The OSBA VISA Team:
Visionary
Initiatives for
Strategic
Action
OSBA unveils new strategic plan
With the release of “Visionary Initiatives for Strategic Action” (VISA), OSBA officially unveiled its new strategic plan. The 12-page publication outlining the plan was presented to the OSBA Board of Trustees at its Sept. 13 meeting in Columbus. It has been mailed to school board members around the state and will be more widely distributed in the coming months. A link to the publication follows this article.
The VISA plan is the product of thousands of hours of effort by association members and staff. Board-member driven, the plan is a living document designed to guide OSBA now and into the future as it works to support Ohio’s public school boards in the 21st century.
The seeds of the plan were planted about two years ago when the OSBA Executive Committee agreed to undertake a review of the association’s long-range strategic plan, which dated back to 2000. The committee developed a charge to be given to a planning team appointed by 2007 OSBA President Martha F. Rothey, Findlay City.
The team — 10 school board members and 10 staff members — was assigned to re-examine the OSBA mission statement; review the current strategic plan and process; assess the association’s current and future needs; devise a system to keep the Board of Trustees up-to-date on planning and improvements; and include the results of the 2007 NSBA Operations Audit in discussions. The Executive Committee selected Sue Waechter of Cornerstone Consulting Associates LLC to facilitate the process.
The group began its work in September 2007, and adopted the name, Visionary Initiatives for Strategic Action Team. The VISA Team continued to meet over the next seven months, with members working on individual and small-group assignments between sessions.
The group collected information from a variety of sources through personal interviews, surveys, assessments and other research. It gathered internal input from OSBA members and staff, and reached out to external stakeholders, including statewide education organizations, the governor’s office, state legislators, the Ohio Department of Education, local government associations and organized labor.
The research included comprehensive analyses of OSBA programs, products and services; a look at previous strategic plans; and an assessment of the association’s infrastructure and capabilities. What emerged was a portrait of OSBA’s past, present and future achievements and challenges. The VISA Team’s efforts set the stage for the plan’s implementation by the OSBA staff.
Early in its work, the VISA Team created new OSBA mission and vision statements to guide it in developing the plan (see OSBA’s new mission, vision statements, below). The group also developed a set of guiding principles, vision priorities and goals.
The current set of 23 goals reaches five years into the future, with a specified set of goals to be addressed each year. Each OSBA staff member is assigned to a goal team charged with developing strategies to best achieve each goal and monitor its progress. Goals may be added to the list, while some might be eliminated or combined with other goals.
A central tenet of the plan is that it must be dynamic, fluid and adaptable to the evolving needs and challenges of public education. To assure that flexibility, OSBA trustees and staff will monitor the plan to keep it aligned with the needs of association members as they strive to provide their students ever-expanding opportunities. A detailed monitoring process is in place to maintain the focus on the OSBA mission and vision.
With this new strategic plan, OSBA has positioned itself as the forward-looking voice of public education in supporting its mission of providing the best service possible for Ohio’s public school boards, now and long into the future.
As OSBA President Edward A. Bischoff and Immediate Past President Rothey wrote in their letter introducing the VISA plan, “Just as public education is at a crossroads, so is our association. We can be satisfied with where we are, or set our sights on a brighter future. We choose the latter.”
Links to OSBA's new mission and vision statements; records of the VISA Team’s meetings; more on the OSBA Guiding Principles; an OSBA historical synopsis; and a summary of previous OSBA organizational plans are available at the bottom of this page.
Ohio School Boards Association Visionary Plan for Strategic Action
Members of the VISA Team:
School board members
- Martha F. Rothey, 2007 OSBA president; board member, Findlay City
E-mail: martyrothey@hotmail.com
- Edward A. Bischoff, 2007 OSBA president-elect; board member, Delaware-Union ESC & Delaware Area Career Center
E-mail: ebischoff@bischoffmiller.com
- Linda F.R. Omobien, 2007 OSBA immediate past president; board member, Akron City
E-mail: lomobien@aol.com
- Tawana Lynn Keels, 2008 OSBA president-elect; board member, Princeton City & Great Oaks ITCD
E-mail: tawanakeels@yahoo.com
- Andrew Herchek, 2007 OSBA Northeast Region president-elect; board member, Waterloo Local (Portage) & Maplewood Career Center
E-mail: butch2202@aol.com
- Cathy Johnson, 2007 OSBA Central Region president; board member, South-Western City
E-mail: cathy.johnson@swcs.us
- Kevin A. Johnston, 2007 OSBA Southwest Region president; board member, Preble County ESC
E-mail: kjohnston2007@netzero.com
- John Pennycuff, 2007 OSBA Southwest Region immediate past president; board member, Winton Woods City
E-mail: jpennycuff@fuse.net
- Ed Penrod, 2007 OSBA Southeast Region Executive Committee member; board member, Logan-Hocking Local (Hocking) & Tri-County Career Center
E-mail: edpen@msn.com
- Dr. Steven Steel, 2007 OSBA Board of Trustees member; 2007 Northwest Region Executive Committee member; board member, Toledo City
E-mail: ssteel@accesstoledo.com
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