On behalf of the vice presidents and deans, we are pleased to make public to the campus community a draft version of the IC20/20 vision. IC20/20 is intended to lead to a focused plan of action that will, over the decade ahead, further advance the quality of the stduent learning experience at Ithaca College.
You can find the draft vision at the following link to a special discussion site on myHome community:
https://myhome.ithaca.edu/#community/forum.php?c=topic&op=index&cid=7&tid=242
As you know, this draft was developed by the academic and administrative leadership of the college over the summer, drawing substantially upon reports produced by various campus committees and task forces over the last decade. The draft is a starting point for what we anticipate will be a rich series of conversations during the current academic year. Those conversations will culminate in a final document that reflects our shared commitment for focused effort and achievement in the coming decade. We will present our final draft to the Board of Trustees for approval at their May 2011 meeting.
A nearly-identical version of this document was reviewed by the Board of Trustees at a special retreat on the weekend of September 10-12. At the conclusion of our conversation, the Board passed by unanimous vote a resolution of support for the broad directions outlined in the document – specifically Section 1 and the seven broad objectives outlined on page 6 (the first page of Section 2). In that same resolution, the Trustees expressed their desire that the campus community work during the year ahead on development of a final set of proposals and initiatives that would, collectively, enable us to achieve the seven broad objectives. They took note of the draft proposals and initiatives included here, but withheld official endorsement until the campus community could weigh in.
We will begin our year of deliberation through a number of meetings to be held on campus over the next several weeks to gather comment and feedback. That information will help inform the work of standing committees and special task forces whose job will be to review, refine, and (as needed) redraft the proposals and initiatives included here. All appropriate constituencies of the college will take part in the task forces. We will also create a steering committee that will make sure the various committees and task forces are progressing on the time line necessary to complete the vision by the end of April.
We will work closely with Staff Council and SGA to schedule discussions with staff and students. In addition, Provost Woodward will be meeting with the faculty of each school over the next few weeks.
Faculty members are reminded of the Sunday, September 26 open session to be held from noon to 3:00 pm in the Emerson Suites. Lunch will be served at this meeting, whose objective is to come to a collective understanding of the proposals that are here and a first assessment of any other areas that should be included. Please RSVP to mataylor@ithaca.edu <mailto:mataylor@ithaca.edu> or call 274-3113 if you plan to attend. A second meeting for faculty will be held in Textor 102 on Thursday, Sep. 30, from noon – 12:50 pm.
In addition to these meetings, we hope you will offer your thoughts and feedback on the myHome Community discussion site. We are also happy to hear from you individually, via email sent to either or both of us. In addition, you will find on the myHome discussion site a feedback form that you can fill out online or in print and send to us.
This is the year in which Ithaca College will define its future for the decade ahead. The IC20/20 vision represents our effort to further live up to our mission “To provide a foundation for a lifetime of learning, … dedicated to fostering intellectual growth, aesthetic appreciation, and character development in our students.” That mission is more vital than ever to educate the leaders of tomorrow who will need to grapple with a changing and shrinking world. We thank in advance those of you who choose to engage in this work with us.
