The great Elinor Ostrom — whose sculpture near Woodburn Hall is a daily reminder of her Nobel Prize-winning research — was quoted twice at last week’s kickoff for the IU 2030 strategic planning process for Bloomington.

The first, shared by Provost Rahul Shrivastav, was from a 2009 Ostrom interview with The Indianapolis Star: “Little by little, bit by bit, family by family, so much good can be done on so many levels.”

“So much good on so many levels” is the exact spirit needed to guide the massive effort we have undertaken to lead our campus to its highest potential by 2030.

The nearly 450 faculty, staff, students, alumni and community participating in this effort (in our 25 working groups, four planning committees and one executive committee) clearly have a hugely important job in the months ahead. And, as they come together for initial brainstorm meetings, we are asking everyone to enter the conversations with a bold, blue-sky mindset on what’s possible for our campus.

The final plan will be concise and targeted, with specific goals and associated metrics. While not every idea will ultimately make it into the formal plan, the process of surfacing the ideas will be immensely important.

Everyone offering their valuable time to this effort — through committee work, focus group participation and sharing thoughtful ideas through the submission forms on our website — is already highlighting ideas that can improve our campus. Our intrepid staff, who are feverishly taking notes at these hours of meetings, will flag items for follow-up after the plan is completed, and some ideas will ultimately make their way into our policies and practices.

It is here that we want to share the other Ostrom quote from our kickoff: “One can … get trapped in one’s own intellectual web.” Let’s try not to let that happen.

As we begin phase one of this planning process, we ask for your continued positive attitude and good will. We commit to a transparent process through which we will share updates in as many ways and spaces as we can find, and we ask you to commit to dreaming about bold, ambitious ideas that will elevate Indiana University to even greater heights of impact and innovation.   

Cate Reck is president of the Bloomington Faculty Council, and Carrie Docherty is interim vice provost for strategy and innovation.