I gave a short primer on Lafayette 360 a few weeks ago but now that we actually held our Kick-Off event, President Weiss included a summary during his Board update, The Lafayette has some information, and we briefed Alumni Council on February 2nd, its time to help alumni dig a little deeper in to this initiative, which aims to foster:
Tighter integration among all phases of the undergraduate experience, from academics and residence life to co-curricular initiatives and community service. Laf360 will cover the full four-year arc of each student’s enrollment, with steadily rising expectations for the level of independence and responsibility he or she demonstrates from matriculation through graduation.
For starters, read the full description of the kick-off event, which was an example of the wide net the College is casting to pull many different stakeholder groups together. The core of the morning’s session introduced Lafayette 360 to all participants followed by a values exercise that broke the ~75 participants into small groups that proceeded to have a vigorous debate between increasingly larger groups (e.g., pairs, to tables, to the entire room) about the values of Lafayette College. All participants then took an online survey via smartphones, tablets & laptops that captured our thoughts on the values surfaced by the room.
A quick review appeared to reveal a gap between the participants’ perception of Lafayette’s current and aspirational values. Plans are in the works to share the exercise with the entire Lafayette community.
One of the most appealing aspects of Lafayette 360 is the strides the Executive Committee is taking to create a fully inclusive process. Already they’ve presented the same material they presented to the Board of Trustees to many different stakeholder groups around campus. In addition to the briefing to Alumni Council on Feb 2nd, the College is planning on taking the presentation on the road to several different alumni chapters.
We’re also considering options for giving information to all alumni nationwide for those unable to attend a road show presentation. If you have thoughts on how you’d like to receive information, please contact me at president@rhodke.org.
You can review the makeup of each committee and our respective charges at the Lafayette 360 website. As I mentioned in my previous post, part of the Steering Committee’s charge is to communicate to relevant constituents and stakeholders. As the Alumni Association representative on the Steering Committee, I’m viewing this as central to my role on the Steering Committee so please do contact me with any thoughts, comments, or questions – as many of you have in the past. And hold me accountable!
Below the fold is President Weiss’ recent update following the Board of Trustees’ winter meeting, which includes an announcement of Lafayette 360.
…
Read More