Annual Address 2012

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David C. Hodge
September 6, 2012

The Process

As I noted earlier, in order to develop these goals, it is vital that the entire Miami University community be engaged in the process. The effort is organized around a Coordinating Team (CT) made up of 20 individuals from all parts of the university and chaired by Phyllis Callahan, Dean of the College of Arts and Science, and Jim Kiper, Chair of Computer Science and Chair of the University Senate. There is a lot of work to be done, and I am grateful to the entire CT and especially Phyllis and Jim for their willingness to serve the university.

The initial work for each of the five goals will be driven by separate Target Goal Teams (TGT). These teams are made up of four members of the CT plus an additional six members of the community at large with experience and expertise in those areas. The Target Goal Teams will produce three elements that will be incorporated into the overall Miami 2020 Plan. First, they will prepare what we are terming an aspirational statement, in effect a vision of how Miami will excel in the broader higher education environment that we expect in 2020. This relatively succinct document will frame a description of what success will look like in that environment. Second, this aspirational vision will be made more tangible through the identification of three to five specific and measurable objectives. These objectives make our aspirations tangible and should provide the ability to assess our progress towards these goals. Third, the TGTs will provide additional metrics, timetables, and action plans for achieving the goals.

The Target Goal Teams will engage the campuses throughout the fall semester. They will invite guest speakers, provide background material on the Miami 2020 Plan website, conduct multiple forums, and solicit comments and suggestions from the extended Miami community. They will present their final reports, with the three core elements, to the campus community by December 1, 2012. They will also present their reports to the Board of Trustees at the December 7th meeting.

The Coordinating Team will evaluate the five reports and integrate them into a full draft Miami 2020 Plan during December and January, presenting the draft to the extended Miami community at the Board of Trustees meeting on February 8th. They will follow the Board meeting with several public forums to receive comments on the draft, as well as encouraging everyone to submit additional comments and suggestions through the 2020 website at www.MiamiOH.edu/2020plan. The Coordinating Team will revise the draft Miami 2020 Plan after considering this input and submit a final version of the plan to the Board of Trustees for approval at the April 26, 2013, Board meeting.

Beginning with the submission of the TGT reports, the Academic Divisions and Vice Presidential units will be asked to begin preparing Division-specific plans, including measureable target objectives, specific timelines, and action plans. They will submit a draft version of these plans by May 1st. These plans will then be modified as necessary to meet university expectations.

Units within the academic divisions or within a vice presidential office will be asked to accomplish the same task of localizing the Miami 2020 Plan by no later than October 15th, 2013. They will then be revised, if necessary, with the goal to have all unit 2020 plans fully functioning no later than November 1, 2013.

Conclusion

I have presented a lot of detail today, but it all boils down to this. Just as we encourage our students to seize the day, we, those of us who love Miami and care deeply about its future, must seize the opportunities that lie before us. While we cannot exactly know the future, we can still reasonably anticipate some of the major shifts that will change the higher education environment, and we can determine how we want to position ourselves to build an ever stronger, more impactful, and more highly regarded university. As I noted at the outset, our core mission will not change, but our approach to that distinctive mission must change.

The Miami 2020 Plan will provide the vision of where we want to be, the measureable objectives that will both inspire us and hold us accountable, and action plans that integrate our individual and collective efforts. Together, we, the extended Miami community, will determine all of these elements, and we will own our future. I strongly encourage everyone to participate in defining that future.

I have had the privilege of serving Miami for more than six years. These have certainly been tumultuous years, yet I am more confident about Miami's future today than I have ever been. It is not that the path forward is easy—it most certainly is not. Rather, this confidence comes from working every day with a faculty, staff, and student body who have worked with courage and commitment through our most difficult times, focusing on our mission with great clarity, purpose, and intention. Now we look to the future, much, much better prepared to anticipate and to lead, more able and more willing to seize the opportunities that lie before us.

For love and honor.

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