By Sydney Umstead, Asst. News Editor
The Strategic Planning Committee met for their second meeting on Thursday, March 2. They discussed the five pillars that they are working to refine before the final meeting on April 3.
Upon walking in, members were greeted by an ambience of jazz music. Dr. Sara Morris then kicked off the meeting by going through separate data that had been collected by “Joseph Russel and others” following the conclusion of the first meeting.
Dr. Morris stated the purpose of the second meeting was to “refine pillars and work on objectives.” One of the largest pillars from the committee is Academic Progress and Delivery. Other key points are topics such as campus culture, educational experience and student success and engagement.
Once Dr. Morris concluded the presentation, participants were asked to go around to different tables where chairs of the community were sitting and respond to the objectives being presented.
At the table for campus culture, some topics that were covered in response to increasing community engagement included providing incentive to attend events and taking advantage of on campus activities that are already in place. This is an especially important focus following a drop in participation after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some also fought for more people to start looking at items on “The Dome,” citing that many students sometimes miss events because they did not know they were going on.
During the conversation about academic experience, there was a discussion about whether or not the priorities actually reflected the campus community. One member touched on how she had read 77 comments by the community that did not seem to reflect the current objectives.
There was an emphasis on fixing some ambiguity in the points, such as that of “modernizing the curriculum” and a call to rebuild programs back to what they were years ago, as programs have changed due to staffing.
The chairs at these tables took notes and acknowledged the comments to prepare for the final committee meeting, which will occur in a little over a month.