Launching the blog

A central job of the president is communicating institutional strategy and successes to external stakeholders. I also recognize that you, our internal community, are busy people with many responsibilities and may not always feel up to date on University efforts. Yet, your awareness and participation are critical to our University’s success.

For these reasons, I am pleased to launch a new blog, The President’s Notebook. Here, I will discuss the latest progress and developments on work to support our North Star vision and strategic framework, along with the challenges we continue to face together. I am hopeful that this blog will provide greater awareness about various activities across our University, while encouraging all of us to bring our ideas forward, as our University adjusts to a new moment in higher education. Throughout, I will strive to show examples of the work and progress by individuals and teams across this campus who are working towards shared goals.

Certainly, this moment is a challenging one. Higher education faces a changing federal research funding environment; increasing costs coupled with drops in enrollment, especially in graduate programs; new federal policies affecting international students and scholars; and a growing public distrust in our sector and in the value of a college degree. There is no shortage of problems nor places to read about them.

Of course, the challenges that face higher education also affect Boston University in specific ways. This space is where you can learn about our community and how we are approaching the current moment.

These times call on us to think in new and different ways: to transform ourselves into something even greater. It is a time of opportunity, though it will not be easy to achieve. Charting Our Future describes strategic pillars focused on: distinguishing ourselves intellectually and academically; the success of our people; and external engagement, locally and globally. A commitment to operational excellence undergirds all of it. If we do not upgrade our operations, we risk losing ground on our core mission: excellence in research, scholarship, teaching, learning, creative expression, and clinical care. If we wish to be a global destination for field-defining research, scholarship, and education, we must reduce the duplication, bureaucracy, and delays that impede our success.

These efforts have already begun. Through administrative transformation, we are becoming more efficient and better at serving our students. In collaboration with the schools and colleges, we are advancing our budget systems and processes, enabling agility and long-term planning. A focus on operations also means that we will create new revenue sources and sustainable models for delivering on our commitment to our campus community and society.

At the same time, we are hard at work on instituting a campus framework for the future. Thousands of you have contributed your ideas to our 25-year road map for how the University’s land, spaces, and facilities can evolve in a logical sequence to better support teaching, research, student life, and community. This project will create a more connected and inspiring campus environment for generations to come.

As we find new opportunities today to ensure our excellence for tomorrow, you, our campus community, will be fundamental to our success. I look forward to continuing to engage with you on this work, and to share the latest, here on the blog.

Sincerely,
President Gilliam

University leaders welcome you to share your ideas for how we can shape the future of BU together. On October 8, we will present the Annual Presidential Address, to celebrate how people across Boston University are already turning their ideas into action.