Writing Action Plans

”A Quick ”How to

By
Mohammud El-Naggar
 Each Objective needs
an Action Plan

• Action Plan are things we are going to

accomplish in order to meet our
objectives
 Dev elopm ent / Rev iew a Mis sion Statem en t (s ense of
purp ose)

Se t Ob jec tiv es (Wha t we seek to reac h)

Con duct a si tua tion analy si s (op port uni ties a nd t hreat s)
A Practical
Approach For mul at e yo ur st ra teg y (Short , Mi d, Long )
to SP
Formul ate T act ical Ob ject iv es (Short , Mi d, L ong )

Im plem ent st rateg y ( Det ailed ac tion plan: what , who,

when,…et c)

Assess/E val ua te ( dec id e on prog ress mea sur em ent too ls)

Take co rrect ive Act ion (a s req ui re d)

Wh at i s th e pu rp ose o f a cti on
?pl an
To infor m:
– The institution
– The University
– The agency and
– Other key stakeholders of steps to:
•Improve the quality of its educational activities
•Improve academic standards
•To apply for accreditation
 Measures or targets

Evaluation framework

Address all
Structure of an educational activities

effective action Sources of

plan Information

Cost and sources of

funds

Time for completion

Stages of progress

Who is responsible

Date and endorsement

by faculty council and
university councils
 :The Plan should be based on
• What action is required
• Time and resources needed
• Indicators or measures that need to be place
to evaluate progress and decide when the plan
achieved.
• Flexibility:
– Changing priorities
– Minimize risks of failure
• SWOT analysis (recent)
• SMART objectives (specific measurable,
agreed, realistic, time related)
• Focus on student and other stakeholders
• Consultations with stakeholders
• Coordination between different objectives
(items)
• Coordination between persons in earlier action
plan
(‫(الحتياج إلى أشخاص ذو صفة إدارية عالية لتيسير المور‬
• Risk management
‫•الحكاية من البداية الى النهاية‬
:The institution has
• Completed a DE site visit
• Received the review report contains:
– A set of conclusions
– Points of strength
– Matters that need to be rectified before an
accreditation visit.

When should be prepared

• For most recent academic year
• In light of the developmental engagement report
How to Write an Effective Action Plan
• Define the source of information:
– Developmental engagement report
– Annual reports
– Outcomes of funded projects
– Internal quality assurance system
– External evaluation
• Identify the set of objectives or action needed
in the light of source information.
The objectives should address all educational
activities including:

– Undergraduate and postgraduate programs (ILOs,

Curriculum, Assessment Achievements)
– Research
– Community involvement
– Quality of learning opportunities (teaching and
learning, student support learning resources).
– Governance and Administration.
– Centrally operated facilities in universities.
• The objectives should be:
– Specific
– Measurable
– Agreed
– Realistic
– Time related

• Each objective should drawing on a recent

analysis of :
– Strengths
– Weakness
– Opportunities
– Threats (SWOT analysis)
 Establish Priorities
• Classify the different objectives in terms of
importance, sequence and cost.

– Short Term Annual Action Plans

– Medium Term Towards accreditation
– Long Term Towards the vision

(Annual plan supported by medium term Strategic

plan)
• Define the implementation required for each
objective (how is to be achieved)
Objective Implementation
(activities)
1- 1-
2-
3-
2- 1-
2-

3- 1-
2-
3-
 (Objective (task, Target

Implementation 3 Implementation 2 Implementation 1

4 3 2 1 Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 1

• Who is responsible?
– Faculty
– University
– Supreme council
– Ministry
– Others

• Time / Deadline for completion for each item

and for the whole action (when will be….)

