Robert Barker/University Photography

Provost Kent Fuchs announced Nov. 6 he will release the recommendations of strategic plan task forces. He will also moderate a series of panel discussions at which he and other key administrators and faculty will discuss ideas for Cornell's strategic plan.

On Nov. 6 Provost Kent Fuchs released the 20 strategic plan task force reports that recommend ways the university could restructure yet strengthen its activities and balance its budget. Summaries are posted online, and full reports are available for reading only in the Office of the Dean of Faculty, 315 Day Hall.

Starting Nov. 18, Fuchs will moderate six public discussions on recommendations that affect the university as a whole. "As we consider what actions we might decide to take, I want to continue the conversations that began within each task force by making the substance of these reports available more broadly to the Cornell community," Fuchs said. "The discussions will provide an opportunity for clarification of ideas presented in the six reports as well as a forum for providing input."

The discussions and their focuses are:

Fuchs also invited comments by e-mail to reimagingcornell@cornell.edu. "I welcome your participation and input," he said.

Details on a series of informal brown-bag lunches with key administrators, as well as public conversations about the other 14 task force summaries, will soon be listed on the strategic planning Web site, http://www.cornell.edu/reimagining/. The first lunch will take place Nov. 12, noon-1 p.m., at Duffield Hall's Atrium, with Harris and Murphy.

After this period of campus discussion, Fuchs will share his responses to select recommendations.

The conversations are the latest steps in a strategic planning process that stretches back to January, when the university was facing a projected $215 million annual deficit by 2015 if it took no action; that figure represented about 10 percent of the Ithaca campus budget. In February, Fuchs unveiled the strategic planning process and its two goals: to balance the university's budget and create a roadmap for Cornell's future through 2015.

The strategic planning process, by then dubbed "Reimagining Cornell," began in earnest in June. Fuchs formed 20 task forces -- 14, one for each college and school, and six on such cross-college issues as Cornell's budget model -- to recommend ways to reorganize and strengthen Cornell's academics with fewer resources. The task forces submitted their final recommendations to Fuchs and President David Skorton in October.