Approximately 150 students, alumni, faculty and staff attended the first strategic planning kickoff event Sept. 27 in the Emerson Suites, which was hosted in an effort to get feedback from the community about Ithaca College’s strategic planning process.
Members of the strategic planning design team, including Jason Freitag, professor in the Department of History and co-chair of the design team, and La Jerne Cornish, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and co-chair of the design team, outlined a timeline of goals they plan to achieve. According to the strategic planning section of the college’s website, a draft of the plan should be available to the public to review by the spring of 2019, and the final document will be completed over summer 2019. At the event, Freitag also announced the 13 members of the steering committee for the strategic planning process. During the event, members of the community were asked to talk with one another and write down the top three areas that they would like to see focused on in the strategic plan.
Freitag said it is crucial for the entire community to come together and have discussions to make the strategic plan all inclusive, a sentiment shared by other members of the design team and the president’s office at the All-College Gathering on Aug. 23.
“We are trying to be together as a community, helping each other through this process,” Freitag said.
At the event, attendees raised issues with the lack of interaction among students, alumni, faculty and staff and the stress for low-income students to pay off debt along with other issues.
Benjamin Costello, executive director of advancement services and a member of the design team, said the college should make students more aware of alumni networks available.
The steering committee consists of junior Raquel Jacobs; freshman Mark Scaglione; Paula Ioanide, associate professor in the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity; Dawn Pierce, assistant professor in the Department of Performance Studies; Gordon Rowland, professor in the Department of Strategic Communication; Casey Kendall, executive director of applications and infrastructure in the Department of Information Technology; Bonnie Prunty, dean of students in the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Life; Tiffany Valentin, Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) coordinator and counselor in the Office of State Grants; Gerard Turbide, vice president for the Division of Enrollment Management; Schelley Michell-Nunn, director of human resources for the City of Ithaca; and members of the college board of trustees, Luvelle Brown, superintendent of the Ithaca City School District; and David Fleisher II ’91, Parent ’20; and alumnus Cedrick-Michael Simmons, ’14.
Freshman journalism major Mark Scaglione is a member of the steering committee. He said he wanted to be part of the strategic planning process because he is invested in the future of the college.
“I think in high school I was very involved, and I just wanted to continue that here,” Scaglione said. “I know this is a five-year plan. I want to be involved and see the shape of IC and what happens to it. I really want to represent all different student communities.”
All members of the community can provide feedback online on the college’s strategic planning webpage.
Correction: The previous version of this article misrepresented comments made by faculty members at the event and have been adjusted to accurately reflect their feelings. Additionally, language has been adjusted to accurately reflect the feedback participants gave to the presenters. Additionally comments made by Benjamin Costello, executive director of the advancement services and a member of the design team, were adjusted to reflect the accuracy of his thoughts. Also the title for the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity was originally misreported and is not correct. Schelley Michell-Nunn’s name has also been changed to reflect its correct spelling.
