Thank You Message from Antonio

October 18, 2013

Dear members of the CAS Strategic Action Planning Committee,

By now you are about to start, or have already started, to meet with a group of highly accomplished colleagues to assist the college in the development of our strategic action plan. I want to thank you for having agreed to participate, and to impress upon you my sense of urgency for and the importance of this process. I believe that your recommendations will become instrumental in setting the stage for the future success of the College of Arts and Sciences at UVM.

I have high hopes for CAS and I need you to help me set high, clear expectations for ourselves. The first step in the process is to identify the context and to assess where we stand now in relation to that context. Then you’ll need to set high but attainable goals and objectives, and also determine the indicators that will help us describe and benchmark where we stand and assess progress toward achieving our vision and goals.

Your task won’t be easy. We are a complex unit that houses small and large departments, with different strengths and approaches to undergraduate and graduate education, not to mention diversity in disciplines and methods of inquiry. I believe we are clear, and there is reasonable consensus, about what our values are; but I question whether we can easily demonstrate whether we live by our values. We say we believe in the teacher-scholar model, in academic excellence and rigor, in transparency and equity. We believe we are multidisciplinary; care about culture, society and the natural world; welcome diversity and respect; and value both individualism and collaboration. First and foremost, we believe in the benefits of a liberal arts education.  How well are we doing on all of those fronts? How well can we explain to outsiders what we do and accomplish, to convince them we deliver a value added education?

We are all too well aware of the limits and constraints of using numbers and metrics to assess academic quality. We also realize the world is changing rapidly, and with change comes the inconvenience and the challenge of replacing mastered skills with new, unfamiliar behaviors and practices. What’s worse, how do we know that changing will pay off? If those thoughts cross your mind, STOP them! They’ll immobilize you.

We live in a world used to measuring success with numbers and figures; where change is unavoidable but at the same time provides us with the opportunity to grow and improve, to make a difference in ways we couldn’t before. Please, use this opportunity to embrace change and to envision and work toward a bright future for CAS and UVM.

Thank you,

Antonio

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