Tackling Challenges: 2020-22 Key Initiatives Update From Reinvestment Team

December 10, 2020 | UToday
By Staff



The working teams focused on the 2020-22 Key Initiatives identified by Interim President Gregory Postel are developing their plans to tackle current obstacles and explore innovative ideas to prepare UToledo for the future.

The teams will be providing preliminary updates of their planning process over the next several weeks. The campus community is invited to follow along with each team’s progress and offer ideas for improvement and innovation using the online recommendation form.

The Develop and Implement Reinvestment Strategy team is led by Dr. Karen Bjorkman, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, and Dr. Bill McCreary, vice president, chief information officer and chief technology officer.

What are the key goals the team hopes to accomplish?
Our goal is to develop and implement a strategic reinvestment plan focused on key components of the University’s academic mission, which include:
• Teaching and Student Success;
• Academic Research and Scholarship;
• Faculty Support and Development;
• Staff Support and Development;
• New Initiatives; and
• Other needs.

What processes/issues is the team discussing and reviewing?
The team is reviewing requests from all academic-related areas, broadly including all colleges, student success areas, enrollment management, diversity and inclusion, academic technology, libraries and research.

How is the team planning to engage members of the campus community throughout their process?
The team has a broad representation from faculty, staff, students and administrators across many disciplines. Each team member seeks input from their areas. The campus community also was engaged in developing the reinvestment requests that came forward to the team.

How does the team plan to measure success?
Success for our team will be to meet some of the most critical needs within the academic portfolio, ensure quality academic offerings, increase student support and success, support faculty and staff development, and support infrastructure for both teaching and research and scholarship. While the needs are great, and not all will be met, we are trying to prioritize those that will provide an immediate impact and bolster our primary missions of education, student success (including enrollment and retention) and scholarly efforts. These decisions also will also need to be made with an eye to the fiscal sustainability and health of the institution.