Dr. Matthew Mariola led discussions on the major on Dec. 1 and 5 in Lowry Student Center (Photo by Saeed Husain).
Waverly Hart
News Editor
This past Sunday Feb. 11, upwards of 30 students attended a strategic planning meeting to discuss broad ideas and goals for The College of Wooster’s future. The meeting, which was held in the Tartan Room and open to all students, explored students’ considerations on current College policies and ideas that might improve the College.
President Sarah Bolton began the meeting by explaining the benefits of strategic planning. According to Bolton, many good things have originated from strategic planning meetings, the most notable of which include A.P.E.X., the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), dorm upgrades and other programmatic initiatives.
“This isn’t the end of a conversation,” Bolton said. “We have to ask questions about where we want to be in five to 10 years and how we’re going to get there.”
After Bolton’s opening comments, the conversation was handed over to student leaders Ethan Barham ’18 and Annabelle Hopkins ’19, who facilitated the discussion for an hour and a half. The first question they asked to the audience was, “When you talk to your friends at other schools, what do you discover is different about your Wooster experience, compared to other colleges and universities in the U.S.?”
Many students spoke positively of how valuable A.P.E.X. was, especially compared to similar resources at other schools. However, students agreed that A.P.E.X. was only beneficial if the student sought them out.
“I feel like it’s hard for a lot of students to reach out and discover all that A.P.E.X. has to offer, and maybe that could be solved by making it [going to A.P.E.X.] a requirement for students in [First Year Seminars] FYS,” Robyn Newcomb ’20 said during the meeting.
The conversation then shifted to the value of the FYS offered at Wooster. Students questioned the practicality of not having an advisor in your intended major, and whether that helped or hindered first-years’ experiences. They also suggested establishing more of a standardization across all FYS classes in regards to the workload required of students.
Barham and Hopkins then asked students to pinpoint their favorite things about Wooster. Several different students mentioned the close relationships they had not only with their professors, but also with the hourly wage workers, such as custodians, Lowry workers and employees at MacLeod’s.
“I’ve been working in [MacLeod’s] for a while now,” Sarah Stutler ’20 said. “And the ladies that work there make my day.” Others shared their own similar experiences about their relationships with the hourly staff and argued the staff should be paid a living wage.
After discussing their favorite things about Wooster, the conversation shifted gears to what students would like to see if they returned to the College in five years. Among other things, students emphasized that they would like to see more support for volunteering, better transportation for students without cars, more counselors at the Wellness Center and a better connection between students at the College and other Wooster citizens.
The last topic that students considered was if something substantial needed to be added to the Wooster education. Many students said service should be a bigger part of Wooster students’ lives.
“Some type of way students can engage with communities that are different from their own,” said Robert Dinkins ’19. “Maybe students could take a month off to go do service.”
Other students echoed Dinkins’ suggestion for a more service-oriented education, proposing that service become a pillar at the College.
Students suggested creating a sustained service project, and stressed the importance of addressing community needs and taking those into consideration when planning service projects.
In addition to service, students also want to see more institutional support for political engagement and a more environmentally sustainable college.
Students also brought up items like better transportation, changing lectures from speakers outside the College to weekend events and more transparency in where students’ money is going, especially in regards to campus dining services.
Once the conversation was over, President Bolton ended the meeting by reminding students that solving most of the issues raised throughout the meeting would require more funds. For example, President Bolton isn’t sure where the College would get the resources to hire more counselors for the Wellness Center without raising the price of tuition.
The conversation about strategic planning does not end with this meeting. After voices are heard, a group called the Strategic Planning Committee will work on ways to implement student opinions and suggestions. The Strategic Planning Committee is comprised of two students (Hopkins and Barham), President Bolton and several members of faculty, staff and administrators.
“After collecting ideas and thoughts about what students, faculty and staff believe is needed to improve the College, the group then prioritizes some initiatives over others. Next, the ideas are formally presented in the conclusion of the group’s work and are implemented into the College,” Barham stated about the strategic planning process.
Barham says that this part of the process is more gradual and less concrete.
Recognizing the limits of a one-time meeting, Bolton, Barham and Hopkins want students to know that strategic planning is an ongoing process that will never stop at the College. Barham and Hopkins reminded students that SGA and Campus Council meetings are always open to the public and they encourage students to attend to learn more about what is going on and to voice any opinions they feel need to be heard.