Dear UVM community,
We write with an update on the progress of the Academic Reorganization Working Group, and to share the timeline for the next few months.
Throughout the spring, the working group and its three subgroups (Internal Alignments, University Resources, and External Benchmarks), have been gathering information, including meeting with campus and external constituents. By the end of April, the working group will have hosted nearly two dozen open forum and stakeholder meetings. The conversations have been engaging and productive, generating many good ideas for ways to enhance student, faculty, and staff success by addressing university systems and structures. We encourage you to attend one or more of the upcoming open forum sessions, and to look for invitations to some of the smaller stakeholder meetings in your discipline or area of interest. Information about these meetings and a link to provide written input to the working group can be found on the Provost’s Reorganization Website.
On Thursday, April 15, from noon - 2 p.m., the Academic Reorganization Working Group will host a campus-wide brainstorming session where all members of our community will have the opportunity to gather both collectively and in small groups to generate and share creative ideas for a durable, innovative University of Vermont for the future.
In May, the working group will present its initial findings to the Faculty Senate. The working group will outline the internal and external data it has gathered, the feedback heard, structural and systemic challenges that need to be addressed, and ideas for potential change generated by the community. The working group will then spend the summer and early fall further synthesizing all of the data it has collected, combining that information with the results of the Art and Science Group’s external market analysis, and developing proposals to present to the campus and Faculty Senate no later than November 1, 2021.
We are gratified by the active participation of so many of you in the efforts of the working group so far. The passion people feel for this university has shone through in the rich conversations that have been sparked. Let us emphasize again that nothing has been preordained, and that we are relying on meaningful campus input. With the committed engagement and participation of the whole campus in the reorganization discussion, we will ensure our academic vision for the future meets the needs of our students, staff, and faculty for generations to come.
With all best wishes,
Suresh and Patty
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Suresh V. Garimella, President
Patricia A. Prelock, Provost and Senior Vice President