Members of AU's Strategic Plan Steering Committee will now begin collecting feedback from their campus constituencies on how to address each portion of a newly approved scope for the plan.
These meetings, which are considered part of the next step in the strategic planning process, follow the board of trustees' approval of the plan's scope at its meeting Feb. 29. The committee's approved scope for the plan would address issues in 14 areas - including the university's academic programs, sustainability, international programs and the university's societal responsibilities, according to an e-mail President Neil Kerwin sent to the AU community Tuesday.
Kerwin had previously highlighted the university's needs in many of the issue areas included in the plan during his inauguration speech Feb. 8 and during other speeches last semester.
The new strategic plan would replace the current 15 Point Plan, which the board adopted in November 2001.
The committee expects to have the strategic plan ready in time to present it to the board during their regular meeting in November. Between now and the current deadline, the committee will hold six town hall meetings to update the community on the planning process and gain further feedback on the plan. It will also launch a Web site devoted to the plan this month, according to Kerwin's e-mail.
The first town hall meeting will take place later this month, according to Student Government President Joe Vidulich.
Approving the strategic plan in November would allow the board to include the plan's implementation in the drafting of the university's next two-year budget. The board is expected to consider the new budget at the February 2009 meeting, The Eagle previously reported.
The SG asked 25 students who are involved in a wide variety of organizations and other activities to join a student committee. The committee, which has been meeting for the past two weeks, will generate its own ideas to suggest to the steering committee and will also ask for ideas from the general student population. As part of this effort, it will create an online form that students can use to submit their ideas to the committee, Vidulich said.
