Memo on Next Steps of the Recession Response Planning and Task Group
December 9, 2009

Members of the St. Lawrence Community—colleagues, co-workers, and students:

Mike Temkin, chair of Faculty Council, and I were in touch yesterday about offering additional information on the work of the Recession Response Planning and Task Group, particularly as it completes the assignment given at the beginning of the semester (the charge, guidelines, and expectations were shared with the community in early September). I'm glad to clarify the next steps in the process, which will, of course, resume the familiar pattern of building a budget for the following year (2010-11). Even in unprecedented times of economic difficulty, we are not rushing or taking any shortcuts.

The forthcoming task group report will be addressed to me and the senior staff; it will be turned in as we all finish up the academic business of the semester. Because it is a starting point for the FY11 budget plan, it will be integrated with the current practices of collaborative thinking, which means it also becomes a tool for the Budget and Finance Committee to use when it convenes and meets with members of the Senior Staff. As the working base of assumptions and objectives are developed from the report, the coordinated effort will, as it has in the past, include regular discussions with the Faculty Council.

Because the task group report is a new element in the process and is of interest to the community, it will accompany a community letter I will be sending early in the new semester, which will also include other relevant documentation and charts. In addition, I will offer two forums for all faculty and staff in order to give the entire community a status update, take questions, entertain comments, and lay out a sequence of next steps. We will hold these assemblies in early February. I also will meet with Thelmo to ensure that students have a similar opportunity for discussion. The Board of Trustees will meet on February 19-20, but no new budgets will be adopted at this meeting (the Board usually approves budgets at its May meeting). An important decision, as is always the case, about the schedule of tuition and fees for 2010-11, will be on the agenda of the February meeting.

Finally, I express my profound appreciation for the work of the task group this semester. Their depth of inquiry, tough-minded thinking, and balanced sensitivity represent the best at St. Lawrence in loyalty and caring. Thank you.—WLF