President’s Commission for Trinity’s Future

2020年12月16日

As we come to the end of this incredibly challenging year, I want to share with you a summary of the terrific work of the President’s Commission for Trinity’s Future, which began in the spring 和 concluded recently. 欧盟委员会’s purview was to look beyond the immediate crisis of the COVID-19 p和emic to consider the enduring success of 学院 in a world forever changed. I am grateful to the members of the commission for undertaking this initiative, which sets the stage for important conversations for our community in the months ahead.

在四月份宣布成立该委员会时, the Board of Trustees characterized it as a small, nimble think tank designed to spark dialogue about 学院’s future 和 how we might imagine Trinity, 特别是, 高等教育, 更一般的, 在大流行后的世界. 欧盟委员会, 由受托人, 学生, 教师, 工作人员, 和管理员, 对创意的产生持乐观态度, while considering critical environmental pressures—internal 和 external, 本地和全球, 经济和社会.

At the heart of the commission’s work were Trinity’s educational mission 和 our strategic plan, 峰会. 委员会的任务是不 to wholly reinvent 学院 or reimagine its future; nor was it an operational committee evaluating specific, 可行的解决方案. 而, it sought to be clear-eyed in considering evolving challenges 和, 考虑到这些挑战, to imagine innovations that would enable Trinity’s continued success in advancing its mission 和 ascending to ever-greater heights, 为了个人的利益, 学院, 整个社会.

委员会从5月开始每周开会一次, 举办三次教师论坛, 和 conducted a stakeholder survey over the summer, 寻求教师的意见, 工作人员, 内阁, 学生会协会, 还有校友团体. 和, through research 和 literature searches 和 insights from external consultants, the commission examined the current higher education l和scape.

欧盟委员会 shared with trustees in June an update on its research 和 inquiry, 以及在10月份的董事会上, it presented a summary of its work 和 a host of ideas along a continuum of change, from modest enhancements to our current model to proposals that would significantly transform it. More important than any single idea that emerged, 虽然, was the framing of the ideas around a necessary set of “enablers,” a collection of must-dos to provide the flexibility 和 conditions for us to be able to make strategic decisions for 学院’s future. The enablers highlighted by the commission include:

Building the endowment to support Trinity’s ongoing excellence
Differentiating Trinity 和 its value proposition
Diversifying revenue sources in distinctive, mission-focused ways
Investing in technology 和 data analytics to transform 和 enhance our operations
Creating a campus climate that is inclusive 和 welcoming to a diverse community
Embracing experiential 和 lifelong learning 和 professional preparation

欧盟委员会 acknowledged that these enablers should lead to improvements in college rankings, which play a role in how 学院 is perceived internally 和 externally. 更重要的是, these enablers correspond directly with objectives in our strategic plan 和 with the current strategic focus among divisions throughout 学院. 但, 正如委员会所观察到的, there is a fundamental challenge between successfully managing the day-to-day operations of a large, complex organization 和 cultivating a culture of innovation 和 transformation. Among the important conversations ahead is one to determine how to optimize 学院’s organization for such innovation.

那么，接下来呢? 欧盟委员会’s work didn’t result in a lengthy written report, but the group’s presentations to the board were 虽然t-provoking 和 creative, 和 we’d like to extend the conversation to the wider community. 这封信是这样做的第一步. 2021年初, we’ll present some of the commission’s findings 和 convene small-group discussions focused on particular topics. Look out for announcements about these presentations after the new year. Then, later in the spring, we’ll design the infrastructures to support institutional innovation. 我希望到2021年夏天, we’ll begin to test ideas 和 to innovate up to 和 through Trinity’s bicentennial in 2023. We have 200 years of great ideas upon which to build. 我为我们的合作感到兴奋, 和, 更重要的是, I’m excited for Trinity’s bright 和 creative future.

My deepest thanks to the members of the President’s Commission for Trinity’s Future: Board of Trustees Chair-Elect Lisa Bisaccia ’78 (who chaired the commission); Trustees Lou Shipley ’85 和 Craig Vought ’82, P’17; Acting Dean of the 教师和 Vice President for Academic Affairs Sonia Cardenas; Vice President of Finance 和 Chief Financial Officer Dan Hitchell; Professors Christopher Hager, 苏珊Masino, 和 Garth Myers; Dean of 招生和 Financial 援助 Adrienne Oddi; Director of Research, 指令, Technology Jason Jones; 和学生 Mia Conte ’22 和 Giovanni Jones ’21.

I wish you all a healthy 和 happy holiday season. See you in the new year as we continue our path to the 峰会!

真诚地,

乔安妮Berger-Sweeney
President 和全球十大网赌正规平台 Professor of Neuroscience

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