@bcit.ca, Selma
Jean Kerr-Wilson: E-mail: selma_kerr-wilson@bcit.ca, Glynda Joan
Doyle: E-mail: glynda_doyle@bcit.ca, Jodie Anita McCutcheon:
E-mail: jodie_McCutcheon@bcit.ca, Bernice Budz:
E-mail: bernice_budz@bcit.ca, Department of Nursing, Bachelor of
Science in Nursing Program, British Columbia Institute of
Technology, 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G-3H2, Canada
The current healthcare environment in Canada and the
United States is challenging nursing academia to educate
nurses who provide quality patient care within a system
undergoing continuous transformation (Benner, Sutphen,
Leonard, & Day, 2010; Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010;
Villeneuve & MacDonald, 2006). Nursing students face
technological advances, higher patient acuity and complex-
ity, and an expanding scope of practice (Benner et al., 2010;
IOM, 2010). Recent research describes a widening theory –
practice gap, new teaching and learning paradigms, finan-
cial pressures, lack of clinical opportunities, and faculty
shortages (Benner et al., 2010; Canadian Nurses
Association [CNA] & Canadian Association Schools of
Nursing [CASN], 2012; IOM, 2010; Villeneuve &
MacDonald, 2006). Developing a strategic plan to transform
nursing education within this climate is a daunting task.
“A strategic plan based on vision, mission, values and
goals, guides program delivery and scholarship and reflects
societal and cultural trends” (Canadian Association Schools
of Nursing [CASN], 2012, p. 14). The creation of a future-
focused strategic plan that is accountable to students, nur-
sing educators, patients/families, communities, and other
stakeholders requires knowledge of a multitude of factors
including the advancement of evidence-informed education
(Emerson & Records, 2008; Kop & Hill, 2008), keeping pace
with evolving healthcare trends, and the changing scope of
practice for nurses (MacMillan, 2013; Villeneuve &
MacDonald, 2006). The authors hypothesized that an inno-
vative pluralistic approach to a critical contextual analysis of
their nursing education program, developed through a
grassroots faculty-led process, was essential to create a
more meaningful strategic plan. The purpose of this article
is to describe a creative, multi-layered, iterative process that
leverages faculty engagement to develop a future-focused
strategic plan for the British Columbia Institute of
Technology (BCIT) Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
program.
Method
In order to increase the group’s capacity to understand
the strategic planning process and ensure it was evi-
dence-informed, members read numerous articles and
20 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education
books suggested by the strategic planning consultants.
As well, the group performed a broad literature search
related to strategic planning and organizational change.
A literature search in GOOGLE Scholar, Cumulative
Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL),
MEDLINE via EBSCO, Business Source Complete and
Academic Search Complete databases between 1990 and
the present was conducted. Various combinations of the
key words “strategic planning”, “nursing education”, and
“organizational change” were searched. This search
resulted in a number of articles, books, websites, and
peer-reviewed journals. The following inclusion criteria
were applied: seminal works on strategic frameworks,
strategic theoretical frameworks applied to nursing edu-
cation, business models, innovative models, and written
in English. Exclusion criteria included literature outside
of undergraduate nursing programs and business litera-
ture outside of seminal frameworks.
The articles were initially selected for inclusion by
review of the title. Then the authors independently
reviewed the abstracts for relevance. Full text copies of
the articles and books deemed congruent with the inclu-
sion criteria were read by all the authors. Of these, a
number of articles and books were excluded because
they did not introduce a new framework or were not
relevant to nursing education. The goal to utilize innova-
tive contemporary strategic planning strategies focused
the group to restrict the primary literature review to nur-
sing and business literature from 2000 to 2013 as primary
sources. As a result, the authors used 20 books and
articles for the literature review.
Literature review
A strategic plan is intended to align an organization’s
vision and mission with its objectives and initiatives,
provide direction for insightful, goal-directed allocation
of resources, and assist an organization to remain
dynamic and competitive into the future (Andrews,
1990). The process of strategic planning has been com-
mon practice in business environments for decades, but
is a more recent activity in academic institutions (Regan-
Kubinski, 2005). The CASN requires accredited schools of
nursing in Canada to develop and implement a strategic
plan (CASN, 2012). Preparation of future healthcare pro-
fessionals requires that educational program’s strategic
objectives align with anticipated future trends in health-
care (Higginbotham & Church, 2012).
Traditionally, the process of strategic planning has
been conducted by high-level managerial personnel
within organizations (Higginbotham & Church, 2012;
Knox, Sigsby, & Irving, 1997). However, some authors
claim conventional administrative top-down approaches
are outdated and not dynamic or sustainable (Milone-
Nuzzo & Lancaster, 2004; O’Neil & Krauel, 2004).
Collins (2006) established a Good to Great Framework
that focuses first on getting the right people involved
and then focusing on the tasks.
Innovative approaches to strategic planning began to
appear in the business literature in the 1990s. Kaplan and
Norton (1996) introduced the concept of the Balanced
Scorecard to strategic planning. This holistic method
takes into account factors critical to business success
beyond financial drivers by adding strategic objectives
and measures that direct the organization to invest in:
(1) financial sustainability, (2) customer perspectives, (3)
internal processes/organizational capacity, and (4) learn-
ing and growth (Higginbotham & Church, 2012; Kaplan &
Norton, 1996). Eppler and Platts (2009) discuss the use of
graphics as a visualization tool to improve the quality of
strategic planning by addressing cognitive, social, and
emotional challenges.
More recently, non-traditional approaches to strate-
gic planning based on change theory and appreciative
inquiry that engage stakeholders in plan development
have surfaced in the nursing literature. This methodology
is purported to result in buy-in to the strategic plan and
result in a cultural transformation within the organization
in less time (Flanagan, Smith, Farren, Reis, & Wright,
2010; Gantt, 2010; Harmon, Fontaine, Plews-Ogan, &
Williams, 2012; Higgenbotham & Church, 2012; Milone-
Nuzzo & Lancaster, 2004). Aligning the faculty toward a
mutual goal encourages collaboration and yields more
results with limited resources (Lange, Ingersoll, &
Novotny, 2008). These collaborative approaches focus
on partnerships that create unique strategic initiatives
that can keep pace with the future (Milone-Nuzzo &
Lancaster, 2004; O’Neil & Krauel, 2004). To ensure suc-
cess in the process developing faculty as effective parti-
cipants and leaders in strategic planning is essential
(Lange et al., 2008; Milone-Nuzzo & Lancaster, 2004).
Pink’s (2009) motivation theory supports appreciative
inquiry and posits that true motivation is intrinsic and
comes down to three elements: autonomy, mastery, and
purpose. Autonomy is giving individuals the freedom to
determine what tasks to be involved in and when, how,
and with whom work is accomplished. Mastery is the
desire for continual improvement at something that mat-
ters by fostering an environment of learning and devel-
opment. When individuals understand how they
contribute to the purpose and vision of an organization,

