Planning Progress (June 2017)

Members of the Hamilton Community,

This spring three committees of faculty, staff, students, and trustees engaged with the Hamilton community in generating ideas for Hamilton’s strategic planning process. These committees were focused around issues of student success, academic vision, and transformative ideas for the College as a whole. The process generated hundreds of ideas and suggestions. Thank you to everyone who took the time to engage in this process, most particularly the members of the three committees and their chairs—Monica Inzer, Marianne Janack, and Onno Oerlemans.

The three committees worked to narrow down the focus in each of their areas to 8-10 major priorities. During this process, some ideas emerged that would best be considered by specific individuals or offices on campus, and these ideas will be forwarded to the appropriate individuals and offices. The committees also discussed continuing support for some of the College’s core priorities, which we will maintain and continue to develop, including: our liberal arts mission, our commitment to need-blind admissions, and our efforts to build a diverse and inclusive community.

Roughly 30 ideas moved forward from the three committees as strategic initiatives. The steering committee has grouped them into at least three areas that we believe we should focus on in the immediate future. A fourth area centered on curriculum and faculty is still under discussion. We are in the process of setting up working groups with members whose expertise is closely connected to the three areas that have been identified. For more details on each area, see the attachments.

Each working group will work over the summer to explore aspects of its area and complete a report for the steering committee by mid-August. Each group is charged with studying in more depth the goals we are trying to achieve, some previously suggested actions Hamilton could take to meet those goals, and the impact these actions would have on students, faculty and staff, alumni, various units on campus, facilities, and budget. The working groups will send their recommendations to the steering committee by the beginning of the fall semester, and the steering committee will then engage the community in discussion and further development of these recommendations. The planning process is an iterative one and will benefit from your feedback and thoughts. 

Sincerely,

Margaret Gentry and David Wippman