Moving Into the Next Phase of the Transformation Process

October 10, 2008

Dear Colleagues:

Next Monday the first stage in our discussions will come to an end, and the next phase will begin. White Paper Proposals are due on October 13, and shortly thereafter we will post them, and the name of the contact person, on the Provost's Transformation website.

As a brief reminder, if you intend to submit a proposal, it must come from a UA email address. The instructions provided on the UA Transformation web site are detailed and should be followed carefully.

Moving forward, the purpose of our discussions will be to explore ways that we can strengthen our core mission, and the White Papers with give us the substantive foundation to begin those conversations in earnest.

From the start, President Shelton and I have set out to make this process as transparent and broadly engaging as possible. To advance that aim, we will post all the proposals online, so the entire community can see them. That will take a couple of days. I will email everyone when the proposals have been posted. Some are going to be very generative, and others will overlap and need to be combined. That is the way brainstorming goes.

As the subcommittee of SPBAC reviews proposals, we will network with those who submitted duplicate or overlapping White Papers to work with them on consolidating redundancies. We will work with the proposers, the heads of units, and deans. Such consultations will be a key part of the next phase in the process, which will also include broader consultations on the proposals, as is detailed in the UA Transformation plan and timeline that is posted on the UA Transformation Web site. Concerns have been expressed about the speed of this process. While timelines are tight, I want to assure you that decisions will be made in a thoughtful manner, employing the steps I have described above.

I look forward to reading your proposals and talking with you about them in the next few weeks. Within these many proposals lie the seeds of a new, more vibrant University of Arizona.

Meredith Hay