their natural desire to contribute to a greater purpose
than themselves is fulfilled. When all three elements are
in place an organization achieves stronger results and
greater employee engagement (Pink, 2009).
In the last decade, a review of the nursing literature
suggests strategic planning and organizational change in
the current healthcare context requires a transformed
nursing education model (Halstead, 2013) and innovative
planning (Lange et al., 2008; Milone-Nuzzo & Lancaster,
2004). Many authors claim the key to strategic planning
and organizational change is to use a collaborative
approach that involves multiple stakeholders (Billings,
Allen, Armstrong, & Green, 2012; Halstead, 2012; Lange
et al., 2008; Mundt, Clark, & Klemczak, 2013; O’Neil &
Krauel, 2004). Recent strategic plans focus on core pro-
gram competencies for creating specific objectives such
as culture and diversity (de Leon Siantz, 2008), sustain-
ability and safety (Mundt et al., 2013), and leadership
(Halstead, 2013). Some propose that a managed organiza-
tional change through visionary leadership, intentionally
aligned structures, stakeholder participation, communi-
cation, feedback, and evaluation can directly link to
accomplishing outcomes and strategic direction (Lange
et al., 2008). This literature indicates the success of the
strategic planning process is dependent on leveraging
faculty expertise and values with a predetermined meth-
odology or framework that is directed by either consul-
tants or administrators. Currently, the literature does not
describe a consultant and faculty collaborative process
where faculty members select and implement various
strategies to create their own unique strategic planning
process.
Strategic planning process
Led by two strategic consultants, the BSN strategic plan-
ning process began with a group of eight faculty mem-
bers and their Associate Dean. This team represented
Phase One of the strategic planning process which is
the focus of this article. Phase Two will be started with
a combination of new faculty and four original members
who will move forward with developing an implementa-
tion plan. The consultant Tekara group named them-
selves after the Tekara Mountain, situated in the
Canadian Rocky Mountains. Cree guides once walked
with and supported travelers in these mountain ranges
and the Tekara style is based on supporting people and
their belief in the power of human potential (Tekara,
2013).
C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education 21
Organizational size up
Strategic alignment
The School of Health Sciences (SOHS) strategic plan
directs the nursing program to prepare students to think
and be responsive to evolving practice environments now
and in the future. The institute’s philosophy has a strong
focus on community engagement. The community
includes healthcare partners, faculty, staff, and students.
The institute’s engagement philosophy (BCIT, 2009;
SOHS, 2010) flows into the BSN program as part of the
strategic plan development work. The consultants and
faculty planning team were mindful of the need to
respect and engage faculty in the process to create and
ultimately implement their own strategic plan.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
(SWOT) analysis
Initially, the team members spent some time identifying
and sharing their individual leadership qualities to
enable effective group process, then the overall strategic
planning process was introduced. Two groups were
established to examine internal and external factors
influencing the nursing program. Each group brain-
stormed data sources and stakeholders that were critical
to the achievement of sustainability and excellence in the
program. The external group reviewed seminal reports
from both local and national levels and evidence-
informed literature on the state of healthcare and educa-
tion. The internal group interviewed staff within the insti-
tution, reviewed multiple surveys, including student exit,
student course evaluations, curriculum documents, insti-
tutional documents, and employee satisfaction surveys.
A SWOT analysis was utilized in the process of
strategic planning (Abdolvand & Asadollahi, 2012). The
purpose of a SWOT analysis is to evaluate and synthe-
size internal and external factors that influence the
program. The SWOT analysis assists with exploring
new possibilities and uses a collaborative approach
that empowers participants to capitalize on future
opportunities (Camden, Swine, Tetreault, & Bergeron,
2009). The intent was for faculty members to have a
clear understanding of their vision for education-based
literature and their values in order to create strategic
objectives before collaborating/engaging with others. In
follow-up to the SWOT analysis, the group brainstormed
and acknowledged their collective assumptions related
to the current state of the nursing program, changes in
22 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education

