APPAM has undergone a year-long strategic planning effort to set a long run vision for the organization and a strategy for how best to pursue that vision. In October, 2010, then-President Richard Burkhauser appointed a strategic planning committee to collect data, assess alternatives, and present strategic goals and recommendations to the Policy Council. The Policy Council endorsed the strategic plan at its meeting at the
Fall Research Conference and it also endorsed recommended changes in the governance structure as the first step in implementing the plan.
The strategic planning committee was co-chaired by Maria Cancian, University of Wisconsin - Madison and Paul Decker, Mathematica Policy Research. The committee also included Scott Allard, University of Chicago, Sandra Archibald, University of Washington, Angela Evans, University of Texas - Austin, Judy Gueron, MDRC, Ron Haskins, The Brookings Institution and Stephen Raphael, University of California - Berkeley. APPAM is extremely grateful for the committee’s hard work and willingness to commit so much time to this important endeavor.
The second document details
the amended APPAM governance structure, approved by the Policy Council. It is an expanded committee structure for the Policy Council that is designed to engage the Council and membership in the implementation of APPAM’s strategic plan. The amended governance structure was proposed by the president and the executive director in response to the implementation recommendations in the strategic plan. The newly created committees will support the functioning of the Policy Council and work with the APPAM leadership and staff to implement the strategic plan.
The third document is
the full strategic planning committee report which includes extensive background information on the data and analysis, and detail on the strategies and tactics that were proposed in support of the strategic goals. This document was not voted on but rather provided to the Executive Committee and Policy Council as background to the process.
The strategic plan and the amended APPAM governance structure will help shape the future work of APPAM. The strategic plan by no means represents an exhaustive list of priorities but rather provides a guide for the APPAM leadership and staff to help direct their efforts over the next three to five years. The strategic objectives are purposefully broad to allow the APPAM leadership to execute the plan in a flexible manner. The strategic plan is intended to be a fluid document that will be revisited periodically to update the objectives and strategies.
One of APPAM's richest resources as an organization is its
membership. APPAM needs its members to be involved in the ongoing APPAM strategic planning process. If you would like to serve on any committees, please e-mail your request to
info@appam.org. The
incoming President, Paul Decker, will be appointing the committees in consultation with the Executive Committee in January, 2013.
While strategic planning is a new process for APPAM, its
dedication to improving public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis, and education is not. The hope is that APPAM will emerge from this process a stronger and more vibrant organization, better able to serve the needs of its members.