Strategic Partnerships Advance (SPA) 2023

The New American Colleges and Universities is committed to being an innovation center for our campuses with bold futures. Working with presidents and their leadership teams, the Strategic Partnerships Advance (SPA) is a multi-phased approach to forming campus-to-campus partnerships that resolve pressing challenges. The phases include: (a) prioritize common challenges and opportunities across NACU campuses; (b) conduct and examine research on existing partnerships; (c) identify and prioritize a set of strategic partnerships; and, lastly, (d) develop, execute, and evaluate the course of actions for prioritized partnerships.

NACU is grateful to the Transformational Partnerships Fund for its support of our Strategic Partnerships Advance (SPA). Learn about TPF.

SCHEDULE

Research Phase I (May 2023)

The research phase will look at several guiding questions, including:

• What are the existing and predicted problems our campuses are trying to solve?
• What strategic partnerships to address these issues are already underway with other campuses or community partners?
• What innovative partnerships have yet to be developed but could have a significant positive impact?

Education Virtual Session (June 2023)

The education session will review and discuss the key findings from Research Phase I. Additionally, the session will include a presentation from an external group to share perspective on effective strategic partnerships in higher education.

Research Phase II (July and August 2023)

The second research phase will focus on deeper exploration of the viability of strategic partnership ideas that emerged in Research Phase I and the Education Virtual Session.

Strategic Partnerships Advance (September 11, 2023)

In-person in Washington, DC

Over the course of a full-day, in person retreat, campus leaders will work collaboratively to develop a course of action(s) for campus-to-campus partnerships and/or a partnership centralized through NACU. The gathering will also include a rooftop reception hosted by McAllister & Quinn. The detailed agenda will be made available in the coming month.

Implementation Phase (October 2023 and after)

The final phase will include ongoing discussions and monitoring the implementation of the course of action(s) that resulted from the DC SPA. Progress will be shared with NACU campuses and discussed selectively with outside groups interested in forming strategic partnerships.