n front of a group of students, faculty and staff, Guilford College President Kent Chabotar provided the community with an update on the status of the Strategic Long Range Planning (SLRP) Committee’s master plan for the college. The forum took place at 4 p.m. on March 2 in Bryan Auditorium.
The presentation elaborated on a February 13 press release. It also served as an update on the current progress of SLRP. Via Power Point, Chabotar touched on the key issues that the committee is addressing.
Guilford’s core values, according to Chabotar, were the basis for SLRP’s plan for the school’s future. Community, diversity, equality, excellence, integrity, justice, and stewardship were all listed as important standards for the school.
“Guilford aspires to be great everywhere, but academics come first,” said Chabotar in reference to the core value of excellence.
According to the press release, “Becoming a recognized national leader in offering a practical liberal arts education and achieving distinction and national recognition for excellence in specific academic programs within the sphere of small liberal arts colleges” were strategic priorities number one and two.
Making the college well known for certain areas of academics is on the agenda. However, the committee has not yet decided which ones will be highlighted. Chabotar posed some questions to the audience concerning the matter, asking, “What is Guilford known for? Are there areas that are currently popular to invest more time and money into?”
The size of the college is also an issue Chabotar and the committee intend to address.
“We expect to increase Guilford’s size to 3,000 in the next five to ten years,” he said. Chabotar plans to have a freshman class of 400 by the upcoming fall semester, which would set a new enrollment record for the school.
Chabotar also discussed the possibility of implementing a new interdisciplinary program in which a student is required to pick a world problem and get involved in helping to solve it in order to graduate. He even touched on the idea of graduate programs in years to come.
“Guilford is going to become a center for creative solutions,” he said. “We want students to leave with a potpourri of experiences in and out of the classroom. A Guilford transcript is more than just grades.”
The preservation of the school’s Quaker values was another topic Chabotar focused on during the forum.
He noted that it was “important to not try and be everything (but instead) be faithful to tradition,” referring to the maintaining the school’s strong religious heritage.
The president reminded the audience that a college is a business and that none of these changes were going to happen without the necessary economic means.
“We can do none of this without the money,” he said.
Following the speech Chabotar allowed time for questions from the community. Many students were concerned with making sure that the school was environmentally friendly and avoiding corporate sponsors that were morally questionable.
Committee member and Archdale Hall Secretary Janet Wright was pleased with the questions brought up by the community.
“People really seemed to understand what we were doing,” she said. “I was happy with their concerns, particularly the issue concerning ethical procurement and making sure that corporations agree with our moral standards.”
Senior Theodore Fetter was also optimistic about the forum.
“It was a hopeful presentation,” he said. “It seems that, in general, the school is headed in a good direction.”
Other issues brought up by the audience ranged from making sure there will be adequate housing for students with the planned population increase to the recent swell of part time faculty and how that will affect student-teacher interaction.
Some students also felt that the committee should address certain on-campus problems such as the continuing lack of emphasis on community before any major plans get underway.
Chabotar and the committee hope to have a more specific and clear-cut five-to-ten-year plan by the end of the semester.
Following more feedback from the community and trustees, a final written document will be brought to the board by June.
“This plan will not please everyone,” said Chabotar. “(But) I look forward to the day that Harvard is the Guilford College of New England.