Bold Ideas Group (BIG)

In consultation with the Board of Trustees, I have established the Bold Ideas Group (BIG), to be chaired by the Provost. BIG is charged with the responsibility of developing a set of exciting and innovative initiatives that will help to raise our academic profile nationally and internationally, while simultaneously providing significant new revenue streams.

The goal is to identify new programs, which are likely to generate at least $2 million annually to the university, after expenses. I recognize that, before positive net revenues can be expected, there will need to be funds for initial investment during the ramp-up period. The target is for new ventures to have a positive return within three years of initiation and yield a steady-state positive net return of at least $2 million.

The Bold Ideas Group will make a campus announcement of its goals and invite members of the campus community to submit their own bold ideas for review. Ideas submitted by members of the campus community need not speculate as to costs/benefits, but rather should be targeted to recommending new initiatives that could potentially advance the university's profile and also be profitable. BIG will also examine what other universities have done in recent years to achieve similar goals.

Jehuda Reinharz, President
November 5, 2009

Membership of BIG

  • Marty Krauss, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs (chair)
  • Jeff Apfel, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
  • Wendy Cadge, Sociology
  • Jean Eddy, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment
  • Scott Edmiston, Director, Office of the Arts
  • Sylvia Fishman, Chair, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
  • Tim Hickey, Chair, Computer Science
  • Alice Kelikian, History
  • Marya Levenson, Director, Education Program
  • Stuart Lewtan '84, Member, Board of Trustees; Member, IBS Board of Overseers
  • Lisa Lynch, Dean, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
  • Bruce Magid, Dean, International Business School
  • Paul Morrison, Chair, English and American Literature
  • Dan Perlman, Biology
  • Dan Terris, Vice President for Global Affairs
  • Michaele Whelan, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (staff)