Priority Areas & Immediate Actions

The goal of the first 125 days is to make changes that can spur our belief that we can create a longer range strategic plan that is tied to mission, positions our university to be the model showing the true value of higher education in our society, and connects to Chicago’s work to re-establish itself economically, and culturally in the upcoming years.

The information below details the immediate actions that I will take to jumpstart our work to define our future path. It also shows the initiatives we will begin to connect to long-range planning for the university.

125-Day Priority Areas

Shared Governance

• Establish Presidential Fellows on shared governance. Work with the Faculty Council and the Executive Vice President/Provost to create projects of importance to the university.
• Respond to the five motions passed by the Council of the Whole and continue to work with the Faculty Council on the development of a joint vision for the university.
• Begin the redesign process of the Strategic Resource Allocation Committee, known as SRAC, working with the Executive Vice President of Finance, Executive Vice President and Provost, Faculty Council, and the President’s Office.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Elevate our Diversity Fellows back into the President’s Office.
• Convene a summit for all people who work on DEI in the university to share ideas that will inform the university’s strategic plan and define the changes needed in this area.

People and Community

• Establish inclusive and cross-university teams to complete the development of a new digital/ web presence for the university that:
  
• Showcases faculty expertise and student experience, authentically and directly.
• Streamlines administrative functions to increase efficiency, and connect our community.
• Establishes DePaul as a meaningful support to the organizations in Chicago, as they plan for the economic and cultural reemergence of the city.
• Reorganize our Community and Government Relations functions into the Office of the President.
• Address the trends seen from the university climate survey in every division and college.
• Coordinate a work re-engagement plan to provide some clarity to our work-life balance questions.

Philanthropy

• Commit to a definition of our advancement efforts that connect to our distinctive academic projects - extending capacity more directly into academic work - and re-connecting our academic and advancements functions at the university.
• Recruit and hire a Senior Vice President/ Chief Advancement Officer.

Mission

• Imagine the extension of our mission to the current realities in our environment.
• Showcase our mission and Catholic, Vincentian heritage as a lived reality through the new digital/web presence project.

Academic Distinction

• Connect our academic research, staff projects and programs, and funding priorities to the new SRAC redesign process. Develop longer range plans for merit, program design, and hiring practices throughout the university.
• Create a strategy to develop support in connecting our interdisciplinary work from around the university.

Designing the Future

• Celebrate the accomplishments achieved under the current strategic plan.
• Develop the framework for creating the university-wide strategic plan in the next 125 days. Be organizationally ready to start our planning work by January, 2023.