The following message is from the Office of the Provost:
Dear colleagues,
On behalf of my co-chair Debra Schleef and the other members of the Strategic Planning Task Force, I am very pleased to share with you the preliminary draft of the strategic plan, which we have tentatively titled Mary Washington 2020: Excellence, Impact, Distinction. We are sharing it with you at this time in hopes that you will be able to join us in one of two preliminary forums, scheduled for next week, to begin discussion of the plan. The draft plan is also being shared with members of the BOV, and I am anticipating that the Board will be discussing it at their summer retreat. We expect to hold one or more additional forums during the first two weeks of the fall semester, including a session inviting the participation of students, with the intent of finalizing the plan and sharing it with the Board before the Board’s September, 2015 meeting, for adoption at that time. In the meantime, we have also set up a site at which members of the campus community can post comments. These posts will be anonymous, unless the poster chooses to identify him- or herself in the post.
In writing this plan, members of the task force were determined to be as strategic as possible. We agreed that we did not want to create a “wish list” that, while offering something up for everyone, simply could not serve to set a strategic direction. We wanted to capitalize on established and emerging strengths. We wanted to identify initiatives that are poised, with some further support, to make a real difference. We wanted to ensure that these recommendations help the university recruit and retain students well suited to our academic and cultural environment. We wanted to keep the recommendations of various committees and task forces that preceded us well in view. Above all, we wanted a plan that highlights and enhances the academic excellence and distinctiveness of a Mary Washington education.
The report is available at the following site, and you can comment on the plan at: http://strategicplan2015.umwblogs.org. For a direct link to the report, click here.
The forums next week will be held in Lee 411, on Tuesday May 5 from 8-10 am and on Wednesday May 6 from 3-5 pm.
I want to thank the members of the Task Force, listed below, as well as our invaluable staff assistant, Amy O’Reilly, who gave of their time most generously over the past several months, often meeting twice a week to complete this work. Again, we will be in an open “public comment” phase for the next several months, and I know that members of the committee are eager to hear your responses and continue their work as we seek to position the university to move forward over the next five years.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Levin
Provost
jlevin@umw.edu
Task Force Members:
John Broome, Assistant Professor of Education
Leah Cox, Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion and Ombudsperson
Susan Fernsebner, Associate Professor of History
Alan Griffith, Professor of Biology
Jonathan Levin, Provost (co-chair)
Betsy Lewis, Professor of Spanish
Ken Machande. Associate Dean, College of Business
Michael Morley, Office Manager, Department of Music
Debra Schleef, Professor of Sociology (co-chair)
Doug Searcy, VP for Student Affairs
Gregg Stull, Professor of Theatre
Charles Tate, Student Success Coordinator, Academic and Career Services
Marty Wilder, Chief of Staff
Samantha Worman, Student Government Association President
