In an open forum, Vice President for Student Life Eddie Knowles presented next year’s performance plan for the Department of Student Life. In it, the department has identified improving the campus culture, heath and safety, and leadership education as its highest priorities for the next year. These priorities, along with the Institute-wide priorities, will shape the way that funds are budgeted for fiscal year 2005.
Every year, each department and office is required to create a performance plan. The performance plan contains the priorities of the office ranked in their order of importance. The office is then required to create goals that express each priority as well as develop strategies and methods to achieve those goals. These priorities are passed up to the office’s superior department. The department then ranks the priorities of the offices under it. Finally, the priorities of the institute as a whole are compiled. This final prioritized list is used in creating the budget for the next year.
Most of these plans are kept confidential and unavailable to student inspection. The performance plan for the Department of Student Life, however, is presented to an open forum every year. On Wednesday, December 1, Knowles presented the plan to a group consisting of students and administrators. The presentation was very quick, totaling 20 minutes, which was then followed by an open floor to discuss ideas currently in the performance plan and other possible ideas for student life.
One of the ideas discussed at length during the forum dealt with signature events. The hope with this initiative is to create memorable events that would be a draw for almost all of the student body. One example of a signature event from last year is the Guster concert that took place in the Houston Field House.
Plans were also discussed for the development of an annual Greek Life Summit to be hosted by RPI. According to the performance plan, this summit would focus on “creating systemic change and promoting Greek Life [at RPI] as a national model of excellence.”
Another idea that was brought up dealt with the possible creation of an inter-collegiate video gaming team, likely as a club, to play against other area schools. Athletics Director Ken Ralph said that he could see all three screens in DCC 308 displaying various games at one time, and possibly such an inter-collegiate competition. “Maybe it is something people would like,” said Ralph.
Toward the end of the forum, Max Yates ’06 pointed out the rift that seems to exist between the administration and students and used the fact that the administrators were sitting on one side of the aisle and the students were sitting on the other to make the point. As a first step in stopping this separation, Yates suggested “that we mix up right now” and exchange seats of administrators and students, and many administrators and students did so.
Next semester, President Shirley Ann Jackson will be taking a step that is hoped will remove some of this rift by holding brown bag lunches in the Union. These brown bag lunches will take place once a month and will be hosted by Jackson. She will be there eating her lunch and will be participating in open discussion with anyone who wishes to come and bring their own sack lunch. The discussions will not have an agenda. The first of these lunches will take place at noon on Tuesday, February 1, 2005, in Mother’s Wine Emporium.
