From: Daniel Mark Fogel

To: UVM Campus Community

Date: October 15, 2008

Re: Generating Action Ideas to Advance UVM's Strategic Plan

On April 11, 2008, I sent a draft revision of the UVM Strategic Plan to faculty, staff, and students, inviting feedback. The University Planning Council (UPC) reviewed all comments that invitation elicited and made some additional modifications to the draft plan. The proposed plan has since received the unanimous approval of the Faculty Senate and the Board of Trustees (note: by request of the Board, a sixth goal, on accountability and internal controls, is under development). I want to thank those of you who took the time last spring to offer critiques and suggestions.

We are now preparing to enter the next phase of this process. Five “action idea working groups”—one for each approved plan goal—are being formed to develop brief proposals for specific ways to achieve Strategic Plan objectives. The groups are comprised of faculty, staff, and students nominated by UPC members, deans, and leaders of the Faculty Senate, Staff Council, the Student Government Association, and the Graduate Student Senate. I am writing now to ask that you consider participating by submitting to the working groups your ideas as to how we can achieve the desired strategic plan outcomes.

The UPC has specifically defined an “action idea” as a concrete action or initiative that may involve doing something new, improving something that already exists, or terminating something. An action idea must make a significant contribution to achievement of one or more objectives specified in the strategic plan, offer the potential for significant impact, and be practical and affordable. As I wrote to you last week in my October 10 email “The UVM Community at a Time of Economic Testing”, the University faces substantial fiscal challenges. While I believe that now, more than ever, it is important to tap the creativity of the campus in order to set clear priorities and effective plans for pursuing them, the next few years will yield few new resources, and action ideas with additional costs will require reallocation of existing resources.

To review the UVM Strategic Plan in its new revision, please click on the following url: http://www.uvm.edu/president/?Page=strategicplan2009_2013.html If you would like to suggest action ideas for consideration, please send them directly to the Action Idea Working Group chairs listed below. The chairs will incorporate your ideas into their group deliberations. Each group will discuss and prioritize action ideas and forward its recommendations to the University Planning Council, which will then transmit its recommendations to me. The groups will begin meeting next week. Please send your ideas to the appropriate chair by Monday, October 27. Thank you in advance, once again, for your thoughtful participation.

Diversity: Kathleen.Manning@uvm.edu or Sondra.Solomon@uvm.edu

Academic Programs: Jim.Burgmeier@uvm.edu

Scholarship: Richard.Galbraith@uvm.edu

Student Experience: Sherwood.Smith@uvm.edu

Institutional Efficacy: Stephanie.Kaza@uvm.edu

Last modified October 16 2008 08:05 PM