Report of the Strategic Plan Implementation Advisory Committee

June 2, 1997

Executive Summary

Based on its review of activities taking place on the campus during the past year, the Strategic Plan Implementation Advisory Committee concludes that good progress has been made in connection with at least three of the Plan's five main initiatives. The Plan has been a stimulus to improving the quality of the undergraduate educational experience through the provision of higher levels of funding for University Honors and College Park Scholars, to building cornerstone programs of excellence through a review of all current graduate programs, and to rationalizing resource allocation through the development of a budget process that succeeded in linking funding decisions with identified priorities. The picture is relatively less clear with respect to the Plan’s other initiatives (Increasing the University’s Contribution to the Larger Society and Encouraging Entreprenuership), in part because the colleges were not asked to provide detailed information on activities being undertaken in support of these objectives.

The Committee recommends that several additional steps be taken to help move the implementation process forward: (1) that the President and Provost: (i) prepare a summary description and assessment of the progress made during the first year and issue a report to the campus at the beginning of the Fall semester; and (ii) develop a detailed set of guidelines for the Vice Presidents and Deans describing the initiatives, financial as well as programmatic, that should become the focus of activity during 97-98; (2) that the emphasis during the coming year be put in four areas: (i) moving forward with the graduate initiative by beginning a discussion of the assessments of program quality developed by the Graduate Program Review Committee, with an eye toward realigning resources and building cornerstone programs of excellence; (ii) continuing along a number of different tracks to improve the quality of the undergraduate educational experience; (iii) developing an action plan for reaching the retention goals set for the class of 1997; and (iv) developing a comprehensive set of recruiting strategies that will enable the University to recruit larger numbers of high-ability students while honoring its historic commitment to diversity; (3) that the campus administration undertake a comprehensive review of existing budgets and anticipated future resources in order to more effectively marshall the funds required for implementing the recommendations set out in the Plan; (4) that the administration move to address a number of significant staff concerns; and (5) that the President and Provost assign responsibility for continuing oversight of the implementation process, including periodic assessment of progress, obtaining detailed information on activities taking place in individual units, and providing regular progress reports to the campus community.

The Committee offers two sets of criteria for measuring the extent of progress over the next four years. The most significant of these relate to the academic credentials, retention rates, and five-year graduation rates of entering undergraduates; the standing in national rankings of the University and its individual programs, faculty honors and awards received, and the dollar value of competitively-funded research grants and contracts; the number of newly created executive-training and mid-career educational programs; net revenue generated by entreprenuerial efforts; the level of private giving and size of the University’s endowment; and the number of major projects undertaken within each of the administrative divisions leading to significant increases in cost-efficiency or higher levels of customer satisfaction.

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