DAP Planning Workshop #1

Activity 1: How Would We Know This Goal Was Achieved

Purpose of this activity

This activity helps you translate one institutional goal into observable changes. Your task is to describe what becomes true for people, not what programs or initiatives you deliver.

1 Choose One Institutional Goal

Select one goal. Your later prompts will adapt to your choice.

Academic Excellence

Deliver a transformative, residential liberal arts education supported by a rigorous curriculum, distinguished faculty, talented students, and the infrastructure essential to academic excellence.

Student Outcomes & Excellence / FORD Life

Foster student success through the FORD Life framework, cultivating resilience, belonging, ethical leadership, and adaptability so graduates are prepared for purposeful lives beyond Haverford.

Financial Soundness

Ensure the long-term sustainability of the College by securing and stewarding financial resources that make a Haverford education affordable, accessible, and appropriately resourced.

2 Envision the Achievement

Imagine Haverford achieved Academic Excellence.

Picture an environment where learning feels meaningful, mentorship is accessible, barriers are minimal, and students navigate academics with confidence.

Imagine Haverford achieved FORD Life.

Picture a campus where students show maturity, resilience, ethical judgment, and community-oriented behavior without relying on staff facilitation.

Imagine Haverford achieved Financial Soundness.

Picture an institution where processes are efficient, resources are shared, duplication disappears, and student-serving pathways work smoothly across units.

2.5 Consider the Four Dimensions of Institutional Success

As you imagine what the institutional goal looks like when it is achieved, think across these four dimensions. Your responses in Step 3 can focus on any of these areas.

1. Behaviors

What people do differently.

Examples: proactive help-seeking, more independent navigation, healthier peer interactions.

2. Experiences

What people experience or feel differently.

Examples: reduced frustration, a stronger sense of belonging, more clarity and ease.

3. Capabilities

What people become more able to do.

Examples: stronger academic planning skills, confidence in conflict resolution, improved decision-making.

4. System Conditions

What becomes easier, smoother, or more consistent because processes or structures work better.

Examples: fewer process steps, clearer pathways, better cross-unit handoffs.

You do not need to write across all four dimensions. These are lenses to help you think more broadly and avoid defaulting to activity thinking.

3 Describe the Observable Changes

Use the prompts below to describe what becomes true across any of the four success dimensions. You may focus on one dimension or multiple, depending on where you see the clearest observable change.

3.1 What would students, faculty, or staff do differently?

3.2 What would people experience or feel differently?

3.3 What barriers would disappear?

3.4 What natural patterns or behaviors would emerge?

Which dimensions did your responses address?

Check all that apply:

Behaviors

Experiences

Capabilities

System Conditions

You might consider revisiting your responses to explore whether the goal also creates changes in capability or system conditions. Looking across multiple dimensions helps ensure a richer interpretation of institutional success.

4 Summary Statement

Write one sentence that captures how you would know the goal is being achieved in your area.

Reflective Checklist

Self-check your responses before reviewing examples. Ensure your responses describe outcomes and not activities.

Does your response focus on:

What people do, feel, or experience

Observable behaviors rather than programs

Meaningful change rather than events or outputs

Eliminating barriers, not adding tasks

Human outcomes you can see or hear in daily life

Changes that are not dependent on a specific initiative

Does your response avoid:

Listing workshops, programs, sessions, or events

Naming tools or systems

Using metrics or numbers

Describing what staff do instead of what people experience

Try revising your responses to focus more on observable change rather than activities or outputs.

Example Responses for Calibration

These examples appear to help you calibrate your thinking. They represent the type of outcome-focused language this activity is designed to elicit.

Example for Academic Excellence

What would students do differently

Students would approach faculty proactively, manage their academic plans confidently, and use academic resources without hesitation.

What would people experience or feel differently

Students feel clarity in navigating requirements and trust that academic processes support their progress.

What barriers would disappear

Administrative confusion and delays in accessing academic guidance would no longer interrupt momentum.

Patterns that emerge

Faculty-student mentorship becomes a regular part of academic life, not an exception.

Summary statement

Academic Excellence is real in my unit when students navigate academics with confidence and minimal friction, supported by consistent faculty engagement.

Example for FORD Life

What would students do differently

Students initiate conflict resolution, seek help before crises, and form supportive peer networks.

Experiences

Students feel a sense of agency and emotional resilience when facing setbacks.

Barriers

Dependence on staff for interpersonal mediation decreases.

Patterns

Students demonstrate ethical decision-making without prompting.

Summary

FORD Life is real when students demonstrate maturity and connection in ways that reduce reliance on staff facilitation.

Example for Financial Soundness

What would people do differently

Units coordinate services without duplication and anticipate shared needs.

