Thinking big will advance Vision 2010
Vice President George Ross wants CMU
to think big.

As a member of the CMU 2010 Institutional Strategic Planning Committee and its precursor, the vision planning committee, Ross has helped guide CMU’s vision since the beginning.
But even before CMU 2010 was set into motion, Ross already was working on strategic planning within the 10 units in Finance and Administrative Services.

In order to accomplish this task, Ross set about holding retreats with almost every one of his 500 employees to get their perspectives on how best to address CMU’s priorities. The meetings were hosted at different times of day to accommodate the different schedules of people from departments like human resources,
facilities management, and general counsel.

For many people, it was the first time they had gotten together to collaborate and share ideas across departments.

Over time, and following the creation of CMU 2010, the strategies that emerged from these retreats have evolved to fit the university’s priorities.

“The 21 strategies of CMU 2010 are our 21 strategies,” Ross said. The Finance and Administrative Services division has been using online tracking software to help each unit follow its progress through all of the priorities.

Amy McGinnis, human resources director of strategy and organizational development, said the strategic planning process involved “helping people to think in new and different ways.
“For the most part the staff who work in our division are really great at setting goals and achieving them, but thinking strategically and long-term was a little different,” she said. “We knew we would keep getting better at it and refine the process.”

Ross said that the principles behind strategic planning can be put to use by people across the university.

As head of the division that works with the university’s $341 million operating budget, Ross said people should think beyond the $1 million CMU 2010 budget and think about how to tie daily operations to CMU 2010 priorities.

“Folks on campus need to start thinking bigger and better,” he said. “People are going to have to be braver and get out of their comfort zones.”


George Ross, vice president for finance and administrative services, is incorporating CMU 2010 strategies into the culture of his division.