The Holden Annex ó dilapidated residence hall or the quintessential Wooster experience?† Can it be both?† Ryan Radtke í10, a Senior and former Resident Assistant. of the hall seems to think so.† In his experience, it was mutual misery that brought not only the students of the first-year hall, but also the R.A.s closer than any other housing on campus.† ìItís a shame itís closed” Radtke claims, ìbut the reasons are understandable.”
Why would the College of Wooster take such a drastic action as closing an Hall?† With the economy in shambles and nary a person left unscathed, the College of Wooster has been finding small ways to minimize costs, whether it be renting out its facilities, improving performance of its auxiliary operations or temporarily closing Kittredge dining hall and the Annex.
Kurt Holmes, the Dean of Students at Wooster, said there were other reasons for closing the hall as well.† With the re-opening of Babcock, a slightly smaller first-year class, and a fair number of students studying off-campus, it was an obvious choice.† As Holmes also acknowledged, ìThe Annex is an easily reversible action and thus meets the dual goals of saving costs and retaining the ability to use it in the future.”
To provide more information about the future of the Collegeís economic planning, Ellen Falduto, the associate vice-president for instituitonal research at Wooster, created a website called, ìOn Purpose Strategic Planning @ Wooster.”
When asked about Woosterís main goal in dealing with economic planning, Falduto replied, ìThe College has an amazing foundation, something we definitely donít want to change;† Itís a good college.† Now letís make it great.”
To help achieve this goal, students, teachers, alumni and community members will work together simultaneously, no matter what the economy may be like.
ìOur planning process is, as we say, ëpurposeful,í” Falduto says. ìWe will be guided by our mission and values, draw upon and empasize our strengths and distinctive characteristics, to identify a set of strategic initiatives that will achieve our vision.”
The College plans on accomplishing these goals by employing a variety of strategies. One of these strategies include holding numerous meetings to receive input from those interested in participating and planning discussions about the future of Wooster, including the future re-opening of the Annex .
If you would like to voice your opinion on the aforementioned, you can either post it on http://strategicplan.scotblogs.wooster.edu/ or go to one of the upcoming strategic planning meetings (time and location to be announced).