Shaping the Future

Difficult times require us to think differently, indeed boldly.

Today’s increasingly severe economic circumstances and current fiscal realities demand our continued attention. In the face of significantly reduced state funding and increasing expenses, we must focus carefully on our priorities and modify our activities, attitudes, and culture to continue reducing expenses.

Thanks to thoughtful past planning, hard work, decision making, and collaboration, Michigan State University is positioned to pursue greater efficiency and effectiveness in ways that do not compromise our values or our vision. Even as we make changes, we will continue to be guided by Boldness by Design and to maintain our commitment to being one of the best research universities in the world.

We must build a new model that will change the way we work, but not the quality of the work we do for our students and in communities close to home and around the world.

This kind of transformational change is complex but necessary to preserve the quality of our academic programs over the long term. It is not top-down. It is work that we will—and must—do together guided by overarching design principles and time-tested university governance and administrative processes. It is work that requires your engagement, as ideas are proposed, decisions are made, and changes are implemented over time.

I encourage you to visit this site frequently. In addition to providing updates and related communications and resources that will keep you informed, it offers an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments and suggestions that will allow you to share your perspective.

However challenging, these are times that play to our strengths. A can-do spirit is a hallmark of MSU. As we adapt, we will remain resilient, maintaining our momentum and our excellence.

Lou Anna K. Simon, Ph.D.

President, Michigan State University