Background
Building a culture of ongoing comprehensive planning was a key objective of Charting the 
Future. As we examined ourselves following the precipitous drop in state funding in 2003 and 2004, it became clear that while the university engaged in considerable planning, plans were often disconnected. To address this, Charting the Future called for an ongoing council to advise the president on continual comprehensive planning.
The President’s Planning Council was created to advise the president on long-term planning. However, in an effort to connect planning and budgeting, we also used the council as a campus budget committee. As a result, members spent much of their time drafting budgets for fiscal years 2005-06 and 2006-07. The refined composition and role for the council are intended to return its focus to long-term comprehensive planning.