President Bruininks on:

Access and Affordability

The Future of Higher Education

Human Capital and Economic Impact

Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation

Organizational Excellence

PreK-12 Education

Public Engagement

Transformational Leadership

About President Bruininks

About the Office of the President

News and Communications

Contact Us

Office of the President Home

Strategic Positioning Update

July 16, 2005

To: The University Community
From: President Bob Bruininks
Subject: Strategic Positioning Update

Dear university colleagues:

With the Board of Regents’ approval last month of the strategic positioning plan, we’ve put in motion our vision to become one of the best public research universities in the world. This is a system-wide initiative, one that encompasses our statewide mission and includes strategic positioning work to help our coordinate campuses build on their own comparative advantages.

The real work of transforming this very good university into a great one is now upon us. We are undertaking a transformation that will allow us to better serve our students and all Minnesotans with the world-class education, research and public service they need and deserve. Although many of the changes will challenge us, they are necessitated by economic, demographic and global forces that demand that the university take charge of its destiny.

Recommendations for positive change

The resolution approved by the regents contains more than 40 recommendations for improvements to the Twin Cities campus, including integration of the programs now within the College of Human Ecology into other colleges; integration of the programs in the College of Natural Resources into the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences; and integration of General College into an expanded College of Education and Human Development.

We’ll work to improve the undergraduate educational experience on all campuses through better student services, new programs such as a university-wide writing initiative, better supporting our faculty and raising our profile as an international university. In addition, we’ll discuss how we might better integrate our science and engineering strengths, and how we can take our considerable liberal arts capabilities to the next level.

We’ll also work with our talented faculty and staff to reform the university’s administrative operations to leverage our talent pool more effectively and to improve service and efficiency. These are complex undertakings that will affect all parts of the university system, but they will free up resources for our academic mission and keep the university flourishing.

By charting this course, and by plotting similar paths for our other campuses, research and outreach centers and extension offices, we will be in a better position to build on the university’s strengths. We will provide a world-class education founded on shoot-for-the-stars research and hands-on public engagement.

Task forces to lead transformation

We have created several teamsto coordinate the work of some 20 task forces:

• Senior Vice President Frank Cerra will lead a team of four task forces that will work on the Academic Health Center: the AHC precinct plan, knowledge management and technology, AHC enrollment and workforce, and the clinical science enterprise.
• Provost Tom Sullivan will lead four broad task force areas that will work on diversity, the undergraduate initiatives, faculty culture and collegiate design.
• Senior Vice President Robert Jones will lead three task forces that will work on improving academic preparation of preK-12 students for postsecondary education, the international university and strengthening the University’s coordinate campuses in greater Minnesota.
• Vice President Kathleen O’Brien will lead seven administrative task forces on the single enterprise, culture, administrative structure, best practice management tools, student services, people and resource optimization.
• Vice President Tim Mulcahy will lead task forces on research infrastructure and needed resources to support large-scale research across academic units and programs.
• Vice President Kathy Brown will lead a team of experts in human resources, finance, information technology, communications and other areas to support the work of the various teams and task forces.
• Executive Associate Vice President Al Sullivan will lead a team on metrics and measurement that we must use to assess our academic progress, quality and impact.

The task forces will be made up of faculty, staff, students and, where appropriate, alumni and community leaders. Nominations to serve on a task force can be sent to provost@umn.edu and will be accepted through the end of July. We will keep you updated on our progress with regular postings to the Strategic Positioning Web site.

Timeline for the tasks ahead

We have a lot of work before us, and our schedule is aggressive. Here is a general timeline for what we hope to accomplish over the next six months:

• In July, nominations to serve on the various task forces will continue to be accepted.
• In August, members of the task forces will be named.
• In September, the task forces will begin meeting to identify and gather input from key stakeholders.
• In October and November, the task forces will identify and refine key strategic issues that need to be addressed and gather input from stakeholders.
• By December, most of the task forces will have completed their work.
• In early 2006, a strategic positioning report will be issued, followed by a comment period, with the goal of implementing many changes by July 1, 2006.

Thanks to everyone for your hard work, commitment and creativity in getting us to this point. And thanks in advance to all of you who will be contributing to and carrying out the work to come as we continue our long journey toward our goal to improve the quality of our work together throughout Minnesota and the world.  

Sincerely,

Bob Bruininks
President, University of Minnesota