Financial Sustainability Creative funding/

Budget, allocation, through creative partnerships
value, secure, responsible fiscal
sustainability management

Customers Connectivism to Curriculum must Accountable to

engage students, meet current and students and society
Students, health future health trends
Acknowledge and Leverage
authority, society,
support evolving partnerships
support
student
demographics and
learning styles

Internal
Collaborative, Diversity, embracing Environment is
processes
evidence-informed change, culture of supportive and
accountability accountability excellence responsive

Learning and Faculty recruitment, Innovative, dynamic Inspire passion,

development development and curriculum excellence and
(People) support scholarly practice.
Faculty/staff, work–
life balance,
mastery, autonomy,
purpose, program
and school
partners

Figure 1 Strategy map – critical success factors

healthcare delivery, technology, faculty’s willingness to Strategy platform

engage in transformation, and characteristics of nursing
students of the future. This process helped to raise
awareness that although assumptions were necessary
to plan for the future, they require continual revisiting
for validation.
Analysis of all of the data collected for the internal
and external review, including the brainstormed assump-
tions resulted in themes from which seven critical impli-
cations emerged. The seven critical implications became
the critical success factors the team considered essential
for achieving program success and excellence. The critical
success factors fit into the four categories (see Figure 1) of
a balanced scorecard resulting in the initial draft of the
strategy map (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). The critical success
factors would later provide the foundation for creating
strategic objectives.
To begin the process guided by CASN (2012), the team
created a roadmap to operationalize the planning process
beginning with formulating a vision, values, and strategic
objectives.
Visioning
Team members started a 1-day visioning session by creat-
ing individual drawings representing each person’s
unique aspirations and visions for the program. A graphic
facilitator then synthesized the group’s drawings, and
ideas into a collection of images and graphics, and cre-
ated an image to represent the group’s collective vision
on paper as a dynamic and connected roadmap to suc-
cess (Figure 2).
 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education 23

