FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY | Seeking Feedback on Our Future

After close to eight months of work, the Provost’s Committee on the Future of the American University released a set of preliminary documents this week that articulate core principles and emerging understandings that are meant to guide a broader community conversation about Cornell University’s path forward. We now look to you, the Cornell community, to let us know where you agree and disagree.

Our committee was launched by Provost Kavita Bala with the charge of envisioning the future of Cornell as an American university by better understanding three overarching pressures: the rapid pace of technological change, including artificial intelligence; the shift in the longstanding relationship between the federal government and universities; and the erosion of public trust in higher education.

The purpose of our analysis is to provide an aspirational direction for Cornell that will secure a thriving future and help us to reimagine the core missions of the University in ways that position us for continued relevance and success. Reimagining our future is, at its core, a collective endeavor. It requires robust dialogue and input from across the University and from those outside it who engage with, depend on and sometimes critique higher education.

From the outset, one of the committee’s central priorities was to leverage our mandate to foster a deep and wide-ranging conversation — both within and beyond the Cornell community. Hearing from many of you about our path forward as a University has been one of the most rewarding parts of our work. We are grateful for the tremendous participation in our events, meetings and activities thus far. 

We have held more than 200 events, meetings and convenings, reaching over 2,200 individuals. We met with representatives of all internal groups — staff, students, faculty, alumni and trustees — and we engaged the University assemblies for each constituency. We also met extensively with stakeholders outside Cornell. Drawing on what we heard across our many conversations, as well as on extensive committee deliberations, we set forth several core principles and next steps that we hope will generate deep discussions about our purpose, how to fulfil this purpose and the ways in which we need to adapt to tremendous and longstanding pressures.

These preliminary frameworks are grounded in this broad and rich set of conversations. The ideas we are putting forward are informed by and anchored in what we heard in the months since we began our work. Our process was designed to surface aspirational principles and next steps unencumbered by traditional constraints, challenges and bureaucratic barriers. 

At this stage, we are again seeking deep engagement with the University community — to get feedback on the principles we are advancing and the broad strategy we are proposing. Our work is part of a broader effort to set a strategic direction for the University that positions Cornell to not only weather the current storms in higher education but to thrive and fulfill our core missions in the decades to come. Faculty and staff are invited to join committee members at a series of town hall meetings to learn more.

This summer, the committee will produce a full report incorporating your feedback and addressing a wider set of cross-cutting issues in addition to the University missions. That report will serve as the foundation for a new committee launching in the fall, Shaping Our Future, which will focus on moving from principles to strategic planning and will include representation from stakeholders across the Cornell community.

As we near the end of the Spring semester and begin preparing for our work on the final draft, we have one ask — join us and bring your input and perspective to this critical conversation. Feedback can be submitted online or to fau@cornell.edu. 

---