To the Campus Community:
The reports from both strategic task forces are in. They arrived on my desk late last month, and now I would like to make them available to you. All of us should take time during the summer months to review the results.
I will repeat what I have said numerous times: We will not make unilateral decisions about the closing of programs or the elimination of operations at this time.
The reports from the task forces do contain numerous recommendations, and I will remind you that they are ONLY that – recommendations. We will continue to vet these recommendations by consulting with members of the campus community. Beginning immediately and continuing into the fall semester, Provost Levin or Vice President Pearce will be available to any academic department or support unit that requests a meeting. In addition, as previously announced, we will conduct a series of open forums early in the fall semester, and we will also establish a web page on which members of the campus community will be invited to submit comments.
As indicated in my message yesterday about a budget reduction, I will look to the recommendations in these reports, excluding those involving potential program closures or other elimination of operations, as we review cost reduction scenarios in the days ahead. Some of these decisions will need to be made soon. I expect to make other decisions based on task force recommendations before the end of the fall semester, after members of the campus community have had a chance to respond. Beyond that – and more important – many observations and recommendations in the two reports will help inform our next strategic plan. Discussion of how that planning process should proceed is now under way.
The reports have been posted to the Strategic Resource Allocation intranet site (http://taskforce.umw.edu/wp-login.php?redirect_to=%2F). In order to access the site, you must provide your network login. To access the reports, click on the tabs “Academic Task Force” and “Support Task Force.””
I cannot thank enough the members of both task forces. These individuals have devoted countless hours to this process, which I am confident will prove invaluable to the University’s continued forward momentum. Please join me in expressing our sincere appreciation to the following members of the two task forces:
Academic Task Force – Rosemary Barra, Jason Davidson, Steven Davies, Brooke Di Lauro, Beverly Epps, Steve Greenlaw, Dana Hall, Liane Houghtalin, Dave Kolar, Ken Machande, Venitta McCall, Marjorie Och, Allyson Poska (co-chair), Marie Scheckels, and Chuck Whipkey (co-chair)
Support Task Force – Lavar Edmunds, Golda Eldridge, Jackie Gallagher (co-chair), Christie Glancy, Ginny Irvin, Sabrina Johnson, Jason Kilby, Leslie Martin, Allyson Moerman, Andy Rush (co-chair), Ranjit Singh, Jay Sullivan, Suzanne Sumner, and Mark Thaden.
Much thanks, as well, to members of the facilitation team – Virginia Ashley, Les Johnson, Paul Messplay, Marty Morrison, Paula Wilder, Julie Smith, and Matt Wilkerson.
