In Fall 2016, President Michael Engh, S.J. launched the Sustaining Excellence Project. Below is an overview of the process and timeline for the multiple phases of the project:
- Phase 1: Idea Generation
- Phase 2: Assessment and decision-making
- Phase 3: Implementation
Phase 1: Idea Generation (September 2016 - June 2017)
This first phase was designed to ignite the experience and wisdom of the broad University community and gather a robust set of possible ideas that would achieve the goals of the project. The broad membership of Working Groups and Steering Committee leveraged the expertise of the community by soliciting ideas and inviting public review and feedback. The structure was created to gather a large amount of information and organize the information in a report to the President. Phase 1 concluded with the presentation of a summary report with key recommendations to Fr. Engh on June 12, 2017.
- September 15, 2016: Convocation Address
- September 28, 2016: Official launch of project via email from Fr. Engh to campus community
- November 10, 2016: University Open Forum
- November 29, 2016: Project leadership announced
- January, 2017: Working groups initiated
- January 25, 2017: Invitation to community to submit ideas via project website
- April 5, 2017: Deadline for campus community to submit ideas
- April 12, 2017: Working groups submit summaries and full list of ideas
- April 24-28, 2017: Working Group Leads present reports to Steering Committee
- April 26, 2017: List of ideas published to website with invitation for feedback.
- May 10, 2017: Public feedback window closes.
- May, 2017: Steering Committee reviews and discusses information to organize for report
- June 12, 2017: Project Co-chairs send summary report with key recommendations to Fr. Engh
Phase 2: Assessment and Decision Making (July 2017 - February 2018)
The second phase of the project is designed to support the President in assessing the ideas and recommendations from Phase 1 and determining the best ideas for implementation to achieve the goals of the project. The President is committed to ensuring that all relevant Shared Governance groups, especially the Planning Action Council (PAC) and the University Policy Committees (UPC’s), remain engaged, informed, and contributive to this project.
Phase 3: Implementation (To be determined)
The implementation phase will proceed from Phase 2 and will include a strategy for successfully implementing ideas to achieve the project goals.