Attendees:	D. Bowers, F. DiRosa, B. Garofola, C. Love, D. Watters, V. King Garwood, S. Simons, B. Cannon
Guests:	Kathy Smith, Jane Grosset, Tom Hawk

Kathy Smith brought greetings, thanks, and home baked cookies for the committee, on behalf of she and Sharon Thompson.

Don and Fran welcomed Tom Hawk and Jane Grosset and thanked them for their willingness to join us in a planning discussion.

Using the Clarus Marketing Report as a basis, Steve and Bob asked Tom to address the relationship between planning and budget allocation.

Tom took the committee through the philosophy of strategic planning as a "big picture" planning process that is supported by other plans at the College including the Technology Plan, the Facilities Master Plan, and the Marketing Plan.

The College's Operational Plan is comprised of those initiatives that each division will specifically undertake to move the college's Strategic Plan forward. The budget is then built in light of the various plans and priorities.

Institutional priorities are set in light of results of the environmental scanning process and discussed at Board level retreats. The Board of Trustees and the President set the direction in which the College will move.

Don Bowers asked about the apparent disconnect between our funding of each FTE and what the committee perceives as an ambitious Strategic Plan.

The College spends approximately $4,000 per each FTE. The Strategic Plan is a signal to the College of how it is we will spend staff time and staff resources over a number of years. Tom gave an example of the staff time invested in developing Partnerships at both the secondary and higher education level, as one of the Strategic Principles identified in our current Strategic Plan.

A lively discussion ensued around assessment and outcomes. The group focused on how the College assessed academic programs ("majors") compared to non-academic program areas such as Facilities and Student Services.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 18, 2:30- 4:00 p.m. in the ESS Conference Room, W1-1.