October Update: Reimagining Minnesota State

October 15, 2018

To: Board of Trustees
Leadership Council
Tom Torgerud, AFSCME
Brent Jeffers, IFO
Jerry Jeffries, MAPE
Gary Kloos, MMA
Kevin Lindstrom, MSCF
Tracy Rahim, MSUAASF
Frankie Becerra, LeadMN
Kayla Shelley, Students United

From: Michael Vekich, Chair
Devinder Malhotra, Chancellor

Re: Reimagining Minnesota State October Update

We appreciate your thoughtful discussions about the Reimagining Minnesota State initiative
that have occurred over the past few months. Your feedback and suggestions for improvement
have informed the ongoing development of the project.

The first Forum session will be held on December 10 at Minneapolis College. In the first Forum,
we will engage the Forum Advisory Group and the Minnesota State community in a
conversation about The Forces Impacting Higher Education and how we might proactively
manage those forces to improve on key outcomes of student success through innovation. We
have scheduled the first Forum session for December to provide the Forum Advisory Group
additional time to learn more about Minnesota State and the important work of our colleges
and universities and to provide input into the strategic questions and topics that will guide our
Forum discussions.

Attached is the October 2018 Reimagining Minnesota State Update, which provides additional
information about the progress of Reimagining Minnesota State planning efforts and Forum
sessions. Please share this update broadly with your constituents and communities. We will
send out a Reimagining Minnesota State Update each month as one way to keep the leadership
of Minnesota State informed about the project. We will be sharing additional information in
advance of the public launch and as the details of the December 10 Forum session are finalized.

We welcome your ongoing engagement in this important initiative.

Forum on Reimagining Minnesota State

October 2018 Update

Forum Advisory Group Members Finalized

Full bios of the Forum Advisory Group will be posted to the Reimagining website. Members are:

·         Kathy Annette, MD, President and CEO of the Blandin Foundation

·         MayKao Hang, President and CEO of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation

·         Kenneth Holmen, MD, President and CEO of CentraCare Health

·         Neel Kashkari, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

·         David Mortenson, Chairman of M. A. Mortenson Company

·         RT Rybak, President and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation

·         Michael Vekich, Chair, Minnesota State Board of Trustees

·         Roger Moe, Trustee, Minnesota State Board of Trustees

·         Alex Cirillo, Trustee, Minnesota State Board of Trustees

·         Devinder Malhotra, Chancellor, Minnesota State

The Advisory Group to the Forum on Reimagining Minnesota State met on October 9 and will meet again on November 5 for an orientation to Minnesota State and the Reimagining Minnesota State initiative. As preparation for the October 9 meeting, we shared data and information about Minnesota State, the demographics and backgrounds of our students, and our financial position, as well as larger demographic, workforce, and education trends in Minnesota. The materials shared with the Forum Advisory Group will be sent out in a separate email.

Forum on Reimagining Minnesota State Dates and Locations

The dates and locations of the five Forums have been set. They are:

Date	Time	Location	Tentative Topic
Monday, Dec. 10	8-9:45am	Minneapolis College	The Forces Impacting U.S. Higher Education
Monday, Jan. 14	10-11:45am	St. Cloud State University	The Digital Age: The impact and future possibilities offered by data and technology
Monday, Feb. 4	8-9:45am	Normandale Community College, Bloomington	The Nature of Work: Changing careers, competencies, and credentials in the future

Wednesday, March 6	10-11:45am	Minnesota State University, Mankato	The Student: Competition, emerging populations, and changing expectations
Monday, April 8	8-9:45am	To be announced	Innovative Models: Meeting consumer expectations, improving outcomes, and reducing costs through innovation

Additional detail on each Forum, including confirmed topic and speakers, will be shared in advance of the Session. The Forum Sessions are open, and members of the Minnesota State community are encouraged to attend. We also will be live streaming each Forum Session so that individuals can join remotely.

Share recommendations on Forum Session speakers and materials

We are in the process of identifying speakers who can represent unique perspectives and expertise on each Forum topic. We also are gathering current articles and research reports that can be used to develop background materials and the Briefing Paper and Guiding Questions. If you have recommendations for possible speakers or have articles or research reports that you believe are relevant to the topic, please submit your names and materials to Lisa Foss, Chancellor’s Fellow, at Lisa.Foss.2@minnstate.edu.

