Upon his arrival last year, President
Dan Weiss made the commitment that
he would engage the Lafayette community
in a process of reflecting on the strategic direction of the College. He describes it as beginning a series of “conversations” with alumni, faculty, students, parents, staff and others about “building upon the momentum 
of what has been done before.” To capitalize on
what he calls “our infrastructure of excellence.”
The strategic planning process—the conversation—
has begun. It will continue through next year and focus on intellectual capital, on investments in people, and building
programs that allow Lafayette to strengthen its curriculum
and the programs offered to our students.
To accomplish this, the strategic planning process will
study the size and structure of our faculty, the flexibility and diversity of our curriculum, the ways we support our students,
our financial aid programs, and a host of issues associated
with academic excellence.
The strategic planning process also will look closely at
diversity and how Lafayette can foster it on our campus—how
the College can create a more interesting learning environment
that reflects the range of student populations that may be
attracted here, as well as faculty and staff.
Additional topics are listed in the column on the right,
and others will emerge through the conversation and
planning process itself.
In the coming year, Lafayette Alumni News will follow closely the strategic planning process until the authoring of the document is complete. The cover story of the next issue of this magazine (October 2006) will examine the strategic planning process and explore the elements of a strategic plan.
President Weiss encourages participation and feedback from all members of the Lafayette community on the future of the College and the strategic planning process. Comments can be made either privately to President Weiss (weissd@lafayette.edu), or publicly to Lafayette Alumni News (alumninews@lafayette.edu), or both.
