Public comment period coming to a close for Strategic Plan

Those who want their voices heard have less than a week until the draft of the Strategic Plan is closed for public comment.

After March 19, the Strategic Plan will be finalized, and public comment as it is now will no longer be available.

“So far, nearly 150 students, staff members, faculty, alumni and community members have sent us their comments using the online form on the Provost’s website,”

Catherine Dyar, chief of staff to the Provost, said in an email.

Additionally, more than 200 people attended the Town Hall meeting last week, she said.

Executive Vice President and Provost Lauren Robel has also met with many individuals and stakeholder groups, including the elected policy committees of the
Kelley School of Business and the Dean of Students Advisory Board, Dyer said.

“It’s been quite moving to me to see the number of people who have been involved,” Robel said at the Town Hall meeting last week.

Thomas Gieryn is the vice provost for faculty and academic affairs and also co-chaired the faculty committee of the Strategic Plan.

“The informal response I have heard has been overwhelmingly positive,” Gieryn said in an email. “There is curiosity about the exact nature of the Grand Challenges, but general approval with the method proposed for identifying them.”

The provost’s staff usually addresses the comments from the online draft within 24 hours of its receipt, Dyar said.

“If a commenter asks a question that falls outside the scope of the plan, e.g., a question about facilities, the staff is forwarding those along to the University offices
that might be able to address them,” Dyar said.

Robel said at the meeting she has gotten some wonderful comments, and all of them are valuable.

“Some suggestions will be incorporated directly into the campus plan,” Dyar said.
“Other comments and questions have focused on how the plan will be executed and
will be factored into the implementation plans where appropriate.”

While the comment period ends next week, relevant comments will be incorporated into the process in different ways, Dyar said.

“I encourage all faculty members to take a look at the Srategic Plan as soon as possible, if they have not already done so,” Gieryn said. “The Provost’s plan charts a bold course for the future of the Bloomington campus, and quite literally, once implemented, every corner of IUB will be affected.”