As Dickinson begins to design its next five-year strategic plan, the power is put on a small group of students to help determine the future of the college.

This year, the International Business and Management (INBM) senior seminar is meeting with President Nancy Roseman and Provost Neil Weissman, as well as other department chairs, to come up with recommendations for the next five-year strategic plan, focusing on how to improve student life on campus.

In the past, the seminar has partnered with outside non-profit and for-profit businesses, usually with Dickinson alumni, according to David Sarcone, associate professor of INBM. This year, however, Helen Takacs, associate professor of INBM who is teaching the course with Sarcone, suggested the seminar take on the five-year strategic plan project. Takacs is “instrumental in the planning process,” Sarcone said.

A five-year strategic plan is a document created by members of the college outlining where it is headed in the future. David Sarcone, associate professor of INBM, said these documents are created in two steps. The first is to assess the environment of higher education in general and the college’s role in that. Then, the members determine what is most important for the college moving forward to add value both internally and externally.

The senior seminar for the INBM major focuses on strategy and company performance in an insulated environment. Elisabeth Maranca ’16, a student in the course, explained that, “the class is divided into four consulting teams.” Each of these teams is responsible for coming up with their own recommendations for the plan.

In its preliminary interviews with Roseman and Weissman, Maranca said the class found that Weissman was interested in focusing on student life and improving the retention rate of 91 percent between the first and second years, while Roseman wants to focus on the external environment of higher education in general, and adding value to the college to remain competitive.

Sarcone says that having students work on the plan provides Dickinson the perspective of lived experience.

“[Great organizations should] be able to create a vision or a purpose that fits the needs of all those who have [a stake in the outcome. So] not having the voice of students is just a missed opportunity,” Sarcone said.

The seminar is working separately from the college’s strategic planning committee. While they will share information at certain times, it is the seminar students’ job to determine what information is important to their final suggestions independently of any group or professor.

“We kind of threw them in the ocean in a way,”Sarcone said. He said the students are given all the data and resources they need, but ultimately they have to figure out how to sort through that information.

The students in the course are benefiting from this experience as well. Maranca said that the skills this course develops are applicable to all aspects of business.

“Knowing your internal and external environments and your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as your own, can only help you further broaden your tangible and intangible resources,” Maranca explained.

Sarcone said that the seminar is starting in steps that frame different aspects of collegiate life both internally and externally. This process will allow each group to “set priorities and identify urgencies,” said Marcana, which will draw out what is truly of value for the college to focus on moving forward.