The university’s Vision in Action (VIA) Strategic Plan Update Committee will hold its second town hall meeting today in order to inform and gain feedback from students and faculty about the committee’s work.

Provost Nowell Donovan said the meetings, the first of which was held Monday, were intended to get people talking about the VIA and ways to improve the campus.

“The main part of a provost’s job is to listen and formulate solutions,” Donovan said. “It’s meant to help faculty and students and the administration; it’s meant to help everyone just do a better job.”

Chancellor Victor Boschini created the committee in December 2009 to “review, refresh and revitalize” the last five years of the VIA plan.

The meeting will start with a 15-minute introduction by Donovan, followed by five approximately 80-minute sessions that will discuss each one of the five cardinal principles from the original VIA plan. Issues discussed Monday included student parking, updating and expanding campus technology, the university budget, scholarships, enriching the student experience and developing a more personal relationship between the university and Fort Worth.

Mary Patton, dean of the College of Education, will serve as facilitator for the meetings. Patton said she thought students should care about their campus and get involved through such organizations as student government.

“Your voice to the chancellor is through student government,” Patton said, “I would think that students should use their [SGA] president because he is at every event that I’m at.”

Senior social work major Sarah Strehl, who attended Monday’s meeting, said the small group sessions allowed her and others to share their opinions.

“I feel like being able to talk about a problem that we have…been complaining about for a really long time to someone other than our peers and our professor in class was really helpful,” Strehl said.

According to the VIA website, the initiative is a strategic planning effort that began in 2003 to allow faculty, staff, trustees, alumni and students to create a vision for the university’s future.

The final document with changes to the VIA’s principles will be available in November for student and faculty access.

Vision in Action cardinal goals

No. 1: Recruit and retain students, faculty and staff who can achieve their full potential at TCU.

No. 2: Design a vibrant learning community characterized by distinctive curricular, co-curricular and residential programs.

No. 3: Sustain an environment in which rich personal interaction is enhanced by outstanding facilities and appropriate technology.

No. 4: Accelerate the university’s connection with the greater community 8212; Fort Worth, Texas, the nation and the world.

No. 5: Couple wise financial stewardship with a well-planned entrepreneurial approach to academic opportunities.

Vision in Action Strategic Plan Update Committee town hall meeting

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today

Where: Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom

The committee will meet with students and faculty to discuss the progress of the committee in a second town hall meeting today.