Welcome to the discussion about Academic Strategic Planning at the University of Montana. The goal of this process is to develop an Academic Strategic Plan (ASP) that will serve as a decision making guide over the next five years, and help us focus resources and energy on key issues so we can enhance the effectiveness of our core mission.
During the ‘08-’09 academic year, faculty, staff and students will be called on to become involved in the ASP process. The ASP Steering Committee will be asking you to think about where we, as an academic community, and where we want to be in the next 5 to 10 years. We will need to think about the internal and external forces that will influence academic affairs over this time period, and we will need to clearly articulate our strengths and where we have opportunities to enhance and grow our programs to better prepare UM students for careers in the 21st century.
Over the summer the Committee gathered data to better understand internal and external factors that influence the academic environment at UM so we could set the context for the strategic plan, and identify strategic issues for all of us to discuss and prioritize during the Fall semester. As part of this process, we need to hear from you. We hope you will take a few minutes to use this forum to reflect on the following questions:
1. When you think of the University of Montana, what images come to mind?
2. What makes UM unique?
3. What has surprised you most about UM over the last couple of years?
4. Five years from now, how do you hope people will describe UM?
5. Are you a student, faculty, staff, or administrator?
If you prefer to answer anonymously, feel free to send your comments by mail to me at College of Arts and Science Dean’s Office in LA 136, or you can contact me at carol.brewer@umontana.edu. We hope you will seize the opportunity to participate early and often over the coming year!
Best regards,
Carol Brewer
ASP Steering Committee Chair
As a member of the Committee, I encourage all faculty, staff, and students to share their insights with us. The quality of our work is a function of the quality of the input we get. Thank you in advance for your input.
–Jakki Mohr, Professor of Marketing, School of Business Administration
Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Jakki Mohr made me aware of this effort today after the Provost visited with SoBA faculty.
One of my key concerns related to the strategic direction of UM is the proper functioning of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. ORSP activities impact my research program as well as most other research programs across campus. Several items related to ORSP that concern me include: new or newly enforced policies, the practicality of implementing new grant accounting requirements, negotiations of agreements by ORSP without PI involvement, timeliness of paperwork, redundancy of certain cost accounting activities with HR & Business Services, IDC/F&A rates, and the recently formed Research Advisory Council.
I look forward to sharing more details about these concerns with the ASP.
Thank you.