Three things I want you to know ...
Our investment priorities are clear: We are determined to invest at a level that will sustain our excellence, and grow the university in targeted areas. First, we are committed to attracting and retaining talented faculty and staff. Second, we will devote the resources necessary to fully implement the five-year strategic plan, when the Strategic Planning Steering Committee finishes its work next summer. And third, we will increase merit- and need-based scholarships to attract top students and increase access to Miami. This is how we will secure Miami’s future.
These opportunities come with challenges: As I talked about during my annual address in October, we are operating from a position of relative strength, thanks to the wise choices of the last decade. Great organizations are not immune to the volatility and competitiveness of the higher education landscape, but great organizations plan and position themselves accordingly – and are willing to make choices to sustain their success. The reality is that our expenses are growing faster than our revenue. While we will invest in the strategic priorities I outlined above, we must reduce spending in some areas during the next several years to enable us to grow more in the future. With this in mind, I have asked campus leadership to develop a five-year budget plan that responds to these issues and solidifies our commitment to competitive compensation for faculty and staff, initiatives arising from the strategic plan, and increasing scholarship support to our students.
You will hear more about these plans as they develop from your deans, department chairs, or divisional leaders. I will update the community early in the spring semester. I am optimistic that our targeted investments will propel us to future success. These targeted investments will include high-demand graduate and undergraduate programs, including the health sciences, data & analytics, and programs emphasizing entrepreneurship and innovation. Proposals in these areas have been selected for the full-proposal stage of Boldly Creative. These investments will require careful planning, and I am convinced that this is the responsible, forward-looking and mission-based direction for Miami to take.
Planning for growth on the Oxford campus: Part of any responsible planning will include facilities to enable potential growth and academic innovations. To that end, I have appointed a group to study the feasibility of potential sites for any new buildings on the Oxford campus. We are far from any decisions on specific programming, but we must be prepared should the opportunity arise. Our Finance & Business Services division is leading the planning efforts, in partnership with Academic Affairs and the Strategic Planning Committee.
Our mission has not changed. We will continue to invest in our strengths of academic excellence and undergraduate experience, preparing our students for leadership in their careers and civic lives. We will provide unparalleled research and experiential learning opportunities, with select post-graduate programs. We will never waver in fulfilling these commitments.
