Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
With finals approaching next week, we want to begin this update on the Strategic Plan with our very best wishes to our students and faculty as they complete their important academic work together and to our staff as they continue to provide the vital support and expertise students and faculty depend upon and that keep the operations of the College running smoothly.
As you know, this weekend the Board of Trustees met on campus for its annual winter meeting. The Board’s agenda included a thorough discussion of the College’s strategic and campus master plans. As it strives to do at all times in its responsibilities to the College, the Board approached this discussion in the spirit of shared governance that is articulated so well in the Faculty Handbook:
1.1.1 Integral to the mission of Lafayette College is the concept of shared governance. Shared governance recognizes the mutual interdependence and the unique expertise of different College constituencies, including faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, students, and alumni. Shared governance facilitates continual conversation among multiple voices while acknowledging that each constituency bears primary responsibility for certain decisions. Shared governance translates the voices of these different constituencies into a single voice that speaks for the College as a whole. Under shared governance, the views of each constituency are carefully considered in a manner that is transparent, democratic, and respectful.
With this essential principle of shared governance in mind, we want to commend the College community for its thoughtful and engaged participation in developing the new Strategic Plan’s five priorities and associated goals. Thanks to your commitment, this thoughtful, inclusive, and iterative process embodied the best of shared governance, with hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and community members attending the numerous open sessions held to discuss the plan, more than 2,000 individuals completing related online surveys, and more than 10% of the faculty and staff driving the dedicated efforts of the plan’s five campus-wide Working Groups.
This process began in earnest in spring 2023 and, in the 20 months since, your participation has made it possible to bring the five priorities and associated goals of the plan to an exciting stage. In the past two weeks, representatives of our campus constituencies have each taken the opportunity to endorse these priorities and goals, further reflecting this inclusive process. Student Government endorsed these priorities and goals unanimously, as did the Alumni Association Board and our four Regional Councils of alumni representatives, staff voted 244-3 to endorse the priorities and goals, and the faculty vote on a motion to endorse the priorities and goals resulted in a split 66-73 vote, with 12 abstentions.
In its deliberations on the Strategic Plan this weekend, the Board reflected on the extent of participation and ultimately support that the plan received from across the College community. The Board also discussed the concerns several faculty members raised at the faculty meeting during their discussion of the motion to endorse the goals and priorities this past Tuesday. The Board recognizes that these concerns can and will be addressed during the plan’s implementation. The Board does so knowing that a sound Strategic Plan is always a dynamic one, adapting and evolving as priorities and goals are brought to life, as new opportunities emerge, and as conversations unfold with the donor community whose investments in those priorities and goals will contribute substantially to the College’s future.
In this regard, the priorities and goals are indeed exciting and provide a compelling foundation for the comprehensive campaign that is now underway and that will be the most ambitious campaign in Lafayette’s history. The priorities of the plan, which the campaign will support, call for extensive commitments to academic excellence and student success; expanding Lafayette’s engagement with and reputation across our region, nation, and world; taking a leadership role in exploring, understanding, and strengthening the connection between democracy and technology in the 21st century; deepening the sense of belonging that everyone on campus and in our wider Lafayette community enjoys and builds together; and investing in our physical and technological infrastructure to advance academics, student life, the vital roles of staff in College life, and more. Indeed, foremost in the Board’s discussions about the plan this past weekend were not only the imperative of shared governance and the inclusive and iterative process of developing the plan, but also the promise of the plan to comprehensively advance academic excellence and the College’s liberal arts mission.
Following these deliberations, the Board resolved to unanimously approve the five priorities and associated goals of the plan. As articulated in the Board resolution, in this unanimous vote the Board also endorsed the commitment of the president and administration to enact the plan in a manner consistent with the principles of academic excellence, shared governance, inclusivity, and iteration. With the plan’s priorities and goals as a guide, we are confident that, as the specific actions and investments that will drive the plan forward are defined and secured, the plan will deliver on the highest aspirations we all share for the College as a leader in liberal arts education where students, faculty, and staff thrive together.
We are grateful for the tireless dedication to the strategic planning process of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, the Strategic Planning Feasibility and Implementation Committee, the five campus-wide Strategic Plan Working Groups, and the numerous faculty and staff who served on these important planning and development teams. We extend our deep thanks, as well, to the students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and community members who so consistently and generously contributed to the thoughtful and productive work of iteration, reflection, and conversation that has brought the plan to this pivotal stage. The Board looks forward to doing everything it can to support both the work of the plan as it goes into action and the comprehensive campaign that will generate the investments that elevate these goals and ambitions.
It is an extraordinary time to be part of this great College, with the Strategic Plan, campus master plan, bicentennial, and comprehensive campaign all moving forward. We are grateful to you for everything you do to make the College a stronger and better community of learning every day. We wish you the very best for the end of the semester and a wonderful holiday time.
Sincerely,
Robert E. Sell ’84, Chair, Board of Trustees
Nicole F. Hurd, President