Experiences

Staff feel processes are smooth and predictable. Students encounter fewer administrative delays.

Barriers

Duplicated workloads and unclear handoffs disappear.

Patterns

Cross-unit collaboration becomes the norm, not the exception.

Summary

Financial Soundness is real when systems and processes support efficient, coordinated service with minimal friction.

Activity 2: Linking Your Unit's Work to Institutional Impact

Purpose of this activity

This activity helps you translate your insights from Activity 1 into early statements of unit-level impact. The goal is not to write perfect unit goals. The goal is to understand what part of the institutional goal is within your sphere of influence and how you can express that change clearly.

1 Choose Your Path

Select the option that best describes your unit's current state.

Option A: We do not have draft unit goals yet

Option B: We have draft unit goals

A1 Pull Forward Your Activity 1 Work

Review the statements you wrote in Activity 1 about what changes you would observe if the institutional goal were achieved.

Your Activity 1 Summary:

Your summary from Activity 1 will appear here

Which part of that observed change is realistic for your unit to influence?

Choose the portions that fall within your unit's daily work, decision-making authority, partnerships, or service role.

A2 Translate into Early Unit-Level Outcomes

Turn your insights into one or two early unit-level outcome statements by completing the sentence:

"Our unit contributes to this institutional goal when..."

A3 Identify the People Who Would Experience the Change

Who in your area would be affected if your unit successfully contributed to this goal?

Check all that apply:

Students

Faculty

Staff in other units

Staff within your unit

External partners

Other

Describe what would be different for those people.

A4 Identify Signals or Evidence You Would Expect to See

Not metrics. These are observable indicators of progress.

Examples include:

More seamless service experiences
Fewer repeated questions or process confusions
Students or faculty navigating something more independently
Faster or clearer cross-unit communication
Smoother handoffs

A5 Draft Your Unit's Preliminary Outcome Statement

Bring together everything you have written into one clear, concise statement of how your unit contributes to the institutional goal.

B1 Select One of Your Unit's Draft Goals

Choose one draft goal you want to examine more closely.

B2 Identify What Change This Goal Is Intended to Create

If your unit achieved this goal, what would become true for the people you serve or support? Answer the same observable-change questions from Activity 1, but now applied to your unit's goal.

What would people do differently?

What would people experience or feel differently?

What barriers would disappear?

What patterns or behaviors would emerge naturally?

B3 Check Alignment with the Institutional Goal

Your Selected Institutional Goal from Activity 1:

Your institutional goal will appear here

Describe how the draft unit goal contributes to the institutional goal.

Be specific about the chain of influence.

B4 Refine Your Draft Goal into a Clearer Outcome Statement

Complete the sentence:

"This goal matters because it creates conditions where..."

Now rewrite your draft goal as a short outcome statement that describes the change, not the activity.

B5 Identify Potential Signals of Progress

What would you see, hear, or experience in your unit if you were making progress toward this refined goal?

Reflective Checklist for Activity 2

Self-assess whether your unit-level outcomes are genuinely outcomes.

Does your unit-level statement focus on:

Changes in people, not changes in your workload

Observable improvements rather than tasks

Experiences or capabilities you help make possible

Barriers you help remove or reduce

Realistic influence within your unit's scope

Contribution rather than ownership of the institutional goal

Clarity about who is affected and how

Does your statement avoid:

Describing what you deliver

Listing tasks, programs, meetings, or events

Assuming responsibility for outcomes no unit can control alone

Metrics or numeric targets

Tool-specific language or operational jargon

Consider revising your draft to describe change in people or systems rather than actions your unit performs.

Example Responses for Calibration

These examples appear to help you calibrate your thinking.

Example for Path A

Institutional goal selected: Academic Excellence

What part is realistic for our unit to influence?

We cannot influence academic pathways broadly but we can improve clarity in student-facing academic information that supports confident navigation.

Draft unit-level outcome statement

Our unit contributes to Academic Excellence when students access academic information easily and navigate key processes without confusion.

Signals of progress

Fewer repeated questions, smoother advising handoffs, fewer delays due to missing information.

Final outcome statement

We support Academic Excellence by creating clear, navigable academic information that reduces confusion and builds student confidence.

Example for Path B

Draft unit goal

Improve onboarding for student employees

Refined observable changes

Students understand expectations early, feel confident in their roles, and complete tasks more independently.

Alignment

This contributes to FORD Life by cultivating capability and independent problem-solving.

Refined outcome statement

Students build confidence and agency through a clear onboarding experience that reduces uncertainty and supports responsible decision-making.

Signals

Students ask fewer clarification questions, supervisors report smoother transitions, fewer errors, and higher student engagement.