Summary of Objectives

Contained in this plan are five goals of strategic significance that will strengthen, broaden, and deepen NOLS. These five areas are not new, but they are our focus areas for greatest change in the coming years. These interdisciplinary objectives will permeate what we do, affecting the annual plans and daily decisions of each operating department. These focus areas are:

1. Staff Excellence
2. Diversity
3. Evidence-Based Curriculum Development
4. Environmental Stewardship
5. Philanthropic Support

In addition to the primary focus areas above, the coming years will see considerable attention directed toward six natural focus areas that support and enhance our mission and core values. We anticipate that there will be less significant change in these areas. We will be responsible in our daily efforts to ensure our continuing excellence and improvement in all of them. These areas are:

• Students
• Risk Management
• Access to Wilderness Classrooms
• Technology
• Expanding Brand Awareness
• Financial Equilibrium and Strength

We will pursue our core activities and these goals within the context of a budget framework intended to ensure the long-term vitality and financial equilibrium of NOLS. This is a growth plan constrained by our commitment to excellence and the availability of faculty, classroom, and financial resources. NOLS recognizes that prudently managed growth can be beneficial and is consistent with its mission. By growing, NOLS can educate larger numbers of students, increase our impact, enrich faculty and staff careers, deliver operating economies of scale, add sophistication to our program, and build philanthropic support. Recognizing that external pressures may require us to adapt, the plan makes the following central operating assumptions:

• With vigilant attention to the maintenance of our quality standards, student days will grow annually by an average of 3% from the end of 2007—a nearly 20% increase by the end of 2013. Faculty, staff, course offerings, wilderness classroom access, technological tools, marketing and enrollment, and facilities will grow commensurately in sophistication and scope.
  
  
• We will manage NOLS to annually increase our net assets by 3% of total operating revenue. This is a level that, based on recent experience, will maintain NOLS’ buildings and facilities and fund adequate operating reserves. Embedded in this margin target are the achievement of the strategic goals and the utilization of philanthropic revenue to fund a growing share of operations.
  
  
• Branch enhancements and new operating areas are planned along with meeting classroom needs for WMI, but no major new capital projects are funded by operations during the five years.

Setting goals, mapping routes, assigning responsibility, achieving objectives, and adapting are core NOLS skills. Through its annual budget cycles, daily execution, and trustee meetings, NOLS will map its routes toward the objectives set in this plan; define checkpoints and timelines; assign responsibilities; chart progress; and adapt. In the end, however, it is only a plan. In classic NOLS fashion, we will lead the school by relying on common sense, good judgment, our values and purpose, and commitment to stewardship.