Board of Governors - APPENDIX V - June 28, 2000

REPORT OF THE SENIOR OPERATIONS COMMITTEE

FOR APPROVAL

1. President's Priorities for 2000-01

Recommended: That the Board of Governors approve the President's priorities for 2000-01 as detailed in Annex 1. [shown below]

Each June, the Senior Operations Committee and the President meet to discuss and reach agreement about the priorities for the year to come. The attached letter from Dr. Davenport to the Committee contains the priorities that the Committee has approved and recommends to the Board.

In September, the President will address the Senate and Board of Governors to outline the goals and anticipated activities for the year ahead in a way that reflects the priorities approved by the Board in June.

2. Revised Meeting Date for Property & Finance and Senior Operations - May 2001

Recommended: That the May meeting dates for Property & Finance and the Senior Operations Committee be changed from May 14, 2001, to May 7, 2001.

FOR INFORMATION

1. 2000 Board of Governors Election Schedule

See Annex 2. [Shown below]

Board of Governors, June 28, 2000 - APPENDIX V Annex 1

To: Senior Operations Committee

From: Dr. Paul Davenport

Date: June 12, 2000

Subject: President's Priorities for 2000-2001

Each year in year in the spring I submit for approval to the Board my priorities for the coming year, which are considered by the Board in June and then discussed with Senate in the fall. My overall priorities will be set by Western's Strategic Plan, Leadership in Learning, which was approved by the Senate and Board in the fall of 1995, as well as by Senate and Board resolutions which have been approved in the subsequent four years. The Strategic Plan contains a commitment by the President to report twice a year on the implementation of the Plan. There have now been ten such updates: February, June, and November of 1996; May and November of 1997, 1998, and 1999; and May of 2000. To keep this statement of priorities brief, I will not repeat the extensive material contained in those update reports.

In setting out priorities for 2000-2001, I use the same broad categories as in previous years: Setting Directions; Keeping Academic Priorities First; Ensuring Open Administration and Effective Communication; and Strengthening Ties with the External Community. Most of the specific priorities were also contained in last year's report: for example, faculty, staff, and student recruitment will undoubtedly be priorities throughout my term as President, although the specific actions taken in support of those priorities will vary from year to year. While I present these as presidential priorities, accomplishing them will require effort by all in our campus community, as well as determined leadership by Vice-Presidents, Deans, Chairs, and Directors.

Once again this year, I wish to preface my priorities with a reference to the constraints which arise from a shortage of operating funds. In recent years our Province and the federal government have provided significant increases in research and capital funding, for which the University is grateful. Nonetheless, the chronic public underfunding of operating funds has been the greatest barrier to realizing our objectives as a leading university. Our full-time employment has fallen by nearly 500 employees over the last seven years, from 3,300 in 1992-93 to 2,820 in 1999-2000, because of repeated reductions in the government grant.

Ontario universities are tenth among the ten provinces in grants per capita; our ratio of students to faculty has risen dramatically during the last decade and is now well above the national average. We are falling further behind the public universities in the United States in the resources we have available for students and faculty. These trends must be reversed and all Ontario universities will be pushing hard through the Council of Ontario Universities to make the coming years ones of significant increases in government operating. As Chair of the COU, I will continue to devote a considerable share of my time to these issues.

As in years past, my foremost hope for Western is that we can maintain the sense of common purpose and the commitment to excellence so evident in our successful student and faculty recruitment efforts of recent years. A broadly held spirit of cooperation among our faculty, staff, and students has kept our academic community whole and healthy despite the onerous external budget cuts we have experienced. Our top priority must be to work together in solidarity to preserve and enhance the achievements and values that define Western.

1. Setting Directions: Leadership in Learning

· continuing the implementation of the Strategic Plan, with reports to Senate and Board twice each year on the status of the various recommendations

· leading a formal review of our strategic directions, with a process similar to that used in 1995 for the Strategic Plan, with a goal of a draft report in June of 2001 which will build on the mission, vision and principles of the Strategic Plan in the context of the coming decade.

· maintaining flexibility in planning so the University can respond quickly to changes in the external environment and new opportunities, such as those afforded by the Canada Research Chairs, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund, and the Ontario Investment Trust.

· working with the Vice-Presidents to encourage Faculties and Support Units to engage in multi-year planning with explicit priorities

· working with the Vice-Presidents to maintain an environment in which they have the support necessary to carry out the priorities assigned to them

· leading a cohesive, mutually supportive PVP team, consisting of the President, four Vice-Presidents, and the Vice-Provost, who work together effectively to ca rry out the Strategic Plan and other University priorities

· building a sense of common purpose in difficult times among PVP, Deans, Chairs, Senior Directors, and faculty, staff and students

· encouraging strong, effective leadership in support of the Strategic Plan and other University priorities at all levels of Western's administration

2. Putting Academic Priorities First: Supporting Excellence in Teaching and Research

· strengthening our recruitment of undergraduate students and the quality of undergraduate education; continuing the upward trend in the average grades of entering students while finding the right balance between increasing entering grades and increases in total enrolment

