Ithaca College

Dear Ithaca College Community:

Theme Work Is Beginning!
The strategic planning steering committee is excited to share the three overarching themes that will guide the next, critically important phase of the Imagining Ithaca strategic planning process.This milestone marks our transition into the process phase where broad concepts and aspirations become more concrete, bold, and actionable.

Working groups from across campus will be organized around the following:

1. Interconnections Among Disciplines, Schools, Partners
2. Evolution of Students, Curriculum, College
3. Investment in People, Place, Planet

To illustrate the potential scope of these naturally interconnected themes, the steering committee has outlined examples of the questions and concepts from our community that gave rise to each one. We encourage you to explore this material further, and we hope that it will stir your imaginations and prompt you to be involved in the next stage of our work.

What You Can Do Next

• Learn and discuss: February 5 at 4:30: Attend an open session to discuss the themes and plans for working group participation. 
• Nominate: Nominate yourself or someone else to be on a working group.  
• Sign up: Want to be contacted to offer focused feedback to the steering committee and work groups? Submit your name and you’ll be contacted for input.

Revised Vision, Mission, and Values
Refinements to the vision, mission, and values will continue alongside the work on themes. In the meantime, based on your feedback so far, here are the current working versions of those elements:

• Vision: Inspiring bold thinking to create thriving communities
• Mission: Engage, explore, and empower through theory, practice, and performance
• Values: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Respect, Accessibility, Sustainability, Innovation, The Public Good

The website offers a fuller explanation of what each of these elements aims to signify and how it fits into the plan.

Next Week: Reflecting on Your Feedback
Our update message for next week will be dedicated to discussing more deeply the ideas, criticisms, and general feedback we’ve heard from you to date, and how we’ve been incorporating it.

In December and January, steering committee members attended meetings of Staff Council, Faculty Council, HSHP faculty and staff, School of Business faculty and staff, Park School faculty, and H&S faculty, and also held a feedback call with members of the Board of Trustees. In each meeting, we sought additional feedback on the draft versions of the vision, mission, and values. We are scheduled to meet soon with School of Music faculty, and will be working to set up additional meetings with other divisions and organizations next. So, we’ll have a lot to share!

Sincerely,

La Jerne Terry Cornish
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Jason Freitag
Associate Professor, History

Imagining Ithaca Co-Chairs