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Dear Colleagues,
I'm following up on my June 15 message to you to share some brief updates about our UMS Strategic Plan implementation work.
Reading the Plan. The summertime release of the Plan means that some members of our UMS community, particularly faculty, may not yet have had an opportunity to review it. I encourage all faculty, staff, and administrators to read the Plan and to begin to consider how and where you can contribute to the fulfillment of its goals.
Populating the steering committee. A small steering committee responsible for reporting to me on progress made in implementing the Plan will include President Deb Hedeen of the University of Maine at Fort Kent, Provost Georita Frierson of the University of Southern Maine, a faculty member, and a staff member, as well as System staff. In the coming weeks, Vice Chancellor Carolyn Dorsey will work with the presidents to identify the staff representative, and Vice Chancellor Jeff St. John will work with the UMS Faculty Governance Council to identify the faculty representative. When the steering committee has been fully populated, we will post its membership on the UMS Strategic Planning website.
In consultation with the presidents and me, Carolyn and Jeff will also be recruiting sets of co-chairs to oversee the work to be done in each of the five Commitments of the Plan. Individual teams will undertake that work, with each of them tackling a specific action or goal. Some of the teams will reflect existing groups that partner regularly on projects in their respective areas (e.g. the provosts), while other teams will be formed for the task at hand.
Finding updates on implementation. The steering committee will update the Board of Trustees Strategic Planning Committee at each of its regular meetings throughout the year, and a standing implementation update will be shared at full Board meetings. My staff will also provide regular updates on the website. In addition, you can expect periodic messages from your president and from me as well.
I will share my next update with you in early October. It will outline the overall implementation structure and process in further detail and provide information about how you can get involved in this critical effort.
Thank you.
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