Greetings Colleagues.
Approximately one year ago, Father Burns appointed the Financial Accountability and Strategic Thinking [FAST] task force to address our enrollment declines in our Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs [SGPP]. While much has changed since the launch of that task force, much has also been accomplished as we move beyond the work of FAST to embed our strategic thinking and tools for innovation and analysis within our growth processes.
At this time, it seems appropriate to acknowledge the work of so many of our colleagues, including some who have moved on from our university and others who continue to serve our mission. We are grateful to all who served on the task force in any capacity for their contributions.
Initially, the Task Force had four focal areas:
- Focal Area #1 – Financial responsibility analysis
- Focal Area #2 – Extended school review
- Focal Area #3 – Strategic alignment, prioritization, and investment
- Focal Area #4 – Collaboration on School of Continuing and Advancing Studies
Upon further review, Focal Area #4 (School of Continuing and Advancing Studies) was strategically moved out from the responsibility of FAST due to stakeholder needs, current leadership roles, and the additional complexity of credentialing. The work of building and erecting that school continues under the leadership of vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Sue Hines.
Focal Area #1 concluded its work in February, and their work and recommendations included a holistic review of the financial well-being of individual academic programs within SGPP, as well as other critical data such as enrollment, retention, and graduation rates. That working group committed to developing a common dataset for all of our SGPP programs and then analyzing those data. Their work was intended to serve as a launching point for Focal Area #2, the extended school review. With an adjustment to our organizational structure in academic affairs, the leadership for what had been Focal Area #2 will now fall to Dr. Sue Hines, who will support our associate deans as they evaluate and plan for the future of our SGPP schools. Already, Dr. Hines and her team have benefitted from the work of Focal Area #1 and their approach for reviewing programs. Finally, Focal Area #3 developed ten proposals that were considered for an investment using innovation funds, made possible through the generosity of a benefactor. At least a portion of six proposals were funded, each with an executive sponsor leading an implementation team. The results of each funded project are now reported to the president from the executive sponsor on a regular basis.
In recent months, Dr. Sue Hines has refreshed the data developed by Focal Area #1 as she works with her associate deans, and the templates used for Focal Area #3 proposals have been utilized for assessing new program/initiative viability. We expect that the impact of FAST will continue to grow as our community embraces and refines what we’ve developed to further engrain financial analysis and strategic thinking into our culture.
Once again, we acknowledge and express our appreciation to all who contributed to the work of the FAST task force. We look forward to seeing the habits, tools, and artifacts developed in the FAST process as they evolve and shape our institution’s future.
Live Jesus in our Hearts, Forever!
Michael McMahon
Vice President for Enrollment Management
