Educate, Discover, Connect

President Joe DiPietro just kicked off a new strategic planning effort for the entire UT system. A steering committee composed of representatives from each campus and institute as well as faculty, staff, students, alumni and board of trustees representatives met September 28 to begin the effort.

The planning process will focus on President DiPietro's key themes of:
*Outreach as a land-grant university
*Capital investment
*Statewide advocacy for UT
*System support of campus and institute strategic plans and activities
*Academic outcomes advancing workforce needs
*System wide marketing and communication

Key strategies during the process include:
*Engage senior leadership early; ensure a process that is transparent, inclusive and communicated with consistency
*Engage key managers and staff in important roles - develop internal ownership and buy-in
*Deal directly with the "critical issues"
*Traverse silos through community building exercises
*Resource implementation work plans

I will continue to update you as we move through this process. It is timely in that we are also updating our agency plans and ultimately will also update the IPS plan.