Lafayette President Dan Weiss will set his sights on south Florida in February as he continues to meet with alumni around the country.
Weiss will update alumni and friends on the College and share some of the early thinking in the strategic planning initiative.
“I look forward to meeting with alumni in the south Florida area to update them on the strategic planning effort and to hear their ideas and comments as part of the process of creating a plan for the future of Lafayette that will build on past achievements and chart new opportunities for enhancing academic quality and improving the learning experience for our students,” he says. “This series of meetings is just one part of an overall college-wide process of discussion, review, and assessment that will lead to the preparation of a plan to present to the Board of Trustees in fall 2007.”
The receptions will take place 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, The Ritz-Carlton Naples; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, The Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables; and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, Boca Raton Resort & Club. A reception and lunch will be featured at Naples and Boca Raton; hors d’oeuvres and complimentary drinks will be served at Coral Gables. Formal invitations are being mailed to alumni in the area. For more information, contact Mary Pat Staats, associate director of alumni affairs, staatsm@lafayette.edu, 1-800-LAFAYETTE.
The main topics being addressed in the strategic planning process are the arts, curriculum, diversity/access, Easton community, faculty, global issues, information services/library, life sciences, and the student experience. Committees for each of these areas are meeting regularly to gather input and discuss them. Two open luncheon meetings were held on campus in December, and two more will take place in January.
“The topic areas that are being studied and reviewed grew out of my meetings and conversations with members of the Lafayette community over the 18 months previous to the strategic planning retreat held in September of this year,” says Weiss. “Alumni were integral to these discussions and will continue to be as we work together to envision our future. Having a vision heightens our self-awareness. We will always be asking ourselves the strategic question. That is the antithesis of complacency.”
The Global Issues Committee has surveyed alumni electronically and held meetings with them in Washington, D.C. and New York to solicit comments on their experiences at Lafayette and suggestions for the future. A third meeting will be held next month in Atlanta.
For information on alumni chapter events, see the Alumni Chapter Roundup.