In July, 2002, William Woods University 's Strategic Planning Team completed Phase One of the 2002-2007 Strategic Plan. The team, comprised of faculty, staff, administrators, students, alumni, and board members, revised the mission and developed the institution's vision, beliefs, parameters, goals, and objectives. From this point, action teams created step-by-step plans that made the objectives actionable. All components of the Strategic Plan were approved by the Strategic Planning Team and by the Board of Trustees. Both groups review the plan annually and make adjustments to it as needed.

July 02
The overall strategic planning committee (faculty, staff, students, trustees-twenty-four members) reviewed the mission statement and changed one word; developed beliefs, vision, and goals; and created nine action objectives.

Fall 02
Nine committees comprised of approximately 160 (86%) faculty and staff met and developed eighty original plans.

The President, CFO, Academic Dean, Associate Dean, and Vice President for Advancement attended the Higher Learning Commission's workshop on the new criteria.

December 02
The overall strategic planning committee considered the eighty original plans, accepted some, rejected some, and sent some back to the action objective committees for revision.

March 03
The Academic Dean and the Associate Dean attended an informational workshop hosted by the Higher Learning Commission on the Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP).

The University Board of Trustees adopted the Five Year Strategic Plan.

May 03
The overall strategic planning committee finalized action on the plans that had been sent back to their respective committees for revision. Work began on the implementation of forty-one plans.

July 03
The overall strategic planning committee reaffirmed the mission, revised the goals, was informed of progress on all of the existing action plans, and recommended that three more committees be formed to further the work on three of the objectives.

Summer 03
The Academic Dean and the Associate Dean presented informational sessions on the process of AQIP to the President's Cabinet and to Academic Council.

October 03
The President, Academic Dean, and the Associate Dean attended the Higher Learning Commission's informational workshop on the AQIP process.

October 03
The Academic Dean and the Associate Dean presented informational sessions on the AQIP to the faculty.

December 03
Faculty was surveyed as to which process for reaccreditation they preferred-AQIP or the traditional process. Faculty selected the AQIP process. The President's Cabinet was apprised of the results of the survey.

The overall strategic planning committee (now comprised of thirty members) met to consider the plans developed by the three committees. The committee accepted seven plans and sent five plans back to the committees for revision.

January 2004
The overall strategic planning committee met and accepted the five revised plans which brought the total number of plans to fifty-one. The President's Cabinet confirmed that William Woods University would apply to the Higher Learning Commission to participate in the AQIP process.

August 2004
The overall strategic planning committee met for their annual review of the plan. Updates included the state of the University, completed action plans, and progress on active plans. The committee also revised the mission statement.

August 2005
The overall strategic planning committee met for their annual review of the plan. Updates included the state of the University, completed action plans, and progress on 18 active plans. The committee reviewed information about the February 2007 Higher Learning Commission accreditation review. They adopted the Benchmarks of Success, a set of indicators that will be included as part of all annual reviews. The committee assigned President’s Cabinet as the group that should set the goal for each benchmark.