Sent: 2010-12-10
From: William Weber, Vice President for Business Affairs
To: Employees
Subject: Strategic Planning Steering Committee
In 2011, Eastern Illinois University will be building a strategic plan to guide the university for the next 5 to 10 years. The focus of the strategic plan will be to articulate specific goals and courses of action to ensure a sustainable academic and financial future for the University.
The steering committee for the strategic planning effort will be co-chaired by Assege HaileMariam, Professor of Psychology; Ken Baker, Director of Campus Recreation; and William Weber, Vice President for Business Affairs.
The co-chairs are calling for volunteers to serve on the steering committee. The steering committee will have about 24 members and will be a representative group that reflects the diversity of our campus community. The majority of the steering committee will consist of veteran, mid-career and early-career faculty members from the Colleges and Booth Library. The steering committee also will include administrative and professional (A&P) and civil service employees from the various vice-presidential areas, student representatives, and a representative from the Board of Trustees.
The strategic planning effort will be a campus-wide collaborative process, emphasizing meaningful engagement with stakeholders, transparency of information, discovery, learning and reflection. All steering committee members will receive a copy of "Collaborative Strategic Planning in Higher Education" (Sanaghan, 2009), which will serve as the guide for the process. You can learn more about the process by visiting the strategic planning website, http://www.eiu.edu/strategicplanning/.
The strategic planning effort will take about a year to complete, and the steering committee will meet once or twice a month throughout calendar year 2011. Three or four all-day meetings may also be required. In addition, subcommittees will likely need to have occasional meetings. The co-chairs request that all steering committee members reserve Tuesdays, 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., for meeting times.
If you would like to be considered for membership on the strategic planning steering committee, please complete the online volunteer form at http://www.eiu.edu/strategicplanning/committeeapplication.php by Monday, January 17 and submit your name, department or unit, position, contact information, years of service at Eastern, current memberships on campus governance groups, and a short summary outlining two opportunities and one concern for the University.
William Weber
Vice President for Business Affairs
Eastern Illinois University
