by Brenda Maceo
City of Hope leaders have kicked off the update of the organization’s five-year strategic plan. A strategic planning steering committee is guiding the process, chaired by Ted Krontiris M.D., Ph,D., executive vice president and director of City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. The previous strategic plan covered the time period from 2002 to 2007. The update will take place over the next few months and be ready for the start of the 2007 fiscal year.
“We’re actually a little ahead of the game,” said Krontiris. “Our timing allows us to involve all aspects of the organization and have strong faculty participation.”
“This is a critically important process in guiding our future direction,” added Michael A. Friedman, president and CEO. “It’s also exciting because of the great strides our organization has made since the last strategic plan. When you take a look at our progress, you quickly realize the incredible potential for the next five years.”
The process shifted to high gear on Jan. 11, with the first of a series of weekly Clinical and Scientific Executive Team (CSET) meetings focused on the planning process. The first meeting was a planning session to give CSET members the opportunity to review the planning approach developed by the steering committee. Krontiris also gave the group an update on City of Hope’s progress and achievements since the launch of the 2002 strategic plan. The next CSET sessions will include presentations on existing scientific programs (Experimental Therapeutics, Stem Cell Biology, Immunotherapy and Population Sciences), followed by presentations for proposed basic science programs (Cancer Biology, Systems Biology, Developmental/Regenerative Biology and Proteomics), and then move to sessions on translational and clinical programs.
Presenters are each allotted 15 minutes to describe their strategic proposal, the current status of their program, opportunities for change, factors that might hinder success, new resources required and how success will be measured. These presentations will be followed by questions and discussion with CSET members.
In November, program leaders from throughout campus were sent a questionnaire asking, “If resources were not limiting, what program or resource (recruitment, cores, space, instrumentation) should City of Hope undertake or expand in the next plan cycle?” They were also asked, “With one half to $2 million, what area or resource should we address?” The final question: “What do you need?” Members of the strategic planning steering committee organized those responses, along with related materials submitted by faculty to development, into major themes and areas, and from those developed the CSET presentation schedule.
“The idea was to start the process at the level of individuals and, therefore, consider a much wider input to the planning,” said Krontiris. “Now we have moved into a more synthetic process with the steering committee and CSET that will allow us to come up with a draft plan.”
Krontiris said the written plan drafted by the steering committee will be the subject of an institution-wide meeting for commentary and education.
Following the conclusion of the 11 weeks of CSET presentations, City of Hope leaders will also host a retreat in early April with tenure-track faculty and senior administrators to review the draft plan. The plan will then have a final round of review with the steering committee and CSET before it is delivered to City of Hope’s executive team and board for review in mid-April.
Members of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee include Michael Benedict, Terry Blackwood, Richard Jove, M.D., Kathleen Kane, Susan Kane, Krontiris, Brenda Maceo, James S. Miser, M.D., Arthur D. Riggs, Ph.D., and David Rubenson.
Those interested in more information on the process can contact Krontiris via e-mail.
