Diversity and buildings are on the mind of St. Olaf students, at least according to the recent strategic planning survey sent out by the office of President David Anderson ‘74. The survey was distributed in January via e-mails to students, faculty and staff, alumni and the Board of Regents. Results of the survey, which asked for responses to three simple and open-ended questions, were released to students by President Anderson in the first week of the new semester via e-mail.
“The strategic planning survey opened a window into what a broad range of members of the St. Olaf family regarded as our greatest strengths, areas for improvement, and our top priorities,” Anderson said in an e-mail. “It will help inform our thinking about future directions for the college.”
The first of three questions in the initial survey asked about the strengths of the college, the second addressed areas in which the college could improve and the third got specific in asking for direction on the college’s top priorities over the next five to ten years.
In terms of strengths, all groups except for the Board of Regents demonstrated appreciation for the development of a global perspective within the curriculum of each major. Other strengths mentioned were the physical campus and facilities, particularly the beauty, aesthetic, natural lands, buildings and the location in Northfield.
Students were not nearly as focused on the Lutheran affiliation of the church as were the alumni, Board of Regents and staff. Other important issues to the Regents and alumni were the mission and vision of the college which includes “emphasis and adherence to the college’s mission and vision; campus safety; honor code; commitment to public service and community outreach.”
The second question asked for comments on areas that needed improvements. Across the board, increase in diversity was deemed most important. Faculty were primarily concerned with hiring and retaining high quality and diverse faculty as well as “improv[ing] the consistency in quality of teaching; provide more support for faculty development, [and] research and curricular experimentation.” Alumni were interested in the diversification of the student body and with increasing the interaction between students and alumni, as well as between students and Regents.
The third question looked at the future of the college and what its top priorities should be for the immediate future. Again, a central point of agreement between the four respondent groups came in the push to recruit a more diverse student body with regards to race, culture, socioeconomic, geographic and other factors. Students also expressed that it would be in the best interest of the college to improve the dorms.
Across the board, diversity was emphasized as an important area of concern for improvement, as well as finances. The Regents were most concerned about increasing the endowment. Alumni thought that the reputation of the college could be improved.
The Board of Regents met on campus last week. President Anderson explained that the Board plans to do an environmental assessment of the college.
“It asks the question ‘What external forces and trends should we be aware of as we chart the future of the college?’ So we are going to do that,” Anderson said in an e-mail. “The Board will discuss the results of that assessment at their May meeting and then take the next steps in planning.”
With the responses to all three survey questions, there was a strong concern about the diversity of the college from students, faculty and staff, alumni and the Board of Regents.
“I feel diversity is essential in regards to our intellectual diversity and attracting students from a diverse nation,” Jason Teiken ’10 said. “I think we should branch out and innovate our admissions process, which is happening.”
Other students expressed that the college was diverse, but there were other problems that need to be dealt with.
“I think that the student body has a broad enough mix, without totally ignoring the culture of the school,” Nelson Lind ’10 said.
“It’s diverse, but doesn’t support the integration of cultures,” Krissy Johnson ’10 said.
southwor@stolaf.edu
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