The Observer, November 16, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 11
Case to work with faculty, students on new University Plan
For the first time in a number of years, Case has begun work on a new University Plan that will critically examine all aspects of the university as well as its individual constituents. The plan and the process of creating the plan will allow faculty, staff, and students to honestly define the university today â€" its goals, its achievements, and its current function â€" and then assess the situation.
As described by Interim Provost Jerold Goldberg, the University Plan has three major goals: to realistically define the university, to decide what the university should be like in seven to ten years, and to propose ways to achieve those goals.
Primarily, the University Plan will be designed at two separate levels. First, the Steering Committee, which is composed of faculty, administrators, staff and students, will look at the big picture of the University and how all of the different schools function in relation to one another. And at the second level, each school within the university has its own committee for strategic planning, in which faculty, staff, and students will discuss the major issues facing the schools, from financial to logistical, and goals within each school for the future.
Ultimately, then, the committees will meet to discuss important problems and goals and decide as a group on what the university should focus for the coming years. This format will allow the university to â€"hopefully have alignmentâ€" with respect to certain issues and prioritize its goals for the future, said Goldberg.
But Goldberg was quick to emphasize that the University Plan should be like a working document that will constantly be revised.
â€"The University Plan will help guide the university in what direction it moves and what areas it places its efforts. It also will help the university prioritize what order changes should be made in,â€" said USG president Adam Rupe.
Both Goldberg and Rupe emphasized the importance of student opinions in the strategic planning for the university, emphasizing the survey to be posted to the provostâ€'s website on Monday, which will enable committee members to better assess the needs and concerns of students campus-wide.
â€"A key part of the planning is assessing who we are now so that very much depends on the current students. Students will be directly involved in the process, so they will affect the plan in that sense too,â€" said Rupe.
â€"What I want isnâ€'t important,â€" said Goldberg. â€"These committees are faculty and staff driven, but weâ€'re striving to get everyoneâ€'s input in this matter.â€"
The Steering Committee has met for approximately a year and has released a preliminary document located at the provostâ€'s homepage. But the individual school committees will begin planning in the next few weeks, and the intensive activity will begin on Monday. A consulting firm is also in works with the various committees to coordinate the University Plan. Then, later in the year, the university will host town hall- like meetings, which are open to everyone campus-wide to express other viewpoints and concerns.
Students should expect to see changes around campus after the University Plan has been formally released. But what those changes will be is up to the committees since everything university-wide is under consideration.
Rupe commented that, â€"changes will come soon after the report is issued at the end of the year, but that is not to say that if something major arises during the planning process that it will not be immediately acted upon.â€"
However, Goldberg commented that what might seem like a minor or insignificant change may eventually turn into a major adjustment by the university.
And while the University Plan is an attempt to better the university and its atmosphere, Goldberg stressed that the university is â€"very proud of who we are.â€" However, the university must ask itself how it can consistently improve.
