What is your vision for Naugatuck Valley Community College ten years from now? What are the College’s most important goals? How do those goals align with NVCC’s mission? These were some of the questions asked at strategic planning sessions hosted by NVCC’s Institutional Planning and Administrative Councils during the first week of November.

While the College’s current strategic plan, Toward a Splendid College, spans three years, NVCC is beginning the process of shifting to a longer “horizon decade” for strategic planning —stretching to 2025. “It makes sense to do ten years with three-year benchmarks,” said NVCC President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D. The College has been selected as the first community college in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system to develop a facilities master plan, which will also span a decade, she added.

Though the current planning cycle has worked well, “It’s been like a dash in some instances and a marathon in other instances,” said NVCC Dean of Community Engagement Waldemar Kostrzewa. “Well, we’re looking at the marathon right now—the longer haul today.”

“We come together today in the spirit of dreaming big, of being forceful, of putting on the table our best and noblest aspirations for our students, but also our concerns about the practicality of ideas and the process that would have to be reinforced and recreated to ensure our success,” said President De Filippis. “Planning and outcomes assessment as we move forward with our plans are in the fabric of higher education today.”

While NVCC’s five strategic goals continue to reflect the College’s mission, vision and values, she said there’s a responsibility to review them from time to time to monitor progress, “check our bearings” and make adjustments where required. Topics to be covered in the new ten-year planning horizon are likely to include liberal arts, facilities master planning, advisement, enrollment management, innovation and entrepreneurship.

“We have made significant progress toward a splendid college, brought closer to our dream by the intelligence, generosity and impact of our work on the lives of our students and the communities we serve,” said President De Filippis. “We shall continue to move forward to achieve our higher purpose which is to become the most splendidly generous and effective community college ever.”