President's Progress Report - January 20, 2009

Dear University of Idaho Faculty, Staff and Students,

For the past couple of years, we have worked hard and made steady progress toward our strategic goals. Indeed, we are moving closer to our vision for a vital, vibrant and sustainable University of Idaho; one that can lead effectively in the 21st century. This week, we have reached a critical point in our implementation process – a point when ideas become proposals, and dialogue leads to decisions.

As a crucial step in our strategic process, we have been prioritizing our more than 200 academic programs. (Programs are defined as individual undergraduate and graduate degree programs, not departments; it is at this level that we have focused to date.) Our commitment is to focus, reduce, consolidate and reposition the University’s scope, so that we may concentrate our time, space and fiscal resources toward our true strengths and competitive advantages; retain and build upon the quality of our programs; fully embrace and serve the immediate desires and needs of students; ensure that we have real, relevant, lasting impact on the needs of our society; and form a workplace that is energizing and satisfying to our faculty and staff. This current stage of our strategic work is imperative for our long-term viability and effectiveness, and we’ve been about it for some time. Its importance is even more apparent in this time of global economic insecurity and precipitous reduction in state support.

As you read this, University deans are meeting with academic unit leaders and Faculty Council representatives. They are reporting initial recommendations resulting from the Provost Council’s deep and fruitful analysis of academic programs over the past few months. In this first round of prioritization work, the recommended action is to close or consolidate 41 identified programs. Further recommendations to consolidate, strengthen and transform additional programs remain in development, and will be announced as the program prioritization and innovations processes continue to merge and shape our transformation.

This week’s recommendations represent the consensus and solid judgments of the Provost’s Council. We now begin the established review process, in which the University community has an opportunity to vet these recommendations. To that end, this afternoon, Provost Baker will share them with the Faculty Council. Ultimately, the recommendations must be approved by the University Board of Regents.

You may view the recommendations, a description of the Notice of Intent process and a timeline for the ongoing program prioritization process at http://www.uidaho.edu/provost/universitytransformationsites/academicprogramprioritization.aspx .
We will also address Frequently Asked Questions on this site as they are gathered.

These preliminary recommendations will not result in any lay-offs of currently employed faculty or staff. For programs that are ultimately chosen for closure, all currently enrolled upper-division students will have the opportunity to complete their degrees in a timely manner, in accordance with State Board policy and consistent with our commitment to these students. We encourage students who think they may be impacted to monitor the process and approach their advisors as details emerge.

We are conducting our strategic processes with full respect for the policies, procedures and culture of our organization. I ask all members of our community to be proactive and engaged in this continuing strategic process. Ask questions; participate in the dialogue by communicating through the official forums and channels of the process. Above all, recognize that prioritization of our programs – whether resulting in disinvestment, in re-investment or in some other form of transformation – is the right and necessary work of our community. It is a form of leadership, accountability and self-determination. It is rising to our responsibility to ensure the best, most effective future for our University of Idaho.

As to the opportunity to truly transform who we are and what we do, the Request for Innovations (RFI) process is now fully engaged and focused on shaping and reconfiguring a new University of Idaho for our students and stakeholders of the 21st century. I am excited and encouraged by the leadership, commitment and expertise of the RFI task group, and I’m delighted to report that 74 RFI pre-proposals were submitted to them last week. They cover topics from administration to academics to athletics. The strategic process is working, and increasingly led by your peer students, faculty and staff. I look forward to the RFI committee’s initial evaluation of those innovations. Watch for news about the RFI process at http://www.uidaho.edu/provost/universitytransformationsites/requestforinnovations.aspx.

Once again, these activities are all forms of our Strategic Action Plan implementation. And while budget holdbacks in our state have added impetus to this ongoing process of focusing for the future, these program prioritization recommendations are accentuated, but not driven solely by, recent financial concerns. There are other difficult choices to be made, interconnected to this strategic prioritization process, that are directly in response to state-mandated budget reductions. We will continue to communicate about both our long-term strategic transformation and these shorter-term, fiscally-driven options and actions as is timely and appropriate.

My thanks go to Provost Baker, our deans and unit heads, and the Faculty Council for the strong leadership they are demonstrating through the demanding and sometimes painful work of prioritization. Thanks also to everyone who is engaging in the creative work of innovation. And, thanks to each and every one of you for your patience, participation and dedication to the strategic motion of our institution. By your critical involvement, creativity and collegiality, you demonstrate your commitment to a vital, sustainable University of Idaho.

Sincerely,
Steven B. Daley-Laursen, President