Message from the President

Adler School founder Rudolf Dreikurs wrote, ""We all do only what we decide.""  The Adler School, after a long history of spectacular achievements since 1952, will now decide what achievements we will secure for 2015.  In 2005, we decided to explore our responsibilities and opportunities that follow from the work of Alfred Adler, and we decided through our Strategic Plan for 2010 to pursue a vision of socially responsible graduates, holistic service, and social justice.  For 2015, we have important decisions to make together.

The School's Strategic Plan for 2010 – 2015 is important, because we are an organization that makes decisions about goals and then does what it says it will.  The School is currently in the fourth year of our Strategic Plan for 2005 – 2010, and we have exceeded all of the ambitious goals described within that plan.  We launched innovative curricula, began institutes, worked in new ways with community partners, and supported extraordinary growth.  We have continued the revolutionary work of the first community psychologist, and now, it is time to define some new revolutions.  This is especially important, because the work of the School is more indispensible now than ever – in order to meet the growing challenges of today's communities.

I have appointed a Strategic Plan Steering Team (SPST) to support the Board of Trustees and to guide the process of shaping our new plan.  The membership includes key stakeholders across the organization:

Mary Cahillane, Trustee
Victoria Chou, Trustee
David Kreischer, Trustee
Patricia Moten Marshall, Chair, Board of Trustees
Raymond Crossman, President
Anthony Chimera, VP of Development
Jo Beth Cup, VP of Administration
Jeff Green, VP of Finance and IT
Wendy Paszkiewicz, Interim VP of Academic Affairs
Lynn Todman, Director of the Institute on Social Exclusion
Larry Axelrod, Dean of the Vancouver campus
Josefina Alvarez, PsyD Program Director
Asra Kamal, Director of Student and Alumni Affairs
Mitzi Norton, Director of the Office of the President
Elaheh Ashtari, PsyD student
Ellen Stone, PsyD alum

We have retained the Massachusetts-based firm Education Alliance to facilitate the development of our plan.  The firm was chosen following a competitive process over the past several months.  Education Alliance has considerable experience and renown in higher education, and among their past success, they facilitated the most recent strategic plan for Roosevelt University.  Principals from Education Alliance will be joining the SPST and our work across the coming months.

This fall, we will be convening conversations with internal and external stakeholders in Vancouver and Chicago to inform the plan.  A schedule of those conversations is included below.  We also invite input and participation in our planning process through an on-line survey.  Please CLICK HERE to participate in our brief survey.  We will schedule Town Hall meetings in Vancouver and Chicago in the new year to discuss a draft of the plan.  Finally, the Board of Trustees will approve the plan at its February 18 business meeting.

I invite you to contact my office directly if you have thoughts about our planning process or about the future of the School.

Alfred Adler taught about the importance of courage and cooperation to meet our responsibilities in life and to the broader world.  My request of you is to bring courage and cooperation – as well as big dreams and ideas to meet pressing community needs – to the School's planning conversation.

Sincerely,

Raymond E. Crossman, Ph.D.

October thru November Meeting Schedule

Wednesday, October 21

4:30pm-6:30pm Strategic Plan Steering Team
Room 1705, Adler

Thursday, October 22

9am-10:30am Input Group: Faculty/staff, by invitation
1pm-2:30pm Input Group: Faculty/staff, by invitation
Hotel Monaco, Paris Central Ballroom, 225 N. Wabash Ave.

Tuesday, November 3

10am – 12pm Input Group: Staff/Faculty - Vancouver
1pm – 3pm Input Group: Faculty - Vancouver
4pm – 5:30pm Input Group:  Open to all students - Vancouver
6:30pm – 9pm Input Group: Campus Advisory Board and Alumni - Vancouver

Wednesday, November 4th

9:30am-11:00am Mission Meeting: Open to Adler Community
Room 1705

Tuesday, November 10th

9am-10:30am Input Group: Open to All Students - Room 1705
9:30am-11:00am Mission Meeting: Open to Adler Community - Room 1704
11am-1pm  Strategic Plan Steering Team
1:30pm-3:00pm Input Group: Faculty/Staff, by invitation
3:00pm-4:30pm Input Group: Faculty/staff, by invitation

Thursday, November 19th

9am-10:30am Input Group: Community Partners, by invitation
Room 2223, Adler

Friday, November 20th

9am-11am Strategic Plan Steering Team, Room 1705, Adler
11:30am-1:00pm Input Group: Open to All Alumni
Room 1705, Adler

Tuesday, November 24th

1pm-2pm Vancouver Mission Review Session

Thursday, December 10th

10am - 3pm Strategic Plan Steering Team, Location TBD

Please participate in the strategic planning process by taking our brief survey.  CLICK HERE.