"We were fortunate to receive 250 nominations in which 227 individuals were nominated," said Busch-Vishniac. "A broad cross-section of the campus community was represented in the nominations, with variety in faculty, staff and students from several different colleges and units. This broad representation has been reflected in the chosen membership of each task force."
Over the course of 2013, two task forces will be responsible for preparing reports that will review all academic programs and support services funded by the university's operating budget simultaneously and equally against criteria that will be developed by the task forces.. The Academic Program Transformation Task Force will set criteria and review all academic programs, and the Support Service Transformation Task Force will set criteria and review the administrative support programs within both academic and administrative units.
Following receipt of the reports of the task forces on November 30, 2013, decisions will be made by the governing bodies of the university beginning in early 2014 to invest resources, make no changes, or eliminate or reduce programs or activities that rank as having lower priority according to the criteria.
"TransformUS will not only assist our university in prioritizing our resources, but also result in putting the programs in place to be among Canada's most distinguished universities," said Busch-Vishniac. "I look forward to seeing the results of the work these task forces will undertake."
TransformUS is targeted to achieve $20-25 million in savings annually once fully implemented. Of this, a minimum of $5 million will be made available for new investment in the highest-ranking academic programs and administrative services.
A complete list of task force members is available online at http://www.usask.ca/finances/project_initiatives/transformus/taskforces.php. For more information and updates throughout the project, please visit www.usask.ca/finances.
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For more information, contact:
Jennifer Robertson, Communications Officer, Institutional Planning and Assessment
(306) 966-7815
jennifer.robertson@usask.ca
U of S president announces TransformUS task forces
Saskatoon - University of Saskatchewan President Ilene Busch-Vishniac today announced the membership of the program prioritization initiative called TransformUS.