Action Project

This project is comprised of three stages: Preparation for Success, Welcome to Campus, and Transition. Stage 1 – Preparation for Success The planning to prepare for a successful transition for the new president began with the search committee’s process which enabled trustees and the campus community to have an open dialogue with the Presidential finalists. The campus visitation schedule for the finalists included small group meetings with faculty, staff, students, community and corporate representatives. The Rose-Hulman campus community was invited to an Open Forum during which each candidate discussed their professional experience, educational philosophy, and opinions about the future of Rose-Hulman. Following those remarks, the finalists answered questions from the audience. The campus community was given the opportunity to express their opinions about each candidate via a confidential computer-based response method. A summary of those comments was presented to the search committee and the trustees. The process provided the campus community with a feeling of ownership in the decision making process. Immediately after the trustees’ made their decision, a communications plan was created to prepare for an announcement of President Jakubowski’s selection as the 13th President of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The following communications goals related to the presidential transition were achieved during activities on March 17, 2006: • Insure that the campus community would be the first group notified of Dr. Jakubowski’s selection. • Invite the campus community to an event during which Dr. Jakubowski and his wife, Lynn, would be introduced. The new president was introduced by Robert Bright, chairman of the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees. Dr. Jakubowski spoke to faculty, staff and students at the event conducted in the Hatfield Hall Theatre. • Provide the campus community with the opportunity to meet the Jakubowskis during a reception immediately following the introduction of the new president. • Following the reception a press conference was conducted for the local media and to and create opportunities for the new president to do telephone interviews with media outside the Terre Haute area. • Coordinate the public announcement with public relations staff at Arizona State University’s main campus in Tempe and the polytechnic campus in Mesa, the campuses where Dr. Jakubowski was hired from. • Telephone calls were made to several key Rose-Hulman benefactors to inform them of Dr. Jakubowski’s appointment in advance of the public notice. • Inform, via e-mail, Rose-Hulman’s 12,000 alumni and several thousand other supporters of the Institute that Dr. Jakubowski had been chosen as the Institute’s new president. • To compliment the March 17 activities, a special web site was created that includes a video of the new President’s comments to employees and students, and his comments at the news conference. In addition, prior to Dr. Jakubowski beginning his presidency on July 1: • The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who was serving as the Institute’s Chief Executive Officer during the 2005-06 academic year served as the chief liaison to work with the new president to insure that Dr. Jakubowski was updated about current campus developments. He was assisted by the vice chair of the Board of Trustees, who served as the chair of the Presidential Search Committee. • The Trustee Chair created a transition team of faculty, staff and trustees to assist the new president. • The new president made several trips to campus prior to his July 1 start date to meet with the chairman, the president’s Cabinet and with key groups, including those involved in the early stages of creating a new strategic plan for the Institute. • The early stage transition process included Dr. Jakubowski attending the May 26, 2006 meeting of the Board of Trustees, and the college’s commencement ceremonies, the following day. He also met prior to his July 1 official starting date with alumni and major donors in the Phoenix, Arizona area, and witnessed Rose-Hulman students participate in a national GM-sponsored competition to create a more energy efficient automobile. Stage 2 – Welcome to Campus: Elements of this stage of the transition process are still under way. The following activities have been completed: • A top priority of the new president has been to visit each academic and administrative office to meet with faculty and staff during his first four months on campus (underway). • Since July 1, he has also met with student leaders, the Rose-Hulman Parent’s Association, Wabash Valley and Indianapolis alumni, new freshmen and their parents, prospective students and their parents, the media, and community leaders during many meetings and special events. He has been very visible at summer campus events and his attendance at campus events has continued with the start of the academic year. • He has traveled to Detroit, Cincinnati and Indianapolis to meet with representatives of corporations who support Rose-Hulman. • Dr. Jakubowski has quickly become involved as a Terre Haute community leader. He has been elected to the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, joined the Terre Haute Rotary Club, and will serve as a volunteer leader for the “Passionate Pink” campaign to support the Race for the Cure to raise funds for breast cancer research (underway). • An estimated 250 local alumni, retired Rose-Hulman employees, community leaders, and parents of former and current students attended a reception for him and his wife on campus Aug. 29. • He hosted an ice cream reception for all employees and students to celebrate Rose-Hulman’s No. 1 ranking for the eighth consecutive year in its educational category in U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges college guide. • Dr. Jakubowski was featured on the cover, and in a three-page story in the July issue of Rose-Hulman’s magazine, Echoes, to introduce him to the 23,000 people who receive the magazine. Stage 3 – Transition This process began quickly and effectively. Encouraging and facilitating input from the Rose-Hulman community is one of the highest priorities of the new president. Activities to solicit feedback from the Rose-Hulman community that have occurred or are under way include: • President Jakubowski conducted a day-long conclave for the Institute Planning Group on August 17. This group consists of 30 members representing faculty and staff. The goals of the meeting were to seek input to complete phase two of the beginning of an Institute strategic planning process, determine how to organize phase three of the process, discuss current issues and trends in undergraduate engineering, mathematics and science education, and begin a discussion about future campus facility and technology needs. • A summary of this group’s work is being prepared for distribution to the entire campus community to seek their input about the status of the planning process and future goals (underway). • The new president has continued the weekly President’s Administrative Council meetings which involve academic and administrative department heads, other supervisors and the president of the student body. Each person has the opportunity to give a brief report and/or ask the president questions at the meeting. The reports are compiled into a newsletter that is sent to all employees within 36 hours after the meeting (underway). • The President’s Cabinet meets with Dr. Jakubowski weekly and in weekly one-on-one sessions. The Cabinet consists of the vice presidents for academic affairs, development, public relations and alumni affairs, admissions and financial aid, student affairs, and administration and business affairs (underway). • The President has an open door policy and has encouraged faculty, staff and students to visit him in his office (underway).

