Video and Slides from the Strategic Plan Implementation Town Halls

If you missed the Town Halls last week or would like to review the presentation on the Strategic Plan Implementation, the video is now posted on the Provost’s and Strategic Plan websites. We have also added the presentation slides from the Town Halls on the Strategic Plan website.

Join the discussion!
We encourage you to share your comments and questions about the Strategic Plan Implementation by clicking on the comments link below or by using the “Suggestions” box in the column on the right.

UMKC Strategic Plan Implementation - Ideas and Suggestions Needed

The UMKC Strategic Plan provides a guide for all to follow as UMKC moves into its next decade as Kansas City's University. Creation of the plan involved a year of self-study by UMKC, faculty, staff, students, community members and friends, and is now at a point where the first phase of the plan’s implementation has been developed.

The implementation of the Strategic Plan will be presented at two Town Hall meetings :

• April 28, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m., Room 4307 HSB, Hospital Hill
• April 29, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m., Plaza Room, Administrative Center, Volker campus

At these meetings, the University community will have the opportunity to offer ideas and suggestions and to be involved in the next important steps in the process. We invite you to come, participate and give us your feedback.

The Debate on Students Earning an Undergraduate Education in Three Years

Here are two articles for your review about the debate on students earning an undergraduate education in three years. In the Strategic Plan for 2010-2020 our first goal is to "place student success at the center," which means "offering superior services to students through a model that allows a one-stop approach (real and virtual) to meet students’ needs." The following articles bring to question if there are new ways of doing this.

The Three-Year Solution, by Lamar Alexander

What is College for Anyway?, by Debra Rosenberg

The articles were originally published in the October 26th, 2009, Newsweek.

Construction and the UMKC Master Plan

UMKC’s new Student Union was “Topped Off” with placement of the final steel beam in the structure at a ceremony on September 28, 2009. The steel structure of the 110,000-square-foot building located between the administrative building and Cherry Street is now in place. In an estimated one year’s time, Fall 2010, the new Student Union will be fully equipped with a food court, coffee house, student organization and meeting rooms, open stage area, lounge seating, game room, student radio station, atrium and extended parking lot.

It is exciting to see the new construction taking place all over UMKC as described in the campus Master Plan. This progress moves us toward the fulfillment of our strategic goal of creating a vibrant learning and campus-life experience. The new Stanley H. Durwood Soccer Stadium and Recreational Field and the Herman and Dorothy Johnson Hall are both testaments of our hard work to become an urban campus that enhances the student experience.

The Master Pan web site is a comprehensive resource for learning more about completed, current, and future construction endeavors. If you missed the Toping-off Ceremony you can still view the progress of the Student Union on the construction Webcam.

Strategic Planning Committee

We have created a Strategic Planning Committee website in order to communicate the history, ongoing activities, and future of the planning process for UMKC. On the website you can view reports that provide background to the planning process, and you can examine strategic plans of the various units. Minutes from the meetings of the steering committee and the subcommittees will be posted as they become available. We encourage you to view the website for regular updates and we are open to receiving your comments by using the “Contact Us” link on the website.

The Strategic Planning Steering Committee is made of students, faculty, staff and community members in an effort to include voices from the various entities that comprise UMKC. Below is a list of the individuals who are serving on the steering committee (which are also listed on the Strategic Planning Committee website):

• Chrisanne Arnold, Staff Council, Department of Environmental Health
  
• Adam Brown, School of Law Student, 2nd Year
  
• Paul Cuddy, Professor and Senior Associate Dean, School of Medicine
  
• Karen Dace, Deputy Chancellor of Diversity Access and Equity
  
• Jennifer DeHaemers, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
  
• Lawrence Dreyfus, Dean of the School of Biological Sciences
  
• Sandy Gault, Director of International Student Affairs
  
• Mary Pat Henry, Professor, Conservatory of Music and Dance
  
• Mary Lou Hines Fritts, CIO and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
  
• Bridgett Johnson, Student Government Association President, Senior, School of Nursing
  
• Patricia Marken, Professor, School of Pharmacy
  
• Meghann Martens, School of Nursing Student, Freshman
  
• Sarah Morris, Assistant Vice Chancellor, University Communications
  
• Nancy Murdock, Chair and Professor, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology
• Bonnie Postlethwaite, Librarian IV - Associate Dean of University Libraries
  
• John Purk, Associate Professor and Director, Department of Oral Biology
  
• Walt Rychlewski, Visiting Professor, Bloch School of Business
  
• Jim Sheppard, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy
  
• Bob Simmons, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Administrative Affairs and Campus Facilities Management
  
• Michael Strait, President of Staff Council and Director of Academic Assessment
  
• Steve Stroud, Associate Director, Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
  
• Lisen Tammeus, Development Director, Alumni and Constituent Relations
  
• Jeff Thomas, Associate Dean, School of Law
  
• Kevin Truman, Dean of the School of Computing & Engineering
  
• Mel Tyler, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
  
• Thad Wilson, Associate Dean, School of Nursing
  
• Hugh Zimmer, Chairman of Zimmer Co.

Ex-Officio

• Larry Bunce, Director of Institutional Research Assessment and Planning
  
• Gary Ebersole, President of the Faculty Senate, Professor and Chair, Department of History
  
• Leo Morton, Interim Chancellor of UMKC
  
• John Readey, Chair of the UMKC Board of Trustees
  

Meetings of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee have been scheduled through February, 2009. Sub-committees are being formed now and will include:

Economic Development
Diversity/Campus Climate
Life and Health Sciences
Visual and Performing Arts
Undergraduate Education/Student Success
Urban Mission/Community Engagement
Science and Technology