With state budget cuts and an uncertain future, the University’s mission remains “not merely to survive, but thrive.”

This will be accomplished best by aligning the University’s resources with its priorities, University President Carol Cartwright said.

“That is what we look to do in this process as we look at scenarios of what our budget might look like, on the investment side as well as on the reduction side of it,” she said. “What holds us all together is the strategic plan — the glue, the mission, the vision, the priorities.”

Cartwright, Provost Ken Borland and Chief Financial Officer Sheri Stoll collectively spoke for an hour, addressing budgets, goals and the strategic plan at a moderated forum Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in the Union Theater.

The Faculty Senate hosted the forum, titled “Planning for Change,” to give more than 50 attendees the chance to ask questions and voice concerns.

“We hoped to foster information-sharing and dialogue, and we saw that here today,” Senate Chair Kris Blair said.

Stoll addressed the state budget proposal revealed by Gov. John Kasich on March 15, which must pass through the Ohio Senate, House and a conference committee before it can be put into effect. The proposed budget will leave the University with approximately 12.5% less in State Shared Instruction funds, partially due to the elimination of all federal stimulus funds for public universities.

The University has planned for “best case” and “worst case” financial scenarios at all levels, both of which demonstrate that “significant changes are required in the future,” Stoll said.

“I don’t think incremental change is sustainable at BGSU anymore,” she said. “We cannot reduce our way to success. We must invest and de-invest strategically.”

To sustain budget cuts, investing in retaining student enrollment must be a top priority, Stoll said.

“There must be thoughtful, strategic investment in key academic programs, curriculum and academic areas of excellence,” she said.

The seven steps of the strategic plan, implemented in 2009, will help the University align resources with these priorities, Borland said.

An outline of the plan can be viewed on the “Charting Our Future” section of the University’s website.

“There’s a lot of anxiety about where we’re headed financially because of circumstances in our national economy, our state economy and things within our own campus,” Borland said. “But since the establishment of the University’s strategic plan, a lot of people have stepped up in an attitude of service to make a lot of tremendous things happen at the University during very difficult times.”

Borland also said student retention is an important issue, and the University is investing in expanding the student population according the strategic plan.

“Housing, dining, performing arts, athletic facility development — all of that adds to the quality of life, which helps with recruitment and with retention,” he said. “And our academic master plan which many people invested in this year is about improving our academic spaces on campus.”

The University is also addressing improving undergraduate education through Connecting the Undergraduate Experience, a curriculum overhaul that will begin fall 2012. The transition will take three to five years and cost between $1 million and $2 million.

“This is a sacrifice, it’s a stewardship exercise, it’s service, but it’s going to be so much better for our students — to have a liberal education that’s contemporaneous with their own existence today and their own futures,” Borland said. “We’re ready and willing to invest in that as we move forward.”

The forum is archived for viewing on the University’s website.