Please Note: In the spring of 2010, the Office of the Provost launched Vol Vision, an initiative to engage the campus in a robust dialogue regarding our future. Vol Vision draws upon the work done by the strategic planning committee created in November 2007 by former provost Robert Holub. Much has changed since then—the imperative for growth in undergraduate numbers is no longer the driving factor in planning, and a decline in the state budget has become a reality. Nevertheless, the strategic planning committee and its subcommittees identified many important strategic opportunities that remain relevant in the current environment. Consequently, the documents produced by the earlier committee remain available for reference as we forge ahead with our plans for Vol Vision. For the most up-to-date information on strategic planning at the university, please visit the Vol Vision website.

Progress Report on Strategic Planning Committee

by Robert Holub
April 30, 2008

I am very pleased with the progress we have achieved thus far on strategic planning. At the monthly meetings of the Strategic Planning Committee we have all heard about the deliberations of the subcommittees, and documents from these subcommittees are beginning to be completed. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who are chairing or participating in a subcommittee for your time and effort on behalf of the strategic plan.

I also wanted to sketch out briefly how I imagine proceeding from this point and through the summer.

Reports of subcommittees, completed with bulleted goals and benchmarks, are due in May. At our May meeting I would like to spend time only on the bulleted goals. I want to see whether we are more or less in agreement about our direction in each of the areas with which the subcommittees are dealing.

The nature of our tasks should change over the summer. For the June, July, and August meetings of the SPC I would like to have the SPC read and review drafts of the final report. Subcommittees will continue their work only to the extent that we require more information. We will work in my office to prepare these drafts, which will in most cases be quite different than the subcommittee reports. The charge of the committee will not be to wordsmith what we have written, but rather to give its assent or dissent to the document.

At the end of the summer, therefore, I hope to have a final report that we can submit to the Office of the President for consideration, and then, in September, to the Board of Trustees for their approval. Should you have any suggestions or any comments on how we are going to proceed, please let me know.