· seeking broad, collegial participation in planning Western's response to enrolment growth, including the double cohort, over the next decade, through the formal review of our strategic directions

· carrying out the SuperBuild construction over the next four years, and the associated building of a new undergraduate residence, in a manner that best supports our academic objectives and maintains the beauty of our campus

· expanding student support to help students meet the costs of their education, while matching the form of support -- bursaries, loans, and employment opportunities -- to each student's circumstances

· working with Chairs, Deans, and the Faculty of Graduate Studies to improve graduate student recruitment and the quality of graduate education and supervision

· expanding student options with regard to four-year undergraduate programs and summer courses

· working with Faculties to strengthen long-established undergraduate programs at Western, and to meet changing student demand with innovative new programs and the use of new technologies, including web-based courses

· working with the Vice-Presidents and Deans to ensure an effective response to the opportunities afforded by the Canada Research Chairs and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.

· improving our research performance by encouraging collaborative and multi-disciplinary research and providing start-up funding for new faculty and support for large and strategically important grant proposals to agencies such as the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund

· maintaining strong, collegial, and mutually supportive relations with our faculty, staff, and student associations

· implementing successfully our first collective agreement with UWOFA

· working well with UWOSA in the context of a relatively new collective agreement and continuing to make progress on key issues with PMA

· improving evaluation processes for staff and faculty so that we can better recognize superior performance

· improving development opportunities for our staff, so they can make their full contribution to the University at a time of restructuring and changing career patterns

· implementing the PeopleSoft project in a manner which supports our academic mission and provides better support for faculty and staff so that they can achieve their objectives

· continuing with enrolment-contingent funding in a manner that encourages cross-Faculty teaching and links budgets to Faculty enrolments and teaching

· strengthening the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty

· recruiting new staff in support of our academic priorities

· supporting the Research Park in its efforts to increase private sector involvement in the Park and to resolve its financial difficulties

· strengthening our academic ties with Fanshawe College and with universities and colleges across Ontario

· protecting our academic future by increasing annual expenditure on deferred maintenance as set out in Leadership in Learning

3. Ensuring Open Administration and Effective Communication

· continuing to visit academic and support units, and holding informal celebrations of excellence in my office, to meet our faculty and staff and to learn first hand of their aspirations

· working to ensure that individuals in the academic and support units understand that we in senior administration recognize that they alone can allow us to achieve our Mission of excellence

· developing performance indicators in order to discuss University progress toward specific goals with Board, Senate, and other groups

· celebrating Western's achievements in teaching and research, with such programs as the Pleva Awards and the Hellmuth Prizes

· meeting on regular occasions with the leadership of the faculty, staff, and student associations, to discuss strategic issues and promote mutual understanding

· maintaining an open approach to the budget process and selective decision-making during a period of severe fiscal restraint

· continuing to report to Senate and Board on a regular basis on the major issues facing Western

· holding open meetings on campus at appropriate times to discuss key issues and options at Western

· improving our communication, both internally and externally, with regard to Western's aspirations and the achievements of our faculty, staff, and students

4. Strengthening Ties with the External Community

· launching Campaign Western in September, 2000, with over $135 million in gifts and pledges raised on the launch date, in a total Campaign of $270 million, and continuing my own calls on behalf of the campaign

· continuing the annual increase in the amount of new gifts and pledges, which was $27 million in 1997-98, $34 million in 1998-99, and over $40 million in 1999-2000

· building on our relations with alumni in Canada and abroad, and helping alumni take a greater role in such activities as student recruitment

· obtaining better information from alumni and the general community on their views of Western and using it to improve our academic programs and student recruitment

· exercising leadership on the provincial and national levels with regard to such issues as the need for broadly based increases in operating funding, as President of Western, past Chair of AUCC, and Chair of COU

· working with COU, MET, and the Province to ensure that quality improvement receives an equal weight with enrolment expansion in future public funding decisions

· making the case with the provincial and national governments of the importance of university teaching and research to our knowledge-based society

· expanding media coverage of Western's academic excellence and community involvement while we continue to strive to be a visible part of the community of London

· working with the Vice-Presidents Research and External, and the Director of Government Relations, to establish a better knowledge of Western among cabinet ministers in the provincial and federal governments

· building on our strong relationships with the city of London, the London Economic Development Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the members of City Council, and the Mayor in such areas as the Canada 2001 Summer Games, a downtown location for Continuing Studies, and the London Biotechnology Incubator

increasing opportunities for the external community to take advantage of campus facilities and to participate in campus activities

maintaining Western's traditional close ties with local and regional MPs and MPPs, and involving them on a regular basis in University projects and events

Board of Governors, June 28, 2000 - APPENDIX V Annex 2

BOARD ELECTION SCHEDULE - 2000

Elections will be held for representatives of the undergraduate and graduate student, faculty and administrative staff constituencies this Fall. The election schedules are outlined below: