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A Global Strategy for MIT

Appendix 1: Process

This report was prepared by Associate Provost Richard Lester with the support of a team led by Cecelia Wardle, Director of Special Projects in the Office of Major Agreements, and also including Robin Lemp, Director of the Office of Major Agreements; Magdelene Lee, Assistant Director of the Office of Major Agreements; and Bernd Widdig, Special Assistant to the Associate Provost for International Activities.

The strategic planning process has been divided into three phases: 1) the discovery phase, to map and understand current activities at MIT, the global landscape, and what our peer schools are doing internationally; 2) the development phase, to synthesize emerging ideas and develop concepts and implementation plans; and 3) the implementation phase, to put the strategic plan and its recommendations into effect (this will begin, nominally, after the current report is distributed).

During the first two phases, the team sought input from many groups and individuals across campus and externally. In many cases, meetings were held with the same group or individual in both phases. Below is a summary of the meetings held to date:

  • Individual meetings with faculty and staff across campus

  • Committees/councils/other groups:

    • Academic Council
    • AO conference sponsored by Administrative Advisory Council II (AACII)
    • Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) faculty lunch
    • Engineering School Council
    • Faculty Meeting
    • Faculty Policy Committee
    • Faculty Task Force on International Engagement (see below for more information)
    • Global Theme Team
    • International Advisory Council (IAC)
    • International Coordinating Committee (ICC)
    • MISTI Program Directors
    • MIT Corporation Executive Committee
    • Presidential Advisory Cabinet (PAC)
    • President’s CEO Advisory Board
    • Science School Council
    • School of Architecture and Planning (SA&P) Council
    • School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (SHASS) Council
    • Sloan Dean’s Group meeting

  • Major initiatives:

    • Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (JWAFS)
    • Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI)
    • Innovation Initiative
    • MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)
    • Office of Digital Learning (ODL)/MITx

  • Offices with global reach:

    • Alumni Association
    • Industrial Liaison Program (ILP)
    • International Students Office
    • International Scholars Office
    • Resource Development
    • Sloan International Office
    • Tech Review/Enterprise Forum

  • Peer school interviews:

    • Carnegie Mellon University
    • Emory University
    • ETH Zurich
    • Harvard University
    • Imperial College
    • Johns Hopkins University
    • Stanford University
    • University of Pennsylvania
    • Yale University

  • Faculty Task Force on International Engagement

    • Early-post-tenure faculty committee charged with exploring new international opportunities and assessing the emerging strategic framework for international engagement.
    • Members: Professors Alfredo Alexander-Katz (Materials Science and Engineering), Pierre Azoulay (Sloan), Chris Capozzola (History), Mei Hong (Chemistry), Markus Klute (Physics), Clapperton Mavhunga (STS), Catherine Tucker (Sloan), Anne White (Nuclear Science and Engineering), Chris Zegras (Urban Studies and Planning).
    • Faculty Forums/Roundtables: The task force convened seven meetings in the five schools with 43 faculty participants to discuss MIT’s international engagement.