The email is inviting confirmed participants to a July 26 meeting of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform. It provides the agenda and reading materials to prepare participants for collaborative discussions. The meeting will bring together over 70 participants with different views to generate consensus recommendations in three categories - accountability, governance, and funding - to position state universities for success. Participants are advised to approach the discussions with an open mind, seeking first to understand others and find win-win solutions while keeping the ultimate goal of state university success in mind.

1. NOTE: The following is the text from an e‐mail sent to confirmed participants.
Greetings!
Thank you for agreeing to participate in the July 26 meeting of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher
Education Reform. This is an initial e‐mail to share the agenda and reading materials which may serve to
prepare you for our collaborative experience together. You will also receive another e‐mail on Monday with
up to three additional attachments. In the meantime, please also take the time to visit the "file sharing"
section of the Blue Ribbon Task Force web site (www.FLHigherEd.org) to see what has been shared with the
Task Force during previous meetings.
No doubt you are wondering just exactly what you've gotten yourself into. Your trust is greatly appreciated.
The unique approach of facilitation employed by our hosts at the Collaborative Labs at St. Petersburg College
is one of those experiences that is very difficult to describe in advance. In short, you'll be joining more than 70
fellow participants, each committed to the success of the state's higher education system; and yes, each with
a different of view of what it may take to become the envy of the nation. This one‐day process works because
of its unique ability to engender cooperation and collaboration.
Our work together will provide additional input to the Blue Ribbon Task Force Members joining you as fellow
collaborators. Our goal is straight‐forward, yet involves some of the most complex issues imaginable. In the
end, we expect to generate consensus recommendations on how to position our state universities to succeed
by identifying recommendations in each of three categories: accountability, governance and funding.
From my view as chair of the Task Force, let me share that state university success will not be achievable by
preserving the status quo. Our time together must be an effort far more ambitious than seeking to have our
turf protected or searching for someone else to blame. The best advice I can share to prepare you for the work
ahead borrows from the late Stephen Covey: (1) seek first to understand, then to be understood; and (2) think
win‐win. We will be successful if we are willing to listen to each other and seek solutions that respect differing
viewpoints while keeping the ultimate goal of state university success in mind.
Keep an eye out for one more e‐mail with a few attachments coming your way on Monday.
Yours for the future of Florida,
‐‐Dale
Dr. Dale A. Brill
Chair
Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform
Attachments:
Agenda
BOG Strategic Plan
SREB Florida Higher Ed Facts