Something interesting and perversely funny occurred to me. We’re all sharing something. I may not know you nor you me, but if we share an elevator on campus, we don’t have to talk about the weather. I could ask about Navigant and just about everyone would have some comment, concern, rumor or experience to share. Like experiencing a hurricane or having our home team win the World Series, we’re sharing an experience that’s worthy of comment.
There’s good in this. For one, it means that true to leadership’s claim, everyone’s and everything’s been scrutinized in this process. We were all put under the microscope, and I think that’s the only fair (and effective) way to go about a process like this.
To the credit of the leadership in my department (and at the risk of sounding like a quivering suck-up), our VP followed up pretty soon after the last Town Meeting with a number (about a 14% budget reduction), and our department (about 70-75 people) met again today to start to get a little more detail. There’s no doubt we’ll look and work differently when the dust settles. But I think we feel we’re getting good and timely information, and from where I stand that’s a good thing. I know other entities have been engaged in some of the same sorts of dialogue; I hope yours is one of them.
If you haven’t seen it, Dr. Stobo sent out a message today with the top 20 Navigant recommendations. While’s there’s not a lot of meat on some of the bones, the message does provide a good sense of direction.