Figure 2 Vision

Values

Values are formidable influencers on how individual

faculty move toward disruptive change. Iwasiw,
Goldenberg, and Andrusyszyn (2009) indicate that
agreed-upon values are vital for moving forward to create
faculty cohesion. Ownership and professional account-
ability for the plans, goals, and objectives are enhanced
when faculty participate in creating the strategic plan
(CASN, 2012). Collective values were co-created when
team members chose photos from a myriad of images
that identified values seen by the group as critical to
the success of the program. In order to ensure alignment
with the institute-wide and SOHS strategic plans, the
Dean of the SOHS was invited to participate. This experi-
ence was extremely energizing for the team and brought Figure 3 Values
a new sense of optimism to the group who initially felt
overwhelmed at the thought of transforming the program
SOHS strategic plan, the team’s vision, values, and strat-
(Figure 3).
egy map. The three strategic goals are as follows:
1. Develop a responsive and supportive environment that
Strategic objectives motivates faculty to achieve excellence in nursing,
2. Create and maintain an innovative and dynamic cur-
The critical success factors were further distilled and key riculum, and
strategic objectives formulated in alignment with the 3. Embed sustainability in order to be globally relevant.
24 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education
Figure 4 Strategy map and cultural climate
As an example, one critical success factor, inspire
passion, and excellence and scholarly practice (see
Figure 1) distills into the No. 1 objective, developing a
responsive and supportive environment that motivates
faculty to achieve excellence in nursing. The work done
to this point was shared with the Specialty Nursing pro-
gram, a key partner involved in the preceptorship com-
ponent of the undergraduate program. Common themes,
values, and directions were identified between the two
group’s teams.
The balanced scorecard provided the direction for
strategic objectives, measures, targets, and initiatives
with timelines of 1–3 years and 3–5 years. Measures and
targets were prioritized and plans of the initiatives were
also detailed as achievable targets.
Strategy execution
The strategic team led efforts to clarify and build con-
sensus and understanding around the strategic plan by
sharing their aspirations and visions in a faculty meeting.
Faculty worked in groups to explore their visions and
shared ideas by drawing images. The common themes
of the faculty were mostly in alignment with the strategic
planning group’s identified mission and vision, and some
additional ideas were integrated into the graphic of the
strategy vision and mission map (Figure 2). Other
communication strategies included circulating an email
summary of the group’s work, displaying the graphic
images created by faculty and the creation of a Word
cloud (www.wordle.net) to visually represent the collec-
tive values shared by all faculty. Finally, the team identi-
fied the cultural shift and vital attributes required to
support the implementation of the strategic plan. The
graphic facilitator captured the positive cultural climate
on the strategic plan graphic as a pathway to move the
strategic plan toward an achievable vision and mission
for the program. Some of these attributes include trans-
parency, autonomy, accountability, engagement, caring,
and excellence (see Figure 4).
The finalized graphic representation of the strategy
plan was presented at a faculty meeting to enhance
understanding of the process, and as a starting point to
inspire faculty to apply for an opportunity to participate
in the Phase Two implementation team (Figure 5).
Invitations and criteria for the implementation team
were presented to faculty by the Associate Dean.
Evaluation of strategic planning
process
The discussed strategic planning process above repre-
sents the first phase of a larger process. Upon completion
 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education
Figure 5 Strategic plan – global leadership in nursing excellence
of the identification of strategic objectives, measures, and
initiatives, the initial strategic planning team disbanded.
The second faculty team, whose purpose will be to iden-
tify priorities and implement initiatives critical to the
success of the plan, will be formed to continue the stra-
tegic planning process. The intent of inviting new team
members to Phase Two creates opportunity to leverage
diverse skill sets and to create broader engagement and
motivation within the faculty.
The synthesis of the various approaches to strategic
planning engaged the initial team in a dynamic, creative
process. Co-creating the progressive plan utilized the
diversity of each of the individual team member’s
strengths and was an essential component in the pro-
cess. This provided the group with hope for change
amidst current educational and organizational chal-
lenges. A faculty-led internal process allowed the
instructors to shape the vision, mission, and strategic
objectives from an evidence-based academic and future
healthcare perspective to build a strong and coherent
strategy (Halstead, 2012; O’Neil & Krauel, 2004). These
strategic objectives will guide the Phase Two team to
partner with relevant stakeholders at the appropriate
time. Each group will then collaboratively craft an
implementation plan that leverages their valuable
perspectives.
The external consultants layered evidence-informed
frameworks with compelling questions that helped the
group members focus energy on their strengths and
25
build leadership capacity within the group. The team
constantly challenged the process inviting the consul-
tants as well as themselves to explore new concepts,
theories, and frameworks that would inform the strate-
gic planning process. The use of the balanced scorecard
as a traditional basis for strategic planning ensured a
broad holistic approach that identified critical success
factors that include the creation of a supportive culture,
an innovative and dynamic curriculum and embedded
sustainability. The graphic facilitator assisted the team
members to expand their thinking and creatively repre-
sent the aspirations that the faculty held for the pro-
gram. The inclusion of front-line faculty on the team
created a meaning-driven critical analysis that informed
the creation of a dynamic and relevant strategic plan.
Table 1 describes the integration of theory and process
co-created by the consultants and the strategic planning
team.
The outcomes of Phase One of the strategic planning
process include:
– Establishing a 3-year strategic plan with strategic
objectives, outcomes, and measurable initiatives;
– Engaging faculty from diverse parts of the program in
the planning process;
– Creating a common vision and shared understanding
of the strategic plan that made the requirement for
change clear and tangible for the strategic planning
team;
26 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education