• Define the activities required for each

implementation
• Systematic monitoring of progress:

– Outcome of each activity

– Monitoring process
– Performance indicators
– Review report
 Flexibility of Action Plan
• Should be revised to take account of:
– Progress
– Changes
– To minimize risks of failure

• Changes or risks include:

– New laws
– Numbers of students
– Staff
– A new curriculum.
• Risk Management:
– Identify risk factors
– Assessing their significance for the plan
– Steps to minimize the risk
 Budget

• Prepare estimates of costs and resources:

– For each objective
– For the planning process.
• Identify potential sources of funds.
• Budget and accounts
How will you know are achieving?
• Use activities (implementation)
• Build in stages/phases of progress.
– Objective (Task):
• Implementation (activities)
• Outcomes.
• Monitor and report on progress.
• Allow for continuing changes.
• Use risk management.
• Use what if …………
We can do………..
 Planning
• When your plan is achieved.
• You are ready for accreditation:
– For each identified item.
– For the whole plan use mission, strategic
objective and evaluation criteria as reference
points.
• Monitor progress
• Endorse achievements in Faculty council
Matters that Need to be rectified
before an accreditation visit
• Formulating ILOs in terms of ethical
aspects of scientific applications are not
fully addressed in most of the
programmes
• The external reference standards are not
stated in almost all programmes.
• Organizations of ILOs in terms of
knowledge and skills are inappropriate in
most of the programmes and courses. Key
elements of science practice such as
decision making and problem solving are
not specified.
• Course ILOs must be revised to be in an
alignment with programme ILOs and
faculty's mission.
• There is an urgent need to review and
complete most programmes and courses
specifications and reports.
• The faculty members and the students
need to be fuly aware of and understand
the programmes's ILOs and courses's
ILOs.
• The conditions necessary for the full
attainment of ILOs are not sufficiently
consolidated in the curricula.
• There are no formal or regular protocols for the
placement of the students in the summer
training with a clear strategy for assessment.
• There is no impact of the research on the
educational activities.
• Formative assessment is inadequate.
• Most written examinations measure knowledge
at the level of recall only.
• The criteria for marking and grading are not
clear.
• External evaluation is not activated and the
academic standards of the graduates' attainment
cannot be confirmed.
• The measurements' for students achievements is
measured only by examinations results and no
available reports from the external evaluators or
stakeholders.
• The faculty has no system to follow up the path
of graduates.
• Long teaching hours for some lectures, poor
performance in some tutorials, poor quality of
some classes and lack of effective
communication between students and teacher in
some courses affect the proper attainment of
ILOs and contribute to the students resorting to
private lessons in some programmes.
• The students' heavy workload is an
obstacle to the continued development of
independent learning.
• Attainment of the practical skills is
inadequate and jeopardized because of
lack of equipment and materials in almost
all disciplines.
• Recent essential books that cover
programmes and courses are not available
in the library.
• There is no overall strategy for the
students support and no real activation of
academic advisory system.
• The students handbook lacks students'
assessment information.
• No mechanism to identify, at an early stage,
students who are at risk of failure and no clear
system to support the outstanding students.
• No provision is made for language skills
development.
• Many non academic staff lack IT skills.
• Most of the infrastructure for the
undergraduates including teaching halls,
laboratories are in need of urgent renovation to
facilitate acquisition of programme skills and to
provide an adequate system for laboratories
safety measures.
• Some of the faculty's computers are too
old.
• There is no overall strategic research plan
to meet the mission statement of the
faculty and no database is available for
research activities.
• Strategic plan for community service is not
documented.
• The systematic assessment of needs,
together with the evaluation by end users
of the impact of community services and
its quality, are not done.
• There is an urgent need to disseminate
the mission statement.
• There is a need to implement fully an
effective quality assurance process.
• The faculty needs to document its process
and outcomes more carefully.
• The capture and due consideration of the
key stakeholders' opinions and feedback in
enhancing the academic programmes
should be established.
• The action plan in the faculty annual-self
evaluation report is not routed from the
criticism mentioned in the course and
programme reports and other sources of
evaluation. It lacks the exact responsible
persons, definite timing of achievement,
and the actual needs of the faculty.