Memo from the President - September 5, 2012

Date: September 5, 2012
To: FIT Community
From: Dr. Joyce F. Brown, President
Subject:Planning Council Update

I write to provide you with updated information on the Planning Council---the recently formed FIT committee---whose charge is twofold: first, to revisit and refresh the colleges seven year old strategic plan, 2020: Bringing the Future into Focus; second, to review the colleges mission statement ---last revised in 2001---to see how it aligns with today's FIT and with our strategic goals.

As I mentioned at our Fall convocation and in earlier communications as well, the process we expect to use is similar in concept and kind to the one we used to develop the original strategic plan---one that values all voices and seeks a common consensus. The Planning Council , which held its initial meeting in May, is made up of a representative cross-section of the entire college. We will hold roundtables, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and dinner dialogues. There will be subcommittees. We will reach out to industry, members of our advisory boards and all other relevant external constituencies. Updates on our activities and progress will be sent out to the community on a regular basis. We expect the entire process to be completed by the end of the 2012-2013 academic year.

To help guide us, we have engaged Anthony Knerr & Associates, a consulting firm whose specialty is strategic planning and problem solving for non-profit organizations and whose clients include a wide range of higher education institutions. Some of you already know Mr. Knerr or his associate John Braunstein since they not only spent the summer interviewing members of our community, but we also used their services in developing the Report Card. Others of you will come to know them over the next year in their role as facilitators for this initiative.

We will hold the Planning Councils next meeting in late September after which a final schedule for the year will be established.

The members joining me on the Planning Council are:

Robin Burns-McNeill
FIT Board of Trustees

Deirdre Quinn
FIT Board of Trustees

Jill Granoff
FIT Foundation Board of Directors

Giacomo Oliva
Vice President, Academic Affairs

Sherry Brabham
Treasurer and Vice President, Administration and Finance

Gregg Chottiner
Vice President, Information Technology and CIO

Joanne Arbuckle
Dean, School of Art and Design

Mary Davis
Dean, School of Graduate Studies

Steven Frumkin
Dean, Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology

Kelly Brennan
Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Services, Enrollment Management and Student Success

Melanie Reim
Chair, Illustration MFA
Associate Professor, Illustration
School of Graduate Studies
School of Art and Design

Yasemin Celik Levine
Chair, Social Science
Associate Professor, Political Science and World Affairs
School of Liberal Arts

Roberta Elins
President, UCE of FIT
Professor, Advertising and Marketing Communications
Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology

Ellen Goldstein
Professor, Accessories Design
School of Art and Design

James Cascaito
President, Faculty Senate
Chair, Department of Foreign Languages
Professor, Italian

Anubhuti Swarup
FITSA President

James Pearce
Digital Media Coordinator/Staff
Technology Development Team
Information Technology

Brian Fallon
Director, Writing Studio

Arthur Brown (Resource)
Vice President, Human Resource Management and Labor Relations

Shari Prussin (ex-officio and staff to the council)
Deputy to the President for Strategic Initiatives and Executive Assistant to the President

We expect to appoint an alumnus representative as well.

I look forward with great enthusiasm to your many contributions as we work together in the coming year to re-think FIT's future through a refreshed strategic plan.