President David Skorton and Provost Kent Fuchs addressed a small coterie of students yesterday in Uris Hall, reviewing the general plan of “Reimagining Cornell” while emphasizing the instrumentality of community input in order to move the “reimagining” process forward.

“We need to think forward as a campus,” Skorton said. “We need to be responsible to see that the University has flexibility to fit the aspirations of students.”

The forum was part of a series of five discussions that allow students access to the University’s top administrators in charge of Reimagining Cornell, a broad-reaching introspective project that Skorton and others hope will change and strengthen the face of the University.

Fuchs also spoke to those gathered, and summarized Reimagining Cornell as a three-tiered process. The first aspect regards the hiring of international consulting firm Bain and Company for guidance on how best to save money. Fuchs noted that the consultants are expected to save the University $50 to $100 million.

The next tier regards the 20 task forces recently created, ranging from the seven undergraduate colleges to libraries. The task forces will be looking inward to develop ways of operating more efficiently, either by making cuts or combining certain initiatives.

Any questions?: The President and Provost discuss Reimagining Cornell with students yesterday.

The final tier is perhaps the most dramatic harbinger of change — a “strategic plan” document, expected to be released by May 2010. This document will include new philosophies on how to run the University and on the different roles departments and colleges. The “strategic plan” is expected to be a long term guide for the University as a whole. Fuchs noted that persons writing the document will be thinking outside the box — the ideas of creating new schools or combining current schools have been considered.

“We need to think deeply about [what] we want to achieve in five years, and beyond,” Skorton said.

The key issue precipitating the overhaul of University functions is a $135 million deficit. The endowment, which has declined in value by a little less than one third of what it was before last year’s market crash, is only 40 percent of the budget issue. However, both Skorton and Fuchs noted that the process of balancing the budget is the perfect opportunity to make the University tighter and stronger, and the changes made now will reap even more benefits once the University is out of debt.

The University Board of Trustees gave the administration a three-year timeline to balance the budget. Skorton said this act was crucial in allowing the administration to make deliberate and acute decisions, rather than hastily slashing the budget. Additionally, both Skorton and Fuchs emphasized a desire for continuous discussion and input from students and staff, and hoped for a larger showing at the next forum Oct. 2.

“We get direct input from students, faculty and staff all the time,” Skorton said. “Our interaction right now is really critical.”

The administration hopes to keep the University community updated on “Reimagining Cornell” policies through the regularly updated Web site, presidential statements and additional public forums.

Michael Walsh grad, was one student present with invested interests in Reimagining Cornell. As an elected member of the Board of Trustees, he has faith that plans brought forward to the Board will be equitable and for the benefit of the University.

“It’s certainly the right decision to make at this time,” Walsh said. “I’m confident that the results will be certainly beneficial in taking the University in the right direction.”

Walsh notes that the next trustee meeting is in October, where he expects to see some preliminary plans brought forward.

“We’ll provide feedback in the whole process in October,” Walsh said. “We’ll work on both communicating the process to the student body and communicating the concerns of the student body back to the leadership.”