Daily Bulletin, Wednesday, March 23, 1994

IT'S DEFINITELY SPRING:  In fact, it's been so pleasant that Marlene
Bechtold, of the Germanic and Slavic department, says she saw the first
outdoor class meeting of the year yesterday.  "It's like spotting the
first robin!" she chirps.

PLANNING FOR PLANNING:  The president and provost are proposing a
"commission" to write a mission statement and plan for UW.  Here's the
proposal they will bring to the long-range planning committee at its
meeting this afternoon (3 p.m., Needles Hall 3004):

	The last academic plan for the University of Waterloo was
	published in 1987 as "The Fourth Decade Report." Not only has
	the pace of change quickened since then but the directions of
	change, especially of late, have been oblique, abrupt, and
	unsettling. While it may have been reasonable in the more
	stable economic environment of earlier decades to have a
	ten-year plan, it is no disrespect to those who prepared the
	Fourth Decade Report to suggest that the time has come again to
	re-examine our ends and means as a university.  Beginning
	immediately therefore it is proposed that the Senate Long Range
	Planning Committee institute a process which will lead to a new
	plan for institutional development by December of 1995.

	Step I: Commission on Institutional Planning. A commission on
	institutional planning will be established, chaired by the
	Provost, and appointed by the President in consultation with
	Senate Long Range Planning Committee, employee and student
	associations, and the executive of the National Alumni Council.
	The Commission will make periodic reports to the SLRPC, which
	shall monitor its progress.

	Step II: Mission Statement. The first task of the Commission
	will be the reformulation of a mission statement for the
	University. A mission statement should distil in as few words
	as possible the essential character and aspiration of an
	institution. It must be general enough not to exclude any
	essential element of the institution; it must be particular
	enough to provide direction for the drawing of plans and the
	setting of priorities. Mission-statement making is not just an
	exercise in wordsmithing; it is the articulating of an
	institution's essence as it is felt and understood by the
	people who constitute that institution. For a university, this
	means faculty, staff, and students, but dedicated alumni and
	friends also. Consultation therefore with representative
	individuals and groups is essential.

	When consultation is completed, the Commission will propose a
	mission statement to SLRPC for discussion and presentation to
	Senate and the Board for approval.

	Step III: Draft Plan. While research, data-gathering, and the
	preparation of discussion papers will go on during the summer,
	the Commission will begin meetings and consultations in earnest
	in September, with the intention of producing by January 1995 a
	comprehensive white paper on institutional objectives,
	strategies for achieving those objectives, and performance
	indicators by which progress may be measured.  Topics on which
	the white paper will provide commentary, analysis, and
	recommendations include:  undergraduate education; graduate
	education; distance education; teaching; research; conducting
	program reviews; setting program priorities; enrolment and
	recruitment strategy; recruitment and support of faculty,
	staff, and administrators; integrating and rationalizing
	programs, courses, and services with church colleges and other
	universities; academic governance; infrastructure (including
	library, instructional equipment, information technology, space
	and capital); campus development; resource allocation;
	accountability.

	In preparing the paper the Commission will take account of
	planning exercises taking place at the faculty and departmental
	level, so that the process is both iterative and interactive: a
	confluence of top-down and bottom-up planning.

	Step IV: Institutional Plan. The white paper (or draft plan)
	will be widely distributed and discussed in the university
	during the winter term 1995. By September a revised
	institutional plan will be ready for presentation to the Senate
	Long Range Planning Committee for review before going on to the
	Senate and the Board. When approved, the plan will form the
	framework within which faculties and departments will establish
	priorities and develop local plans.

NATURAL BEAUTY: "All graduate students are invited," says Alex Lopez-Ortiz
of the Graduate Student Association, "to the video presentation of the 
natural beauties of Egypt and the newly formed Slovenia. This is also an 
opportunity to meet grad students from other departments, have a chat, and 
eat some snacks and pizza." The party starts at 6 tonight on the second
floor of the Graduate House.

AGAINST CANCER: The Math Society is sponsoring a Loonie Drive to raise money 
for the Cancer Society.  Dollar coins will be collected outside the coffee
and doughnut shop on the third floor of Math and Computer today from 9:30
to 1 p.m. Says Gordon Schmidt of MathSoc: "The Math Society has challenged 
the math staff and faculty to try to out-raise the math undergraduate
population."

Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
888-4567 ext. 3004      credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca