<eat Hall plays host to a wide range of activities during Common Time, but not all of them give students the chance to have a meaningful say in Carleton’s future.
That changed this Tuesday when students gathered in the Great Hall for a special Strategic Planning town hall meeting hosted by the Advising and Mentoring group and the Community group.
“We’re holding forums with staff, faculty, and students,” said Kristen Vellinger ‘12, a member of the Advising and Mentoring working group.
By holding these interviews, Vellinger’s group hoped to better understand the role advisors of different types play at Carleton.
The College’s Strategic Planning Foundation meets every ten years to discuss the school’s future. In total, there are thirteen Strategic Planning Working groups, each one focused on a different aspect of Carleton’s activities.
Towards the end of April, they will each submit documents suggesting improvements Carleton should make over the next ten years.
“We’re looking at how people define Advising and Mentoring,” Vellinger said. They were also examining the needs of different class groups— incoming freshmen need different types of advice, and different advisors—than seniors working on comps projects.
“Are those needs being met?” Vellinger asked.
No one in the Community subgroup was available for interview. Their group focuses on what sort of community Carleton should develop on campus, and how it should interact with the larger community in Northfield.
During the hour-long meeting, the attendees split up into groups to discuss these issues, and then individual students stood up and spoke publicly about their ideas.
Vellinger was generally happy with how the meeting turned out, but her group will continue to collect information through an online survey, and spend the rest of the term compiling responses; her group’s goal is to have a finished proposal by the end of the academic year.
“It’s going really well,” she said. “It’s exciting to discuss these issues and meet with groups on campus.”