Your institution demonstrates a dedication to continuously advance itself through its project for developing a process for presidential transition. Evidence of reasonable progress toward accomplishment of overall goals is evident. Efforts to prepare for success and welcome the president aboard exist. Progress on the implementation and sustainability of this project is well-established. Continuous quality improvement relies on incremental change and progress. Capitalize on the processes that have been organized for this project that were successful in Stages 1 and 2, identifying the changing needs of your students as you work through your challenges and plan for future progress in Stage 3.

The President’s Cabinet and the President’s numerous meetings with individual department heads is providing to be an effective monitoring system to provide feedback to and from the new President. The President’s Administrative Council meetings and the monthly faculty meetings are also effectively creating a useful dialogue involving the President and the campus community. Dr. Jakubowski has already shown that he greatly values everyone’s opinions and seeks input from all constituents.

Clearly the cabinet-level participation in this project demonstrates your institution’s support for a quality data-driven culture. This is a strong culture of support for identifying the role the presidential transition process plays in planning continuous institutional improvement. The institution is making progress in providing opportunities for presidential success.

This report includes activities occurring during the first two months of the six month transition period outlined in the Action Project. Plans for the next four months have been developed or are still being finalized. These include: • Feature the new President at Homecoming (Oct. 6-7) events. • Conduct a successful fall meeting of the Board of Trustees (Oct. 5). • Facilitate the President chairing monthly meetings of the Institute’s faculty and professional staff. • Continue to involve the campus community in the strategic planning process. • Continue to encourage the President to keep an aggressive schedule that includes participating in as many campus events and meetings as possible. • Host receptions for the President in the 15 cities nationwide where the largest concentration of alumni are located. • Continue to set up opportunities for the new President to meet major donors and corporate officials who are vital to Rose-Hulman’s continued success. • Facilitate the President hosting a luncheon and program for Indianapolis business leaders on Nov. 1. • Facilitate the President hosting nearly 300 members of area service clubs at a luncheon Nov. 21 on campus.

Institutions, such as yours, that are dedicated to improving and supporting continuous institutional improvement demonstrate the importance of a systems-dependent culture. Your institution has developed good planning and implementation processes and is making progress on this important project.

None to report.

The Presidential Transition project has gone well, and we anticipate no major challenges in completing it. We are extending the length of the Action Project for another 6 months.