Pauline Melis, assistant provost of institutional planning and assessment, said changing the time frame of the plan, called Promise and Potential, has been a point of discussion for some time, the options being wrapping it up early, leaving it as a four-year cycle or adding an additional year. "Where PCIP landed was they wanted the opportunity to give the third integrated plan (IP3) the best chance to be successful and to allow some connections between the plan and TransformUS," she said.
The development of IP3 coincided with the arrival of Ilene Busch-Vishniac in the president's office, said Melis, and with the identification of a projected $44.5 million deficit by 2016 if no changes were made. "We said at the beginning we would only start a few of the projects identified in the plan so the new president could have some influence over the process and now, more time is needed to accomplish what we set out to do."
There will be connections between the TransformUS implementation plan and the objectives of IP3, she said, "and from a planning perspective, we need time to figure out all of the implications. There are lot of moving parts and we need to catch our breath."
Without the one-year extension, "we would now be turning our attention to the next plan and the multi-year budget framework," Melis said, which would have been presented to Council and the Board of Governors for approval in the spring of 2016. That timeframe now stretches to early 2017.
Melis said moving toward 2015, PCIP and her planning office will finalize the planning expectations for colleges, schools and administrative units for the fourth plan. She added all future integrated plans will likely extend over five years rather than four.
"In the university environment, four years is a very small window to accomplish all of the initiatives we identify as important to the institution."
IP3 extended by one year
With so much left to accomplish and an agenda dominated by TransformUS, the prioritizing of academic and service programs, the Provost’s Committee on Integrated Planning (PCIP) has made the decision to extend the University of Saskatchewan’s current integrated plan by one year, to 2017.