News from the Trustees' June Retreat: Board Approves Five-Year Strategic Plan

Dear Campus Community,

The Ithaca College Board of Trustees met for a two-day retreat from June 19-20, during which time we voted unanimously to approve the college’s five-year strategic plan.

We are proud to endorse and support the strategic plan, and we applaud the collaborative process within our community that produced it, specifically the terrific leadership provided by Provost La Jerne Terry Cornish and Professor Jason Freitag, steering committee co-chairs. We acknowledge that while this plan provides the strategic framework for the college over the next five years, it will require additional collaborative work to analyze and make challenging choices and decisions. Trustees stand ready to support President Collado, the senior leadership team, and the campus community as we move into the implementation process. This is an exciting time to be a part of the Ithaca College family, and we look forward to working with all of you to create an impactful and sustainable legacy.

Trustees spent the first day of our retreat immersed in conversations and presentations regarding next steps related to the strategic plan. We heard from Vice President for Finance and Administration Bill Guerrero and Provost Cornish about some of their preliminary thinking around implementation. We also worked with consultant Susan Baldridge to discuss how colleges can take transformational leaps forward and how trustees can best support those transformations.

During our second day, trustees engaged in two exercises that built our capacity around the faculty experience and financial aid. Brad Hougham, associate professor of performance studies and incoming associate provost for faculty affairs, led an in-depth discussion about the key milestones in a faculty member’s career at IC. Nicole Eversley Bradwell, interim Vice President for Enrollment Management and Director of Admission, delivered a detailed, real-time exercise around the mechanics of our financial aid model.

The board was happy to welcome new trustee Kathy Newlands ’89 for her first board meeting. We also had an opportunity to meet the college’s incoming Vice President for Marketing and Enrollment Strategy, Laurie Koehler, and welcome her to the IC community.

The board will meet next this fall, from Wednesday, October 23, through Friday, October 25, 2019, in Ithaca.

Sincerely,

David H. Lissy ’87
Chair, Ithaca College Board of Trustees