Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

Annual Work Plan Actions for 2003-2004

The annual work plan is based on Designing the Future, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System's long-range strategic plan. Changing environmental conditions (1) impact planning priorities. The leadership of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities recognize that individual colleges and universities, along with Office of the Chancellor divisions, have the responsibility to maintain progress from previous work plans on existing system-level and functional area initiatives.

Based on the need to continue progress achieved in the first two work plans, the Chancellor affirms that the colleges and universities will continue to address:

• Increased efforts to ensure welcoming campus climates and higher rates of recruitment and retention for students, faculty, and staff of color (2) [Access and Opportunity];
• Improved Federal relations [Access and Opportunity];
• Improved services to students from pre-school through college by means of collaborative work with P-12 schools, the Department of Education, and other partners [Quality Learning Programs];
• Broaden effectiveness in teacher education programs to improve retention of teachers and address the changing demographic profile of the state's students [Quality Learning Programs];
• Economic development/business-higher education partnerships [Community Development and Economic Vitality];
• Responsiveness to the state's most critical workforce needs and the enhancement of workforce effectiveness [Community Development and Economic Vitality and Quality Learning Programs];
• Advocacy for adequate systemwide operating and capital budgets [Advocacy];
• Advance the image/awareness of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the value of contributions the system makes to the state of Minnesota [Advocacy];
• Progress toward implementation of the Allocation Framework [Fully Integrate the System];
• Build on the emerging strengths to further enhance transfer [Fully Integrate the System]; and
• Collaboration between/among the colleges and universities to improve the coordination, responsiveness, and quality of academic programs and services, and to optimize administrative and technological services [Fully Integrate the System].

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System has identified four annual priorities that require special attention in the 2004 fiscal year. The Chancellor expects and the Board of Trustees approves:

1. An expansion by college and university presidents of private (and other external) fundraising efforts and participation in a unified and coordinated pursuit of Federal funds [Access and Opportunity];
2. A more coordinated and increased access to courses, full degree programs, and student support services offered through emerging technologies [Access and Opportunity, and Quality Learning Programs];
3. An examination and clarification of the system's organizational structure aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of programs and services (3) [Fully Integrate the System]; and
4. Establishment of a system leadership development program to identify and train future institutional and system leaders [Fully Integrate the System, Access and Opportunity, and Quality Learning Programs].

Approved by the Board of Trustees, 06-18-03

(1) That is, competitive, demographic, economic, social, and technological conditions.

(2) The Chancellor, in consultation with the college and university presidents, will establish targets for the whole system and individual institutions by the October 2003 Board of Trustees meeting.

(3) This process will include conclusions on decentralizing, regionalizing and/or centralizing well-defined functions between/among the colleges and universities and the Office of the Chancellor.