Members of the MIT community will have the opportunity to discuss the proposals of the Institute-wide Planning Task Force at several public events in the coming weeks.
The task force's preliminary report, released last month, contains more than 200 ideas aimed at strengthening MIT by cutting costs and boosting revenues. Community members can read the report online, where they are also encouraged to leave feedback via the updated Idea Bank.
Beginning this week, members of the community can also learn more about the proposals in person.
Chair of the Faculty Thomas A. Kochan and the task force are sponsoring a pair of community forums that will feature an introduction from one of the task force co-chairs, an overview of the preliminary report and a facilitated discussion. The first forum will run from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 in 10-250 and the second will take place from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 in 32-155.
The task force's preliminary report will also be discussed at other campus events in the coming weeks. More details will be made available soon.
Set up in response to the decline in revenues as a result of the global economic crisis, the task force was charged with exploring ways to help reduce MIT's expenses by $50 million to $100 million beginning in the 2011 fiscal year. These cuts would be in addition to the $50 million in expense reductions already underway for FY 2010.
The task force comprises approximately 200 faculty, staff and students, and is coordinated by Vice Chancellor & Dean for Graduate Education Steven R. Lerman, Associate Provost Martin A. Schmidt and Vice President for Finance Israel Ruiz.
The preliminary report delivered by the task force contains some ideas that are sufficiently developed and are being implemented this fall; others will take months or years to evaluate and will require extensive consultation with the many faculty, student and staff committees that are the foundation of the Institute's culture of shared governance.
The task force will accept feedback on the preliminary report through the early fall and is scheduled to deliver a final report around Oct. 30.
