The Board of Regents mandated strategic planning at the three Regency universities in December 1989. President Durward Long appointed the SSU 2000 Committee to initiate the process in early 1990. In February 1991, Acting President Wayne Penn instigated the Strategic Planning Task Force, which produced “Toward 2000: A Strategic Plan for SSU” in March 1992. In this plan, topics such as “State of University at 20”, “SSU Academic Plan”, and “What will the New Decade of the 1990s Bring?”

The committee was also known under several names: Vision 2000, Vision/SSU 2000, Vision Committee, and SSU 2000. Colloquia on the Future of the University was also part of this committee and was also tied into SSU’s 20th anniversary. The speakers at various events included Dr. Robert Shirley, Dr. Virigina Smith, Alison Bernstein, Dr. Frank Newman, Dr. A. Wayne Penn, and Dr. Curtis McCray.