– Developing ambassadors and leaders in the original
team to carry forward the collective memory of the
strategic plan development;
– Generating motivation and trust amongst faculty, to
engage others in the process and break down “silos”
within the entire program;
– Creating an awareness among faculty on the team
and within the broader faculty group of the breadth
and depth of scholarship required for excellence in
nursing education;
– Expanding individual ownership and collective
accountability within the strategic planning team to
the future of nursing education.
The Phase Two team is in the process of the imple-
mentation and thus the outcomes of the plan itself will be

Table 1 Strategic planning process

Session number Activities

1. Tekara1 – Introductions and welcome

Motivational theory2
2. SWOT analysis3
Appreciative inquiry: discovery
phase4
3. SWOT analysis3
4. Tekara1
Motivational theory2
5. Appreciative inquiry: design phase4
6. Appreciative inquiry: dream phase
Graphic facilitator5
7. Appreciative inquiry: design phase4
8. Tekara 1
9. Appreciative Inquiry
10. Appreciative inquiry: destiny phase4
Balanced score card6
11. Appreciative inquiry: dream phase4
Motivational theory2
12. Appreciative inquiry: design phase4
Motivational theory2
13. Appreciative inquiry: design phase4
14. Appreciative inquiry: design phase
15. Appreciative inquiry4
– SP process overview
– Personal style activity
– Expectations
– Literature review to determine current strengths and weaknesses pertaining to
the BSN program
– Two groups: external and internal factors
– Share strengths and weaknesses
– Determine opportunities and threats (SWOT)
– SWOT analysis to determine critical implications to planning process
– Identified strategic goals to support the vision and targets for each goal
– Identified assumptions
– Identified implications
– First draft of strategy map
4
– Drew personal aspirations on flipchart
– Determined concepts vital to success of BSN program
– Graphic illustration of vision by graphic facilitator
– Determined six core values
– Started developing mission statement
– Strategy map – three-dimensional draft circle
– Values discussed further
– Strategic objectives
– Meeting with specialty nursing group
– Finalized strategy map
– Determined measures and identified targets for strategic objectives
– Defined core values
– Reviewed current BSN initiatives and alignment with strategic objectives
– Identified new/shifted/changed BSN initiatives to support strategic objectives
– Determined priority initiatives
– Planned faculty “pitch”
– Provided feedback to the greater faculty and received input to identify their
aspirations and vision for BSN program strategy
– Determined themes from faculty maps to create word cloud (www.wordle.net)
– Discussed methods for providing feedback to faculty
– Finalized strategic plan and established evaluation systems
4
– Determined implementation strategy
– Planned handover from strategic planning group to implementation group
– Documented plan: vision, mission, and strategic plan into templates
– Learning circle: evaluation of strategic planning process

