---

BY LINDA HOU

In print | Published October 28, 2010

On Monday, President Rebecca Chopp, Dean of Students Liz Braun and history professor Timothy Burke talked with a group of about 20 students about the process of strategic planning, an evaluation of Swarthmore’s goals for the next seven or eight years, that will occur in the next two years.

Chopp began by giving an overview of the structure and timeline of strategic planning.The process is composed of three levels of organization. First, four committees focused on different topics will perform the bulk of initial exploration and discussions. These committees are “Evolving missions, values and goals of a Swarthmore education,” “Knowledge, teaching, and learning,” “Admissions, access, and affordability,” and “Alumni engagement and development.” Overseeing them will be the Strategic Planning Council.

These five committees will be composed of a mix of students, faculty, staff, members of institutional research and members of the president’s office.

Finally, the steering committee, which contains only faculty, staff, members of institutional research and members of the president’s office, will be overseeing all of the process.

Names of committee members, as well as other resources about the process, can be found at http://sp.swarthmore.edu/.

The issues will be explored from now until February. A drafted plan will be done by September 2011, and the proposal will be discussed by the board and the community again. A revised plan should be done by December 2011, and the results of strategic planning will be implemented by spring 2012.
After Chopp’s overview, Burke talked about the committee he will head — “Knowledge, teaching, and learning.”

“There’s somewhat of everyday planning that goes on all the time … but those are all kinds of things that address maybe the best a small part,” Burke said. “The big questions I worry about all the time … are about whether the things we chose to teach or end up teaching are helping you with your careers.”
Burke mentioned various topics the group may discuss, including the broadness of curriculum in comparison to other institutions, the teaching styles of professors, the diversity and adaptability of staff and the relationship between technology and the classroom.

Braun, who heads the committee on “Missions, values and goals” along with Vice President for Community and College Relations and Executive Assistant to the President Maurice Eldridge ’61, also discussed community.

Braun said that since most people surveyed in a previous study had almost identical perceptions of top values and missions for Swarthmore, including academic rigor, diversity and inclusiveness and a sense of community, the group will mostly talk about goals.

“What we’re really going to [be] most focused on is the goals piece, because that’s the thing that I think is evolving,” Braun said. “Do we have the right support systems in place? … Do we have the right things identified to make sure students have what they need to be successful at Swarthmore and when they leave Swarthmore?”

Leadership, lifestyle, globalization and wellness are all issues Braun said her group hopes to talk about.

“As demographics change, what are we doing here institutionally to really make sure we’re promising inclusiveness so that we’re really making sure that students feel like their individual identities are confirmed, but they also feel like a part of a larger community?” Braun said.

After the three gave their presentations, students asked questions about and gave suggestions for strategic planning.

Several students raised questions about specific topics such as the the lack of classes in areas such as Middle Eastern studies and Swarthmore’s plans for environmental sustainability, but because the committees have not begun meeting yet, there were no answers.
Chris Geissler ’13 asked about the role of the tradition.

“There are certainly many … hidden ways in which this Quaker ideals are part of our culture,” Geissler said. “Might you speak about this balance between having Quaker roots, but not Quaker, and how we’re being affected by Quaker traditions, but not visibly so, and how we want this to be a visible part of campus?”

Chopp compared Swarthmore’s Quaker traditions to other communities around the world and their morphing traditions.

“Even though sometimes the … original language and rituals disappear, we still find the values transferred.” Chopp said. “I think that it’s a wonderful thing to look about traditions and values.”

---

« RETURN TO NEWS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »