Presidential Task Force Reports Available Online

President Alison Byerly emailed the following to the campus community today:

To the Campus Community:

I am very pleased to announce that the three Presidential Task Forces convened earlier this year have now completed their work.  These groups were charged with examining strategic issues related to curricular innovation and technology, enrollment size and program capacity, and the integrated student experience.  Through an intensive process involving research, discussions, open meetings, and the always-challenging task of collaborative writing and editing, the task forces have produced three substantive and insightful reports.

These reports can be found at: http://president.lafayette.edu/presidential-task-force-reports/

We will hold an open meeting this coming Wednesday, May 14, 3:30 p.m. in the Limburg theater, for all three groups to offer brief presentations on their findings and take questions. Over the summer, the administration will prepare a list of the major recommendations, in a format that will also list next steps for consideration of those recommendations, and committees or offices that need to be involved. Any recommendation pertaining to an area overseen by an existing committee or office will go through the usual process of review by the appropriate bodies. Those recommendations requiring administrative support will be reviewed as well.  In the fall, after the community has had the opportunity to fully digest the reports, we will hold a series of meetings to discuss specific themes and recommendations.

The membership of each task force and that group’s charges are noted below. I am very grateful to all those involved in this process for their extraordinary efforts this year, and their commitment to helping us think about Lafayette’s future.  These reports will be very helpful to me, and to the College, in shaping our agenda for the coming years.  I look forward to engaging the community in further discussion of these important issues.

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Task Force on Curricular Innovation and Technology
Chair:  Larry Malinconico, At-Large Member

John Meier, Associate Provost for Faculty Development and Research
Michelle Geoffrion-Vinci, Faculty Academic Policy Committee
Kristen Sanford Bernhardt, Faculty Academic Policy Committee
David Brandes, Information Technology and Library Advisory Committee
Pat Donahue, Teaching and Learning Committee
Chawne Kimber, Curriculum and Ed Policy Committee
Jason Alley, Director of Instructional Technology
Alan Childs, Director of the Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship
John Kincaid, At-Large Member
Terese Heidenwolf, At-Large Member

Charge 

This task force is charged with looking at existing and potential structures for promoting innovative thinking among faculty with regard to emerging pedagogies and technological opportunities.  The CI/T task force will provide venues for faculty conversation on topics ranging from online learning to interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary engagement, social justice education and community-based learning.

Task Force on Enrollment Size and Program Capacity

Chair:  Jamila Bookwala, At-Large Member

Mary Roth, Associate Provost for Academic Operations
Greg MacDonald, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
Rebecca Kissane, Faculty Academic Policy Committee
Andy Vinchur, Faculty Academic Policy Committee
D.C. Jackson, Faculty Academic Policy Committee
Angelika Von Wahl, Enrollment Planning Committee
Arthur Kney, Enrollment Planning Committee
Louis Zulli, Enrollment Planning Committee
Kari Fazio, Assoc VP for Finance and Business Operations
Larry Stockton, At-Large Member

Charge

This task force is charged with looking at the enrollment size of the College, in the context of some general consideration of other aspects of the college’s programmatic capacity, including admissions pool, facilities, and calendar.  The task force is asked to consider costs and benefits of expanding, maintaining, or reducing the size of the student body, particularly in relation to other programmatic changes (for example, new interim or summer programs) that might affect the college’s overall capacity.

Task Force on the Integrated Student Experience

Chair: Yih-Choung Yu, At-Large Member

Paul McLoughlin, Dean of Students
Erica D’Agostino, Dean of Academic Advising
Elizabeth Suhay, Faculty Academic Policy Committee
Stephen Kurtz, Faculty Academic Policy Committee
Michael Butler, Student Life Committee
Lee Upton, Student Life Committee
Julia Nicodemus, Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee
Roger Ruggles, Diversity Committee
Markus Dubischar, At-Large Member

Charge

This task force is asked to build on the excellent work of the Laf360 initiative to develop concrete recommendations for ways to better connect and integrate different components of the student experience, and different stages in the student pathway from entry through graduation and beyond.  Areas to consider include strengthening and connecting academic and career advising; defining a residential platform or organizational structure that would promote the goals of community, affinity, and responsibility identified in last year’s “values” discussion; and thinking about ways to extend academic interests and intellectual community beyond the classroom.