Another school year has started. Several of our fall teams have already competed and our winter and spring sports are preparing to reach our goal: To make this the best year ever for Gael Athletics.
The development of an athletic strategic plan began in December, 2000 when Br. Craig J. Franz, FSC, President of Saint Mary's College of California requested that the Department of Athletics and Recreational Sports develop a plan that would inform the developing strategic plan for the College. The challenge was issued at a very appropriate time. It provided the new athletic administrative team with the opportunity to assess the tradition and history of the Gael athletic program and chart a course for the future.
We began the strategic planning process by listening to the College community, reviewing the mission statements of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and Saint Mary's College with the goal to having more consistent success in our programs for student-athletes. Athletic Administrators, coaches and staff worked together to re-focus and develop a mission statement for Gael Athletics. The mission statement is located at http://smcgaels.ocsn.com/school-bio/stma-mission-statment.html. The process of writing the athletic strategic plan moved forward to include meetings with student-athletes, coaches, athletic department and College administrators and staff, faculty, Regents and Trustees, alumni, and donors.
An exposure draft of our best thinking for the athletic strategic plan was reviewed by many of the individuals and groups with whom we originally met. The resulting document clearly sets forth a vision for the College's athletic program that is rooted in the College's mission by focusing on three goals:
- To provide a competitive experience for our student-athletes that compliments the quality education offered at Saint Mary's.
- To have our basketball teams consistently compete for conference championships and earn opportunities for NCAA post-season tournaments.
- To have the Gael athletic program ranked as one of the top 100 performing collegiate athletic programs as measured by the Sears Directors' Cup.
The athletic strategic plan then presents objectives and action steps that:
- Focus on the welfare of our student-athletes by improving the quality of their collegiate experience;
- Create partnerships with other College departments by coordinating our objectives and strategies with our colleagues; and
- Capture the attention of the local, regional, and national community by contributing to the academic and co-curricular excellence of the College.
Our strategy for accomplishing these goals, objectives, and action steps will remain constant and straightforward - continuous improvement with a few bold strokes - and our strategic plan provides opportunities and challenges for both. The bold strokes set forth in our plan include:
- Bringing our aspirations and resources into line in a manner that allows us to offer programs that meet the needs of student-athletes, the College mission, and realize competitive success.
- Creating, implementing, and administering an athletic recruitment and financial aid program that supports the efforts of coaches to recruit academically and athletically qualified student-athletes who can benefit from a Saint Mary's education.
- Enhancing Athletic Fund-Raising.
- Enhancing athletics competition and practice venues.
This athletic strategic plan is a work in process, updated through September 1, 2002, and has been posted on our web site at http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/stma/genrel/auto_pdf/strategic-plan-090402.pdf.
In May of 2002, our President, Brother Craig Franz, returned to the campus community the comprehensive strategic plan entitled The Next Steps. The strategic planning work completed by the Department of Athletics and Recreational Sports is now represented in this campus wide document that seeks to direct our work as a Catholic, Lassallan, Liberal Arts learning institution for the next five years. The Next Steps document is located at: http://smcnet.stmarys-ca.edu/strategic_plan/. I encourage you to take the time to review the results of our campus wide strategic planning as well as the specifics of the athletic department planning.
The Department of Athletics and Recreational Sports recently completed a "Continuous Improvement Planning Document" that we are using to guide and track our animation of both The Next Steps and the athletic strategic plan. This Continuous Improvement Planning Document allows us to identify specific goals, action steps, and timelines for our work. We refer to it frequently to evaluate our progress.
All of this work has the Gaels on the move. In the end, it is about the experience our student-athletes receive - and your support and involvement is absolutely essential to our student-athletes. It is important to field competitive teams that add to the spirit and tradition of the College and represent all of us with dignity and integrity - and we value your participation and support in this mission!
Go Gaels!
