SPBAC's Recommendations on the Transformation White Paper Proposals

November 4, 2008

We have made a key step forward in the Transformation process with the review of the White Papers by SBPAC.  I am pleased to report that the SPBAC Transformation subcommittee chaired by Professor Miranda Joseph has submitted its recommendations on the White Paper Proposals that we received.  Please join me in thanking Miranda and the staff, students, appointed personnel, and faculty who spent numerous hours in the last two weeks reviewing the proposals:  Carol Beltran, Bill Bowen, Gail Burd, Wanda Howell, Ashley Hyne, Robert Jacobi, Peter McAllister, JC Mutchler, Lynn Nadel, Ana Rodriquez, Christine Salvesen, Theodore Tong, Mark Walker, and Mary Wildner-Bassett.

The SPBAC subcommittee's recommendations will be posted on the Transformation webpage by Wednesday morning.  Next week, the President and I will communicate the specific steps that will be taken with the various proposals.  Those steps will be guided by the Transformation Plan, the recommendations of SPBAC, and the procedures set out by the Faculty Senate.

The proposals that were submitted present some promising options for us to consider in the next phase of the process.  The world has changed since the President and I initiated the Transformation process just eight weeks ago.  Those changes have redoubled the importance of streamlining our operations in order to better support our core teaching, research, and service mission.  As the President and I detailed in our  letter to the university last week, we remain committed to building on our strengths in strategic areas while we work to cut costs.

Next week, the President and I will inform you about efforts that are being made to improve the effectiveness of our business and other operations.  Already there have been frank and useful discussions about where centralization of functions and services may and may not be helpful.  On these and other points, the input that we have received has helped shape continuing deliberations upon how we can improve our productivity and efficiency in ways that are critical to our long-term success.The President and I look forward to continuing our collaborations with you in the weeks ahead, but for today, please take the time to vote.  It will be the most important thing that any of us do today.

Provost Meredith Hay