Last month, President Shirley Ann Jackson announced plans to refresh the Rensselaer Plan. Two weeks ago, Jackson appointed a Reassessment Leadership Committee, dubbed “RealCom 2.0,” to oversee the refresh of the plan, which includes Provost Prabhat Hajela as Chair, along with various vice presidents, deans, professors, students (such as former President of the Union Nikki Gallant ’13), and other members of the RPI community.
Originally announced in 1999 when Jackson first became president, the Plan brought a stronger focus on research and campus facilities. It has been a centerpiece of Jackson’s administration and has helped guide the decisions of the Board of Trustees.
Later this month, the reassessment committee will post a read-only draft of the new Plan for online review by members of the RPI community. They will also hold four public sessions on October 3-11 to gather opinions and feedback from students, staff, and faculty.
This solid instance of two-way communication from the administration definitely merits recognition. It represents another step in putting past year’s concerns to rest, and as long as the president and Board of Trustees follow through with what they hear, the new Rensselaer Plan will end up reflecting the stances of the entire RPI community.
Students and staff should definitely take advantage of this opportunity and sign up for the open sessions. Otherwise, the open sessions will act as nothing more than a gesture. The Plan represents the direction of the Institute and will influence future decisions of this school’s leadership.
The current text of the Rensselaer Plan is available at http://rpi.edu/president/plan/. Register online for the open sessions at http://rpi.edu/plan/; there will be four hour-and-a-half-long sessions on Wednesday, October 3 at 2 pm; Tuesday, October 9 at 7 pm; Wednesday, Octo2ber 10 at 2 pm; and Thursday October 11 at 10:30 am.