On behalf of the College’s Institutional Planning Committee (IPC), I am extremely pleased to share with you an important milestone in the strategic planning process. On Thursday, Sept. 23, the College’s new Mission, Vision, Values Statements, and Strategic Directions, which were developed based on input from the entire campus community, were presented to the College Council.

The IPC will now begin the next stage of the process of forming Strategic Direction Committees. The committees will be charged with providing information that the College will need in order to determine how to implement the goals and steps associated with the Strategic Directions. At the recommendation of the IPC, and consistent with the open process it has conducted to date, the entire campus community is now being invited to provide nominations (including self-nominations) of faculty, staff, and students who wish to serve on the Committees. All nominations should be emailed to Ken Iwama, Deputy to the President and Chief of Staff, at kenichi.iwama@csi.cuny.edu, who serves as support staff to the IPC. The IPC requests that nominations be received no later than 5:00pm, Thursday, Sept. 30 for consideration.

To accomplish our task, the committees will be convened to provide analysis and recommendations for the six Strategic Directions included in the Strategic Plan. One committee will be established for each Strategic Direction.

Noted below, are the six Strategic Directions with accompanying suggested skill sets. When considering a nominee, please consider the skill sets related to each direction. Also indicate to which specific committee you recommend your nominee be assigned. You may nominate the same person for assignment to more than one committee.

Strategic Direction 1: Develop a richer array of rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs that meet students’ educational and professional aspirations.
Skill Sets: Considered together, this Strategic Direction Group should be comprised of faculty, staff, and students who have experience with General Education (possibly current or former members of the Gen Ed or Curriculum Committees); affiliation with professional programs (e.g., Business, Education, Nursing, Allied Health); exposure to, experience with, and knowledge of co-curricular academic elements like service learning, etc.; sensitivity to benchmarking, best practices, and assessment; familiarity with the Master Plan.

Strategic Direction 2: Enhance the quality and recognition of research, scholarship, and creative works for faculty and students.
Skill Sets: Considered together, this Strategic Direction Group should be comprised of faculty, staff, and students who have active research agendas (at varying stages); interest in or have sought faculty development opportunities; have involvement in student research and mentoring, perhaps through the Undergraduate Conference on Research, Scholarship, and Performance; are sensitive to integrating part-time faculty into the campus community; have had experience on search committees, screening committees, A&P, or P&B committees.

Strategic Direction 3: Become a more vibrant center of intellectual and cultural exchange through community partnerships.
Skill Sets: Considered together, this Strategic Direction Group should be comprised of faculty, staff, and students who have interest and experience with “community” and external constituent groups; experience with NYC Board of Education programs; sensitivity to partnerships with borough, city, and regional groups; possess “civic mindedness;” knowledge of CSI infrastructure and facilities; experience with major campus events; experience with Continuing Education programs; interest or experience in external scans and opportunity identification; general interest in College outreach.

Strategic Direction 4: Strengthen and increase our ability to serve a diverse campus community.
Skill Sets: Considered together, this Strategic Direction Group should be comprised of faculty, staff, and students who have experience in Student Affairs functions and programs; are knowledgeable about and sensitive to scaffolding and support initiatives; have experience and interest in developmental advisement (possibly service on the Advisement Task Force); have interest and experience in aligning curricular and co-curricular experiences; have experience with Residential Life and living-learning communities; participated in the Master Planning Process; are familiar with Inclusive Excellence initiatives (possibly have served on the IE Committee); have knowledge of Disability Services.

Strategic Direction 5: Position the College to achieve greater regional, national, and international recognition through advancement and fundraising activities.
Skill Sets: Considered together, this Strategic Direction Group should be comprised of faculty, staff, and students who have experience with Alumni Affairs (and, perhaps, are alumni of CSI and/or have exposure to contact as alumni with other institutions); have a sense of marketing, communication, and message development experience; are community–minded; have an understanding of consumer behavior, motivation, and philanthropy; are knowledgeable of and sensitive to best practices and benchmarks.

Strategic Direction 6: Examine the College’s current and possible future uses of technology for a wide range of purposes.
Skill Sets: Considered together, this Strategic Direction Group should be comprised of faculty, staff, and students who have experience in the incorporation of technology in pedagogy; have served on technology committees; are familiar with central management of technology; have exposure to best practices and innovation (BB, online courses, wikis, blogs, ePortfolios, etc.); are sensitive to innovations and mobile opportunities; have experience with administrative computing needs; have experience with the High-Performance Computing initiatives; participated on the Web-Core Communications Committee; are knowledgeable about networks and infrastructure; and are generally forward-thinking with technology.

The Strategic Planning process is very important in the life of an institution. Having finalized the development of the College’s new Mission, Vision, Values Statements, and Strategic Directions, it is essential to continue our momentum into the next phase of the process. The work of the six Strategic Direction committees will begin soon, and it is anticipated that the committees will be meeting often to meet an initial deadline of Friday, Dec. 31, 2010 to submit initial draft reports.

We appreciate your thoughtful consideration of this call for nominations.