At the all-college meeting last week, President Tom Rochon addressed faculty and staff with a positive message and outlook for the future. He said Ithaca College is currently on financially stable ground, with no foreseeable cuts —  a welcome statement for the college community that has withstood a year of financial uncertainty.

Rochon presented a new vision for the college, making a clear shift from Phase II’s “efficiency and effectiveness,” to a more bottom-up approach of “creativity and innovation.”

The president’s innovation advisory board, which could be ready by the spring, is assigned the difficult task of creating a grassroots bed of creativity and innovation. The administration’s efforts to challenge faculty and staff members and encourage their participation in recreating the current educational experience of the college is commendable.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to embrace this positive call for change by accepting Rochon’s challenge. The new board will only succeed if the college community rallies behind its efforts and the efforts of the administration to instill a more academically student-centered education.

While Rochon has pointed the college community in a new direction, the burden now lies on that community through the new advisory board to define and flesh out specific goals. The campus community is urged to meet Rochon’s challenge and help create new and innovative ways to make the college a truly worthwhile educational experience for current and future students.