Reimagining Minnesota State Website

A website for Reimagining will be launched later this week. The website contains the bios of the Forum Advisory Group members, Forum dates and locations, and background information. In the future, the website will include a link to RSVP to attend the Forum sessions in-person or by live stream. http://www.minnstate.edu/board/reimagining.

OVERVIEW 

What is Reimagining Minnesota State?

During the fall of 2018 the Board of Trustees of Minnesota State launched Reimagining Minnesota State, a multi-year project by which Minnesota State will:

·         reaffirm our unique value proposition to the people of the State of Minnesota,

·         clarify our key outcomes of student success and economic and social mobility , and

·         foster and support a culture of innovation across our system that empowers our people to experiment with and collaborate on innovative approaches to move the needle on our key outcomes.

As a result of Reimagining Minnesota State, our goal is to make significant progress on key outcomes of student success and economic and social mobility and be recognized as the state’s strategic partner in the social vitality and economic prosperity of Minnesota.

Reimagining Minnesota State will unfold in two phases.

Phase I: Forum on Reimagining Minnesota State

The Forum on Reimagining Minnesota State will be a time of in-depth study of the disruptive forces currently facing higher education and the specific potential impact on Minnesota State and its students and communities. With insight and guidance from the Forum Advisory Group, the Minnesota State community will explore how organizations are navigating the demands of our rapidly changing world through strategic innovation and how these models might inform Minnesota State’s efforts to improve on our key outcomes of success.

Timeline: Sept. 2018-April 2019

Phase II: Design an Innovation Strategy for Minnesota State

Using the outcomes of Phase I, Minnesota State will create an approach to innovation that will engage leaders from all levels within the System in the practical work of identifying the organizational and operational changes that must occur to make progress on our key outcomes of success and creating the structures, policies, procedures and funding that will:

·         Recognize and accelerate the innovative approaches already occurring on our campuses

·         Identify and bring promising practices to scale throughout the system

·         Identify and support innovations that are beyond the capabilities and resources of a single campus

·         Make innovation integral to the operational structures of the board, system office and campuses

Timeline: Beginning in May 2019

Why are we engaged in Reimagining Minnesota State?

Like most industries, higher education is facing disruptive forces that cannot be fully addressed through traditional processes, existing organizational structures, or incremental change. Demographics and enrollment patterns predict a downward pressure on enrollment and will change the profile of the students we serve. Advances in technology is changing how people work and learn and their expectations for service delivery. Limits on state funding and tuition revenues will require changes to business models to maintain our financial sustainability. And finally, the public is questioning the relevance and value proposition of higher education.

We are Reimagining Minnesota State because even as the world around us changes, we must ensure that we are delivering on our unique value proposition to the State of Minnesota and that all of our students benefit from high quality education that positions them for future success. This will require Minnesota State to expand our capacity to be more creative, nimble and innovative.

How will the Forum on Reimagining Minnesota State work?

The Forum on Reimagining Minnesota State will create opportunities for the Forum Advisory Group and the Minnesota State community to examine different forces that are impacting Minnesota State and how those forces will influence our ability to deliver on our value proposition and key outcomes of success.

Each Forum Session will include four parts:

1.       Background: Prior to each Forum Session, research and information will be gathered and consolidated into a Briefing Paper that will provide background on the Session Topic and its context within Minnesota State. The Briefing Papers will include a set of Guiding Questions that will be used to frame each Session.

2.       Forum Sessions: National and local speakers will provide brief presentations on different perspectives on the topic after which there will be a panel discussion with the Forum Advisory Group, with opportunities for questions from the audience. Forum Sessions will be open and will be available via technology for those interested in viewing remotely.

3.       Deliberations: After the Forum Sessions, the Forum Advisory Group will meet to discuss the Session Topic, informed by the Briefing Paper and Forum Sessions and using the GuidingQuestions as a discussion guide. Other groups across the Minnesota State community, including bargaining unit and student leadership and campus-based groups, are encouraged to engage in discussions using the same materials and guiding questions and share their responses through the Reimagining Minnesota State website. Individuals also are welcome to respond.

         4.        Output: Following each Forum Session, a Report will be developed that includes the contributions from the Forum Advisory Group and other groups and individuals that submit responses.

The Forum Session Reports will serve as input into the Interim and Final Reimaging Minnesota State reports that will be shared with the Minnesota State Board of Trustees. The tentative timeline for the final report is May 2019.