OU alumni and friends are encouraged to recommend individuals for Creating the Future II, the subject of a recent article in The Oakland Press titled, “OU aims to tackle community issues.”
Led by OU President Gary Russi, Creating the Future II will help define Oakland University's role in the region's turnaround and in bringing prosperity back to Michigan. It is intended to engage alumni and friends, as well as corporate, governmental and philanthropic leaders, in a strategic discussion about OU to determine how best to apply critical university resources, including research advances. “We believe the process will have a significant impact as we tackle economic challenges here in Michigan as well as issues that have national relevance,” Russi said.
The university is gathering names and identifying individuals to participate in a day-long retreat to explore and identify task force topic areas, which will ultimately result in recommendations for the university's future direction. “Your suggestions for outstanding alumni, corporate and civic leaders would be extremely helpful,” Susan Davies Goepp, vice president for University Relations said. “Please include people from out of state as well as those who reside closer to campus.” Goepp asks that alumni and friends email their suggestions to her at goepp@oakland.edu by August 23, 2010.
Over the next several months, Oakland will create task forces that will meet during the first half of 2011 and eventually develop formal recommendations. These will be presented to the university’s board of trustees next June, and pending approval, will be implemented as part of both short-term and long-term strategic planning.