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A. Revision of the Long-Range Plan
This plan will be reviewed in 2001 and will be revised
biennially thereafter in odd-numbered years. The Board of Governors shall issue
a revised long-range plan in early 2002, prior to preparation of the biennial
budget request for 2003-05. This will ensure close linkage between the
University's planning and budget processes.
Planning at the institutional level will focus upon the
review of the General Academic Mission of the institution (including all of
those elements outlined in Section VII above) together with appropriate further
definitions by the Board of Governors of institutional responsibilities and
assignments, including biennial review of academic degree programs characterized
by low productivity.
In December 2000 the President will provide guidelines and
instructions for the preparation of any proposed amendments to the long-range
plan. After appropriate consultation with the faculty, each chancellor will
submit to the President any proposed revisions in the organization, academic
program offerings, or the mission of the institution for the period 2002-03
through 2007-08. Current planning authorizations and any requests for additional
program planning will need to be reviewed in the light of the General Assembly's
response to the 2001-2003 Biennial Budget Request of the board.
After careful review and evaluation of the institutional
proposals, the President shall present her recommendations to the Board of
Governors' Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs. The
committee shall, in turn, make its report and recommendations to the board, and
the board will take such actions to amend the long-range plan as it may deem
necessary and appropriate.
Each subsequent review will be coordinated with and
supplemented by special planning studies and program evaluations that may be
initiated by the Board of Governors and will be conducted in consultation with
such other agencies, institutions, and organizations as may be required.
B. Planning and Establishing New Programs, Centers and Institutes
Requests for authorization to plan new academic degree
programs may be submitted for review by the President in conjunction with the
biennial revisions of the long-range plan in accordance with the Academic
Program Development
Procedures
. Departure from this schedule may be permitted
when circumstances require greater flexibility than the usual schedule may allow and then only
when authorized by the President.
Requests for authorization to establish new academic degree
programs, which have been previously authorized for planning, may be submitted
to the President at any time and in accordance with the Academic Program
Development Procedures. The preparation and submission of such requests must
involve a rigorous assessment of need and costs.
Requests for authorization to plan or to initiate
degree-related extension programs may be submitted to the President in
accordance with Administrative Memorandum 372.
Requests for authorization to plan or to establish new
centers or institutes may be submitted to the President at any time in
accordance with Administrative Memorandum 373.
C. Conclusion
Effective planning must recognize the importance of
flexibility to respond to changing needs and opportunities. Procedures for the
regular, orderly assessment and adaptation of plans and of missions are
necessary. Nevertheless, the provision of such procedures does not mean that the
institutional missions and objectives declared in this plan are merely
temporary, or casual, and thus lightly or hastily altered. The capacity for
change is essential, but so is a measure of stability and continuity.
This plan reflects not only the current judgment of the
institutions and the Board of Governors, but also the experience that has shaped
the institutions and their programs. In the absence of major and rapid shifts in
circumstances, needs, opportunities, and available resources, it is reasonable
to anticipate that future program changes will be relatively slow and
incremental.
To avoid dilution of the quality of needed existing programs
by the creation of additional ones, the need for new programs must be well
documented, potential costs must be assessed realistically, and current programs
must be evaluated rigorously.
The adoption and implementation of this plan reflect this
two-fold commitment by the Board of Governors: to be responsive to the needs of
the state and its citizens, and to be responsible in the use of the resources
that they make available to the University.
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