The semester is in full swing – student events, campus lectures, faculty meetings and board committee meetings are keeping most of us engaged and enlightened. In addition to our regular academic and administrative activities there are two planning initiatives that are keeping groups of Meredith faculty, staff and students busy. These activities are the strategic planning process and the 2011-12 budget process. I would like to update you on both.

The Strategic Plan
The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees sent a statement of expectations to the Strategic Planning Committee this month. This is helpful direction for the committee and encourages the team to be visionary. The Board Chair and Vice Chair advised:

• "The Strategic Plan should be ambitious and far-reaching, capitalizing on Meredith’s strengths and leveraging her location. It should lay the groundwork for significant and transformative change at Meredith College.
• The plan should reflect a willingness to innovate and adapt to the rapidly changing local, national and global environments.
• The goals of the Plan should enhance the ability of the College to attract students and prepare them for success. The Plan should include relevant, timely academic programming which will meet the needs of society.
• The goals should be sound, achievable, mindful of the most current external data, and informed by financial analyses, currently being conducted in a parallel process.
• The outcomes realized should result in sustained growth and prestige for the College.”

The strategic planning committee has met several times this semester and has developed and reviewed a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis that will help direct our next steps. The committee also met with Ted Abernathy, Executive Director of the Southern Growth Policies Board, whose expertise is in economics and competitiveness. Mr. Abernathy helped the committee look at Meredith College within the context of our region. The committee hopes to have a Blackboard site up soon and we will have Mr. Abernathy’s presentation available there.

The 2011-12 Budget
Thank you to the many faculty, staff and students who attended one of the two campus forums on the budget last week. These forums provided opportunities for the College Budget Committee and the Budget Planning & Management Team, two groups that are working on elements of the budget, to hear from the community. Speaking as the chair of the Campus Budget Committee, I was not surprised by what we heard. The general tone of the meetings was quiet, with faculty and staff encouraging the committee to make salary increases and stability in operations and employment the highest priorities. There were also some recommendations to resume the salary equity programs and to make sure that positions vacated this year by retirement or resignation be filled.

 

The Campus Budget Committee meets again on February 1. The goal of our next few meetings will be to set the budget assumptions (enrollment, tuition increase, endowment earnings, etc.) to send forward to the Board Business and Finance Committee.

 

Both the Strategic Planning Committee and the College Budget Committee are interested in hearing from the community.

 

Please share your strategic plan suggestions with me, or with the full committee by emailing strategicplan@meredith.edu. To contact the Budget Committee, visit www.meredith.edu/budget for a current list of members.

 

Let’s bid adieu to our very cold January and hope that February is kinder to us.

 

In this Issue:

Spring Provides Opportunities for Prospective Student Visits
Faculty Distinguished Lecture Introduces Audience to Icelandic Novel

Summer School Update
Meredith in the News
Wellness Release Time is Meredith’s Newest Employee Benefit
A Tradition of Student Giving to Meredith
From the President’s Desk
Faculty/Staff Accomplishments
Upcoming Events
News Briefs

 

Have you presented research or attended a professional meeting recently? Has your department earned an award? Share news of these accomplishments and more with the Meredith community. Faculty and staff are invited to email items to Melyssa Allen, “Campus Connections” editor, at allenme@meredith.edu.