Members absent: Richard Bellaver, Lawrence Cunningham, Michael Maggiotto, David Ober, Kevin Smith, Marilyn Weaver
Interim Provost Deborah Balogh convened the meeting at 7:35 a.m.
Announcements Dr. Balogh welcomed three new members to the task force: Jeannine Harrold, Don Park, and Tom Taylor.
Dr. Balogh said that the task force will now move from "formative" to "reactive." Its purpose will be to offer advice as needed to units as they develop and refine their objectives. The task force will watch for consistency and make certain that there are no gaps in the plan.
Discussion of Open Forums
- Dr. Balogh announced that Linda Hanson and Jim McKenzie have agreed to be facilitators for the Open Forums. In the discussion that followed, the following questions were raised:
- What is the purpose of the Open Forums?
- How many people are viewing the Web site? Is there a way to check the "traffic"? (Mrs. Shupp replied that numbers of viewers could be checked, but there would be no way to tell who those viewers are.)
- How does the task force wish to collaborate with the governance system? (One suggestion was to get on the agenda of University Senate and make a report of ten minutes maximum. That way the task force would reach every department.)
- Should there be a forum in each college?
- Will students go to an Open Forum?
- Will the input of attendees at the Open Forums influence the future of the plan? (It might as people work within their home units.)
- When will the Board of Trustees act on the final product?
- What should we do if attendees do not like the plan?
- What should we distribute at the Forum? (The consensus was to distribute the Value and Culture statement, the Vision statement, the Mission statement, the three Goals, and the Strategic Directions recommended by the Strategic Planning Task Force. The last three paragraphs will be deleted from the latter handout.)
- Should the President and the Cabinet take a look at the Strategic Directions before they go out to wider audiences? (Dr. Balogh replied that about half the Cabinet has seen them. The Cabinet may want to add items.)
Also, the following comments were made
- This should be a university plan, not just a faculty plan, so perhaps the plan should be presented to Staff Council.
- Some deans have already begun the process with their faculties in crafting objectives.
- The Administrative Retreat, which will be held during Fall Break, will include on its agenda the Strategic Plan. (The deans will be in attendance.)
- The consensus seemed to be that two forums plus a Senate presentation would be adequate.
- It was also the consensus that Dr. Balogh should make the presentation to the Senate. It will be of an informative nature.
- It was suggested that the Communications Subcommittee reconvene to draw up a renewed communication strategy and bring it back to the task force.
- It should be made clear at the Open Forums that the document is not final: "This is what we are thinking about." We should explain the process for what we have done and how we captured information. We should show the "funneling" process that has occurred as we did SWOT analyses and studied information.
- The task force members should go to the Open Forums.
- The operational part comes from the units, and we must be sure that forum attendees understand this.
- We should think of the Open Forums as "the pivot point," the point at which we turn the plan over to the campus community.
- The forums should not become wordsmithing sessions.
- The basic question for the forums is: Have we forgotten anything? This question will help to set the tone.
- We should consider a two-pronged approach for the forums: 1) This is the rationale behind our actions; and 2) What else should we do?
- We can explain that the Strategic Directions are themes or general directives similar to what we saw in other plans. They are also based on President Gora's charge to the task force, our ensuing discussions, and our study of pertinent background information.
- Dr. Balogh has asked the deans to write sample objectives. For example, under the second strategic direction, Dr. Sabatine could write an objective pertaining to off-campus enrollment via distance education.
- It was suggested that paragraph one of the Strategic Directions handout should state that the "directions" relate to the final SWOT analysis; in fact, they capture the essence of the SWOT.
Review and Discussion of Proposed Strategic Directions The following comments were made about the proposed strategic directions:
- Is faculty development mentioned? (Some members believe this item could be an objective under #1 or #12, but it was decided to make it a thirteenth item.)
- What is "infrastructure"? Is it just buildings, heat, and air conditioning?
- (Most members believe that the broad term "infrastructure" would allow departments to think of "connections," that is, the connection between a more performance-based music school and Sursa Hall, the connection between a fiberoptic system and enhanced classroom learning, etc.)
- The suggestion was made to substitute "provide" for "guarantee" in #6. The point is to provide access.
- Some members stated that #11 is too vague, while most believe that its specificity should come from units.
- It was suggested that we cannot foresee every strategic direction this university will take.
- In continued discussion of #6, the question was raised about whether or not "out-of-class" can be seen as applying to units in Student Affairs, such as service activities, residence life, etc. If this is not the meaning of "out-of-class" as indicated in the President's charge, then perhaps some Student Affairs objectives could be placed under #5 and #12 (with a meaning of "infrastructure" to be the student support system).
- It was suggested that a "vibrant campus environment" is missing. However, some members are concerned that the list not get too long because then there will be no priorities. The activities of a vibrant campus environment could go under #1.
- It was pointed out that the Values and Culture statement certainly encompasses Student Affairs. However, the task force will need to hear Student Affairs concerns in the Open Forums.
- It was suggested that "students" should be substituted for "learners" in #6 so that people will think of more than Academic Affairs activities.
- A comment was made that priorities must go to and come from the Cabinet. The task force is providing a framework.
- In continued discussion of #12, someone suggested "environment" or "infrastructure and services," not just "infrastructure."
- Another suggestion was to use the term "campus life" in #6 or at least put it somewhere in the list.
Next Steps
It was decided that Renee and her committee should consider the above suggestions and modify the proposed strategic directions list as necessary.
Dr. Balogh announced that the next meeting (September 23) will be canceled because of the National Philanthropy Council meeting on campus. The task force will meet on September 30.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 a.m.
RELATED LINK:
Agenda for September 16, 2005