Securing the mission through strategic planning

Abstract

The Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, USA provides a centralized location where collections are made, researched, interpreted, exhibited, and preserved for the benefit of the academic and the broader community alike. In this way, the Museum exists and operates on the interface between the academic world and the wider world beyond. This situation gives the Museum something of an advantage in the current transitional academic climate. This does not mean, however, that the Museum is not challenged by demands placed upon it by the parent institution that is itself in transition. An increasingly diverse student body, opportunities presented by new technologies and related pedagogies, leadership succession concerns, and rising costs in the face of declining budgets, to name a few, all contribute to an academic identity in flux. In response, the Museum fulfills the traditional role of a university museum by providing the core functions of collections care, scholarly research, and exhibition and embraces the role as an interface between the university and the public by acting as a conduit for knowledge on heritage in both its tangible (collections) and intangible (information) forms. The Museum accomplishes this by aligning its academic and intellectual mission and vision with that of Texas Tech University. For practical purposes, this is achieved through a strategic planning process that also mirrors that of the University. Through identifying goals, critical success factors and objectives (including strategies and assessments) the Museum can prioritize all of its activities, from traditional object-based research to innovative public programming. In turn, this process assists in making the most of limited resources and raises the profile of the Museum both within the University and in the world outside.