Notes: 1Tekara (2013); 2Pink (2009); 3Gantt (2010); 4Cooperrider and Whitney (2005); 5Eppler and Platts (2009); 6Kaplan and Norton (1996).
 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education
identified at the end of the first year and each subsequent
year of the plan.
Challenges and limitations
Every process comes with its challenges. Although multi-
ple appreciative approaches such as inspirational video
clips, graphic inspirational exercises, and themed interac-
tive activities were implemented to engage the larger
faculty group, meeting attendance was initially limited
due to teaching schedules. Therefore, input into the pro-
cess was not as robust. In hindsight, a communication
strategy to encourage large group participation might
have promoted increased sharing and engagement for the
greater faculty group. A contributing factor for lack of over-
all participation in the early stages of the process was an
expressed confidence in the representative diversity and
competence of the strategic planning team. Within the
strategic planning team, individual team members
required more time to trust the co-creative process.
An identified gap in the described process in relation
to the literature is a lack of external stakeholder engage-
ment. Effective partnerships require intentional planning
and result in more potential for success if clear processes
and goals are determined (O’Neil & Krauel, 2004). Direct
student and external stakeholder perspectives would have
informed the first phase; however, “different partners bring
different values” (O’Neil & Krauel, 2004), and the strategic
planning team wanted to have a clear vision and objectives
before engaging the correct partners at the right times later
in the process. Lastly, the team felt closure for the initial
phase would have been enhanced if the plan had been
publicly documented. The plan was subsequently formally
documented into the CASN accreditation template; how-
ever, the implementation team will create the public docu-
ment as part of implementation phase.
Recommendations
The authors recommend that strategic planning for
undergraduate nursing education needs to be an evolving
iterative dialogue that includes faculty teams to ensure a
quality outcome. Although a linear strategic architecture
was introduced, the diversity, backgrounds, and commit-
ment of the Phase One team led to a constantly evolving,
time-consuming process that encouraged “strategic risk
taking” (Halstead, 2013, p. 4). Conversations over time
were required to explore the culture of healthcare and
nursing to create language that resonated with the
27
faculty. Time for reflecting and revising was integral to
the process and enhanced the quality of the plan.
Leveraging Phase One faculty expertise and tackling sali-
ent priorities created a relevant yet flexible plan that the
Phase One team could confidently pass on to the imple-
mentation team.
Further, the creation of the plan empowered the stra-
tegic planning team to think of themselves as leaders in
nursing education who have the power to directly influ-
ence nursing curriculum and practice. A recent Canadian
nursing education Think Tank provides further guidance
to this recommendation and suggests that strategic part-
nerships between nursing practice, education, and signif-
icant stakeholders are necessary to create, support, and
future-proof of a lifelong career in Nursing (MacMillan,
2013, p. 11).
In addition, the authors consider sponsorship and
involvement by administration as integral to the plan’s
development. Facilitators from outside the program
brought knowledge perspectives from varied disciplines
outside the realm of nursing education. The meetings
over time required commitment by all the participants
and administration to secure meeting space, time away
from campus, and teaching. The original Phase One plan-
ning team served as ambassadors for the strategic plan
and supported the broader faculty to understand the
importance and relevance of having a strategic plan.
Finally, the authors would like to share that strategic
planning can be an enthusiastic energizing process exer-
cise that does not need to be prescribed or linear.
Conclusion
Discussed in this article is a strategic planning process
that utilized a pluralistic method of inquiry to engage
faculty in the creation of a future-focused plan for a
nursing education program. Seminal business frame-
works, leadership development philosophies, and inno-
vative strategies engaged the strategic planning team as
they created a dynamic and transformative strategic plan.
This unique and collaborative method of strategic plan-
ning lays the groundwork to promote positive culture
change critical to the success of an undergraduate nur-
sing program. Faculty engagement in the process pro-
vided the platform for a clear vision and sustainable
plan for the future of the nursing program. The team
embraced the notion of excellence in nursing education
and the pivotal role nurse educators play in leading
positive change in healthcare.
28 C. J. Evans et al.: Strategic Planning for Nursing Education
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the
following individuals of the BScN Strategic Planning
Committee: Isabelle Clements and Russell Hunter from
Tekara for facilitating the strategic process; Avril Orloff
for the graphic facilitation (http://avrilorloff.com);
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