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Planning Process

President Skorton has asked Provost Kent Fuchs to lead the university in a strategic planning exercise that is crucial to the future successes of our great institution. The strategic plan will set direction to be pursued in the years to come, to leverage and expand the excellence of the Cornell experience. The final draft report will be presented to the Board of Trustees next spring.

Much of the work to date has involved soliciting ideas from the Cornell community, launching academic task forces, and partnering with a global consulting firm to assess opportunities for cost savings in the administrative functions of the university. These actions have necessarily focused primarily on changes that will affect fiscal 2011 and 2012 budgets, but they have also considered actions that aim to position Cornell to succeed beyond 2012. Over the coming year this balance between short-range budget cuts and long-range planning will shift. The increasing focus on the goals, strategies, tactics, and metrics that will define Cornell over the coming years will culminate in the production of a strategic plan.

What Will Guide Our Decisions?

  1. Decisions on reorganizing our programs and activities should be made based on the relevance of those activities to the university's core mission with the objective of enhancing academic excellence, effectiveness and efficiency of functions and also with the objective of reducing expenditures.
  2. Expenditure reductions should be greatest in administrative operations, consonant with appropriate processes and risk management, recognizing that those operations occur across the university in colleges and central units and must be viewed holistically.
  3. All units across the university will contribute to reducing the structural financial deficit of the university.
  4. Final decisions will be made by the president and provost after transparent and broad consultation, with special consideration of the opinions of those most conversant with the areas under review.
  5. Decisions should be made as much as possible with the intention of optimizing quality and value of colleges, individual units, and the entire university but, if a conflict exists, it should be decided in favor of the greater university.

Timeline

MONTH ACTIONS
July 2009 Task force preliminary reports submitted.
Sept. 4 Staff forum with President Skorton and Provost Fuchs at noon in Bio-Tech.
Sept. 16 Faculty forum at 4:30 p.m. in Goldwin Smith.
Sept. 17 Student forum at 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 1 The task forces submitted recommendation to President Skorton and Provost Fuchs. The Cornell community will be asked for input on the significant recommendations from the task force reports in November.
October 15 Strategic Planning Advisory Council appointed
November 2009 The Cornell community provides input on significant recommendations from the task force reports.
Outside consultants complete their review of administrative cost savings opportunities.
December 2009 President and Provost communicate initial university-level decisions to campus.
January/February 2010 Provost Fuchs and Strategic Planning Advisory Council hold public forums to solicit input on the emerging strategic plan.
Spring 2010 Work proceeds on strategic plan and FY11 budget corrections.
March 2010 Provost Fuchs presents draft strategic plan to the Board of Trustees for comment.
April 2010 Strategic Plan draft presented to the community for public comment.
May 2010 Provost issues final strategic plan.