Recent Developments in the Transformation Process

December 9, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

Since receiving SPBAC's recommendations on the Transformation proposals, President Shelton and I have directed individuals how to proceed, and meetings are being held in the related departments and colleges. In addition to proposals on restructuring academic units, we received proposals on how to improve our tutoring, advising, and technological support services.  This week we also received proposals from other academic and institutional support units, and they have been posted on the Transformation website (http://provost.arizona.edu/transformation_information).

The organizational reviews from non-academic units such as External Relations, Human Resources, and Student Services have proposed to eliminate positions, restructure services, and consolidate units.  These draft proposals set out exciting innovations that promise to improve the effectiveness of our basic services. As with the proposals that were previously submitted, people have stepped up to reassess how their units do business.  The latest round of proposals has been developed in the broadly collaborative manner that has distinguished the Transformation process from the start.

As I discussed in the Faculty Senate last week, the Transformation Plan was not intended to solve all our budget problems.  We undertook the Transformation process before those problems became clear, and our state budget is still in question.  The Transformation process has advanced the goal of initiating broad discussions of how we can improve our operations to advance our core mission.  These discussions will form the base for our budget deliberations in the coming year.

In talking with people about their proposals for improving programs across campus, my respect for this institution has only deepened.  I have repeatedly been impressed by the imagination and commitment that people bring to their work here.  That creative engagement has energized the Transformation process, and it has generated some exciting proposals for how we can strengthen what makes this university great.

To get a better sense of how the Transformation process relates to our broader financial and strategic planning, I hope that you will take a few minutes to watch the short video that President Shelton has prepared because he speaks quite directly to how our efforts to consolidate and realign programs will help us to address the challenges that are coming in the new year (http://uanews.org/node/22956).

I hope that you and yours have a terrific holiday.  I look forward to working with you in the new year.

Meredith Hay