The College of William and Mary Board of Visitors’ Committee on Strategic Initiatives and New Ventures met Friday morning to discuss their strategies for sustaining the College’s stature as a top-ranked liberal arts university.
Vice President of the Committee James R. Golden and Provost Michael R. Halleran presented the committee’s ongoing goals as well as past accomplishments and future endeavors.
“Our single biggest challenge is how do you continue to offer a uniquely excellent, quality type of education under the current budget situation? And I don’t mean current in terms of, this is a blip,” Halleran said. “This is obviously now the new normal. How do we do that? And it is that multi-pronged approach of philanthropy, productivity, and yes, enhanced revenues.”
Golden spoke briefly about the BOV’s recent successes.
“The committee’s title has been changed this year to include new ventures. We’ve had a lot of new ventures that have been under way over the last several years, and one of those is the new Army MBA program in the school of business … we also have the new joint program with St. Andrews,” Golden said.
Much of the discussion centered on the College’s potential new ventures in the coming year.
“I think we’ve been encouraged to look particularly in the E-learning area and see what the possibilities might be there. We also have another major new venture that is under way right now, exploring a potential partnership with the Eastern Virginia Medical School, and that will take up a good deal of our time over the course of the fall,” Golden said.
This potential partnership spurred the first real debate among committee members.
“This is only going to happen if it’s good for the College, and that’s my concern. Is it good for EVMS? Is it good for the commonwealth?” Halleran asked of the committee.
The committee is currently seeking a consultant to assist with this process and will submit an interim assessment of the EVMS situation to College President Taylor Reveley Oct. 15th.