Members absent: Bellaver, Cunningham, Kinghorn, Ober, Park,Weaver
Interim Provost Deborah Balogh convened the meeting at 7:35 a.m.
Announcements
Dr. Balogh announced that task force members should hold the next three Fridays—October 28, November 4, and November 11—for meetings if they should be needed. Lynne Cooper will schedule meeting rooms.
Minutes
The minutes of October 14, 2005, were approved with two changes: "methodology," on pg. 2 (the first complete paragraph), will be changed to "method"; and the "Announcements" will be shortened to read "Dr. Balogh reported that the Board of Trustees, at its recent retreat, had responded favorably to the work of the task force thus far."
Approval of the minutes was followed by a short discussion of the definitions of "strategy" and "strategic." Is the task force being careful enough with terminology? The list of 13 Strategic Directions may not be "strategic." (Wordsmithing is also still necessary.) It was suggested that a strategy need not be unique. If it is our desire to be unique, then the strategy must be the means to lead us there.
Communications Plan
Referring to the Communications Plan (Phase II), Heather Shupp reported that the Communications Subcommittee recommends that the framework for the strategic plan be communicated to only the internal audience (faculty/staff and students) at the present time.
She then raised the pros and cons of placing a discussion board on the strategic planning Web site rather than or in addition to a comment box. One idea might be to provide a divided comment box, which would allow persons to post a comment at the bottom of each key piece under active discussion. The purpose would be to bring opinions to this group and to engage the campus community in the process. Individual comments could be kept on the Web site for a limited time, perhaps a week. There was some concern that the group could be taking a risk if people do not choose to comment, a situation that would suggest widespread apathy.
Jean Amman reported that only one comment had appeared in the comment box so far. The question was raised about why there has been little engagement in the process by the campus community to date. Some task force members suggested that most faculty are waiting for the Open Forums to participate.
After additional discussion, it was decided to have a discussion board with comment boxes on each component of the plan's framework. When a person makes a comment, he or she should receive an automatic response, saying that the comment will be sent to the task force. Obviously, people can also state their opinions directly to task force members.
Another issue was whether or not to Webcast the open forums. If they are live Webcasts, will people come to the forums? It is therefore probably better to archive them on the Web and to announce their availability after the forums are complete rather than before.
Several other suggestions related to the forums were offered. First, there will need to be a microphone for participants at the forums, both for the audience in attendance and for the audibility of the Webcast. Secondly, an ALLBSU should go out from the Office of the Provost encouraging participation. Members of the President's Cabinet should also encourage attendance within their respective vice presidential areas. Third, audience members should be told that they are being recorded for the benefit of the task force, as well as for the archival purpose.
Discussion of Open Forums—November 1 and 2, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Forum Room
Linda Hanson and Jim McKenzie distributed some handouts: a draft of the Open Forum Agenda (with approximate time slots for each item) and a framework showing the connections among the Values and Culture Statements, Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Enduring Core Goals, and Strategies for Achieving Distinction. They also distributed a page with a sample strategy and related objectives. At the bottom of this page were four other sample strategies, all chosen from the list of 13 Strategic Directions.
Dr. Hanson pointed out that the Goals are now termed "Enduring Core Goals" and that the boxes for Strategies for Achieving Distinction are empty, giving individuals and units the opportunity to propose strategies. Discussion followed in which some task force members stated that it would be better to ask at the forums for participants' own contributions on Strategies for Achieving Distinction so that the Strategic Directions list does not get in the way. Therefore, it was decided to delete "Other sample strategies" on the handout.
There was brief discussion about other materials to distribute at the forums. A reference was made to the flow chart in the material of the Best Practices Subcommittee, but the language is different. The handout "A Dynamic Plan" is useful, but again terms would have to be altered. It is probably better to distribute only one type of flow chart.
Concern was expressed that faculty need to know the priority on immersive experiences. Some departments have already acted or are ready to act upon this strategy, but others are not prepared. It was pointed out that immersive experiences are part of Tier 3 of the proposed University Core Curriculum revision, and it outlines to some extent how a department might achieve these experiences.
It was agreed to keep the strategy "Require/provide immersive experiential learning for every student" as an example to present at the forums. It was stated that immersive learning could be expensive, but it is important for others to understand that it is a priority.
The question was raised about when units could begin working on objectives. Some units are asking for a timeline. A May deadline for submission of objectives from units may be achievable.
It was clarified that we can still assure units that there will be an implementation guide. Task force members should also encourage colleagues and others to go to the Web site before attending the forums to become acquainted with the work of the task force to date.
Adjournment
Dr. Sabatine commended the group for its work, commenting that the strategic planning process may seem confusing at times. The meeting on October 28th will be canceled. The group will reconvene on Friday, November 4, 7:30-9:00 a.m., in AJ 339.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m.
RELATED LINK:
Agenda for October 21, 2005