SPAA's Center for Applied Appreciative Inquiry Facilitates Development of Hudson County Community College's Recently Adopted Strategic Plan

The Center for Applied Appreciative Inquiry (CAAI), directed by Dr. James Davy and housed at Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), worked with Hudson County Community College (HCCC) to develop their 2024-29 Strategic Plan that was recently adopted and approved by the HCCC Board of Trustees.

According to HCCC, the Appreciative Inquiry and the Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results (SOAR) framework utilized by Dr. Davy aligned with the college’s strategic planning vision and values.

In May 2024, upon approval by the Board of Trustees, HCCC retained Dr. Davy to facilitate the development process for the strategic plan. Throughout the later half of 2024, numerous SOAR forums, team meetings, and summits were held that brought together more than 50 internal and external stakeholders as part of a core planning team, and ultimately, through various channels, more than 300 members of the internal and external college community were engaged in the development of the five-year strategic plan. The plan was officially adopted and approved by HCCC Board of Trustees in late January 2025.