President’s Update – October 8, 2008
Greetings!
It’s quite busy for everyone early into this term with more students and the increased number of proposed new initiatives. When I think about the accreditation self study process, the First Year’s Student Experience, Campus Sustainability, Campus Emergency Management and Security efforts, International Education, Corporate Training and Education, and the possibilities of a campus review of the Strategic Plan and the implementation of a new budget planning process in addition to ongoing activities campus-wide and within departments, it becomes staggering to imagine how we can get to all of this, let alone complete the efforts productively and successfully. I hope we are careful to balance our work and to make certain we are engaging everyone on campus in some manner with these new activities/committees rather than the same people who generally volunteer to participate. I know when I walk by offices of many faculty and staff their initial response to me is “no more committees, I am involved with too many already.”
As we look ahead to such a busy school year, our work with these new projects does need some monitoring to ensure we don’t approach overload too quickly. That feeling will come up soon enough in winter and early spring quarter with our typical responsibilities.
Another factor that will add to this work burden is the anticipated budget challenges with the forecasted revenue shortfalls. Considering the state of the national economy, future state revenue forecasts may only get worse and have a greater impact on our current level of operations. We need to continue to communicate within our departments and across the campus about our progress and our work issues to keep us informed about the increasing pressures of work and the new initiatives and budget implications.
In the last several weeks, we have been coordinating this year’s planning efforts for the Foundation Board, Board of Trustees and VP’s through organized “work session” meetings (retreats), attempting to get leadership moving in the same direction with similar goals and priorities as we move through the school year. These sessions have involved reference to the progress the College accomplished with our strategic plan and last year’s Board priorities (these were shared campus-wide in this blog last fall).
At the same time, there have been several new priorities identified by the Board for this year along with input from the Foundation Board of Directors, Vice-Presidents and Deans. These will be reported out at the October 15, 2008 Board meeting and include:
- Student Retention.
- Expansion of the college presence to other communities.
- Focus on student and workforce diversity.
The Board continues with its work to establish annual goals and priorities in an effort to create ways to focus their energies and attention to those activities that fit within the framework of the college’s strategic direction. Trustees will share these at regular monthly meetings and are open to discussions with interested parties.
Another important and yearlong issue will be the state budget status and its impact on EvCC this current year and into the next biennium. Quite candidly, and probably not surprising to most people, there will be a budget reduction of state resources this current year due to the continued forecasted state revenue shortfalls. We await how that may impact the college this current academic year.
In communicating relevant information to the college community regarding the college’s financial situation, we will attempt to be frequent with new information and transparent. We want college input early as we prepare for this year’s anticipated reductions and for next year’s planning of the financial allocations. There will be more opportunities for every one to share and participate. I will hold more frequent “chat sessions” specifically focused on the budget and bring Tom Harker to attend and respond to questions. As we move into our planning mode for this next year, we will be having campus-wide discussions about priorities and reasons. We need greater participation and increased continuity of input.
There has been the suggestion that College Council prioritize the college’s budget planning and development as a priority for the year. We will be discussing this possibility in our early meetings and share the outcome of that dialogue. In the meantime, we will keep you informed of issues related to the state’s economy and the impact on college resources.
As mentioned earlier in this blog posting, there are a number of college initiatives that will be ongoing this year and require our attention and work. I will keep you informed of the progress through this medium as well as in other forums. The “chat sessions” will continue and will be scheduled with flexibility to allow for employees to attend should they so desire. I hope you all will consider attending several.
Additionally, I continue to be interested in class visits as invited and am also willing to meet employees for conversation in their offices. If you are interested please contact Cheryl for a time and place.
In my opening remarks I mentioned our success and accomplishments of this past year. I also indicated that challenges would remain for us this new year and realize now how daunting these may become. Your participation and input will be important as will your support. I look forward to working with you. Thanks for your commitment and continued good work. Have a good week.
David
P.S. Happy Birthday to October birthdays!