Environmental Scan

Task Force Members

Preliminary List of Issues by Category

Minutes of January 30, 2007 Task Force Meeting
Minutes of February 22, 2007 Task Force Meeting

Charge

MU exists in an extraordinarily complicated and volatile environment, as do all major research universities. Our mission is very complex; our stakeholders are varied, posing very different, even contradictory, demands on the University. Not only do the many different elements of the environment change continuously, but entirely new dimensions emerge from time to time. For these reasons, the environmental scan cannot be done in an entirely structured, "by the numbers" way, but must draw on the collective knowledge of a variety of people with particular knowledge bases and interests, including areas as diverse as federal science and science-funding policies, the state political dynamics, the changing legal and regulatory environment, economic and demographic conditions, security issues, disciplinary developments, and changes in the broad world of higher education .

The outcome of the process should include:

• A statement/paper that describes the environment and identifies significant issues,
• A summary of the last environmental scan and a statement of the major differences as compared to the current Scan,
• An assessment of major trends,
• Identification of major threats and opportunities,
• In an appendix, recommendations about a set of "dashboard" measures that can be used to continuously monitor key elements of the environment,
• A discussion of the dimensions of the scan - a preliminary list to start this discussion may include
• Economy
• Political Climate - in the state, nation, and world, research funding, re-authorization (Spellings Commission)
• Competition - local, state, out of state, national, rankings, for profit and near for profit, non-traditional, emerging competitors
• Demographics (decline in college age population)
• Faculty Issues - age, turnover, retirements, compensation, benefits
• Mission creep

The Task Force is charged to use a process that includes the following.

Fall 2006

• Recommend the major dimensions of the environment for purposes of organizing the study and collecting data,
• Discuss guidelines for getting expert input on each dimension.

• Seek input for each dimension from interested and informed stakeholders,
• Using the background input, discuss an outline for the scan.

• Write the Environmental Scan document (perhaps 20 pages); to be done by Provost's Staff,
• Recommend the final document to SPRAC and to the Provost and Chancellor by May 1, 2007.