Goals and Objectives

Goals

Goals are more specific than mission statements. They can be set at a local, regional, institutional, state, territory, tribal, or campus level. State, territory, and military goals generally represent a broad strategic SART direction, whereas local, campus, tribal, or regional SARTs normally are more jurisdictionally specific.

One of the most important questions to address in creating goals is "Will the goals support the SART's vision and mission?" In addition, you also may want to address priorities synthesized from community needs assessment surveys. (See Collect Data in this toolkit for more information about surveys.)

Goals encompass a relatively long period—at least 3 years or more—or have no stated time period. They should address gaps between the current and desired level of service. According to the Strategic Planning Toolkit, goals and objectives are often used interchangeably, but they are different⁴: