After greetings, Provost Ray Alden was introduced to the members of the two task forces. He reiterated the importance of these two task forces and their role in the university-wide strategic planning process. Despite the recent tragic event, he was hopeful that our efforts would continue. He emphasized that the two task forces should identify proposals, either from the concept papers submitted or from those developed by members of the task forces, that would address specific strategies and goals identified by these two groups. These proposals should have concrete and quantifiable actions/benchmarks. He reminded us that some of these proposals might require that certain committees (e.g., general education) be tasked with altering policy or surveying faculty/students, while another group of proposal may focus at a set of activities that could be addressed with limited funding in a year or two, and the third group of proposals take on much broader topics that require several years to complete and include a number of benchmarks. He entertained a number of questions from the audience, many related to the proposals and whether the April 4 deadline would be altered.
After Provost Alden left the meeting, the members of both task forces indicated that they wanted to continue with their efforts. However, a number of individuals asked that the Chairs develop a timeline of activities for the next few weeks. Below are the highlights:
The last item discussed was a new “overarching” goal initially developed by Carolinda. After a number of suggestions the goal was reworded to “Solidify the NIU Huskie identity as one of a strong, caring, and engaged community.”
Finally, Douglass and Changnon reminded task force members that if they need specific resources (e.g., travel to examine various institutions, conference calls, etc.) they should make those known as soon as possible. The meeting ended at approximately 11:30 a.m.