Committee Reports: Always Moving Forward, Never Standing Still

Dear colleagues,

As final exams and all assignments are coming due for the term, we are all putting forth maximum energy to finish strong. I appreciate everyone working together on behalf of all our students. This time of year there are also a number of academic working groups, task forces and strategy planning committees putting finishing touches on drafts of their reports, proposals and plans. As such are finalized, the committees are eager to share their efforts with the campus community. Indeed, you will notice a recent flurry of report postings in MyVU for Provost and university areas. To name a few of the initiatives:

• Mental Health and Well-Being
• Healthy Minds Working Group
• Enhancing Faculty Voices in the Public Sphere
• International Strategy
• Data Science Visions (coming soon)
• Residential Colleges Programmatic Vision (coming soon)
• Shared Governance (coming soon)
• The VU Press (coming soon)

These efforts reflect deep engagement of stakeholders across campus in our future direction as a university. Moreover, the work is essential to ensuring we are on the cutting edge, prepared for the future and meeting the needs of our community. At the Vanderbilt Student Government annual leadership transition reception last week, I resonated with the incoming Speaker of the Senate, Sean Swinford’s citing of a Franklin D. Roosevelt quote, “there are many ways of moving forward, but only one way of standing still.” Together, we must continue innovating and identifying areas in which to be progressive and forward-looking. It’s what we do best!

As I’ve engaged with many of you over this past semester on various initiatives, I am often asked, “what happens next after a report or proposal is submitted?” Over the past four years, we have developed a transparent process for considering recommendations and implementing action plans that are sustainable. This includes:

• To be or not to be an initiative: Initiatives are identified in a variety of ways. Many come from the Academic Strategic Plan. For example, the plan calls for expanding the residential college system and developing a cohesive programmatic vision for our residential colleges. International engagement was also identified as a “cross-cutting theme” in the strategic plan and, at the time of crafting, we realized this would require a more in-depth analysis. Sometimes, initiatives start as a partnership with the Office of the Chancellor, like our campaign on mental health and well-being. Other times, initiatives are launched based on feedback from the deans, faculty groups or in partnership with the Faculty Senate, like the effort on shared governance. Finally, some emerge from a set of independent TIPs proposals that reveal a convergence of faculty interest in a given effort (be on the look out for the Data Science Visions Working Group report, coming soon.)
• Ready set go: Next, my office works with the deans and Faculty Senate Executive Committee, as well as self-nominees, to invite a collective set of committee members that will provide broad campus representation across multiple demographics, perspectives and applicable disciplines. Finally, the committee is charged with requested deliverables and a timeline; all of which is shared through communications in MyVU articles and website postings.
• Let’s get to work: These initiatives may involve a range of work – from in-depth peer school assessments, to taking stock of Vanderbilt’s assets in a given area, to developing a pedagogical framework. Committee efforts sometimes take an academic year (sometimes more) to complete, whereas others might require a couple months with an aggressive set of meetings with coincident outreach efforts.
• From plan to real progress: When a report is submitted, the deans and other stakeholders are updated, and it is shared with the university community (generally through MyVU postings). For some, the recommendations are moved forward to the next level of approval (the E. Bronson Ingram Hall namings required approval of the Chancellor and Board of Trust). Other reports require identifying collaborative efforts and resources for next steps. For example, the International Strategy Working Group called for a number of administrative improvements to facilitate international research, and I was happy to report that several of those enhancements were underway. To create action plans, we take into account resource considerations including funding, bandwidth, logistics and legal implications. We also see how they are aligned with other ongoing initiatives and university priorities. Depending on the scope, these action plans take additional time to develop. Sometimes recommendations need adjustments to fit certain needs. And at times, some are found to be unworkable due to specific circumstances or resource availability.
• Communication is key: Along the way, we aim to engage the Vanderbilt community and ensure information is openly available online. As a baseline, MyVU stories are posted at the launch of an effort and at the time of the report submission. Additional stories follow as new actions are announced. I also communicate to the committee and others as needed for follow up and feedback on the progress. I encourage you to visit these sites to follow progress on initiatives of interest, and see the memberships of past and current committees:
  • Provost’s Advisory Committees Page
  • Academic Strategic Plan Initiatives Page

If you have any suggestions or feedback on the processes noted above, please let me know. It has been a busy year (or two, or three, or four) with a number of plans being rolled out. I look forward to our continued collaborative efforts to innovate and lead. My tremendous gratitude to the many who have either served on committees or offered input along the way. Your contributions are invaluable and will ensure that Vanderbilt will reach its potential now and, importantly, in the years ahead.

Sincerely,

Susan R. Wente

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