Faculty of Arts and Sciences strategic planning process

To: All FAS faculty and staff
Cc: FAS Dean's Office; FAS Steering; Yale College Dean's Office; GSAS Dean's Office; SEAS Dean's Office; President's Office; Provost's Office; Cabinet

Dear FAS faculty and staff,

As you might remember, last fall, Provost Scott Strobel asked the FAS to work together to develop a strategic plan that will take us into the next decade and beyond. I'm writing today to ask for your input on the questions and issues that we should consider in the strategic planning process.

At a time when higher education and Yale are facing a lot of uncertainty, this strategic planning process will provide an opportunity for us to focus and redouble our efforts on the heart of what we do: our research, scholarship, teaching, and mentoring.

The strategic planning process will begin in earnest in Fall 2025. For it to be successful, it must be driven by you: the FAS community. I will therefore invite FAS faculty and staff to join a number of committees that will actively explore how we can build the best faculty, provide them with the support they need to produce world class research and teaching, and take advantage of the many interdisciplinary opportunities at Yale and beyond in a rapidly changing world. I will be asking these committees to consult broadly across the FAS, the Graduate School, Yale College, the School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS), and other units on campus to help us articulate a vision for the future of the FAS and its role at Yale and our broader academic communities. This process will begin in September 2025, and continue into spring 2026, with a target completion date of May 2026, when we anticipate that the strategic planning committees will issue their reports and recommendations.

As we start to plan this process, I want to know what areas you think the strategic planning committees should consider. What questions and avenues do you imagine FAS scholars pursuing in the years to come? How can we best support the education of our students? What do you think are the most critical issues confronting our work?

I encourage you to share your thoughts on these questions with me via this webform. You may also use the webform to nominate colleagues—or yourself—to serve on the strategic planning committees.

I anticipate that the strategic planning process will address questions of organization and structure within the FAS; the FAS’s position in the larger university; and our cooperation with the College, the Graduate School, SEAS, the Jackson School and other units. We may ask: In what new and existing frontiers of inquiry should we further invest? How should we enable research and teaching that spans departments and disciplines? How should we ensure that we can continue providing our students with an exceptional education that prepares them for a wide range of future endeavors? How should we best adapt to the rise of artificial intelligence? How can the FAS and Yale best support research and teaching excellence? How well do our current practices, policies, and structures position us to adapt to current and future challenges?

In addition, and in line with Yale's practice of reviewing our tenure and promotion systems approximately every decade, a committee will be formed to review the tenure, appointment, and promotion procedures for ladder faculty adopted by the FAS in 2016. You can expect to receive an email with more information on this committee and its charge early in the fall semester.

I'm looking forward to collaborating with you to develop a strategy for the FAS's future. I will send a follow-up email over the summer announcing the strategic planning committees and their charges.

With best wishes and many thanks for your help in the work ahead,

Steven

Steven Wilkinson
Dean
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Yale University