Chair Mary Ellen Jackson started the meeting by having attendees introduce themselves—their name, job, and how long they’ve been with the College.

Campus-Wide Course Scheduling Committee

Karen Howell gave an update on the committee, which has been meeting weekly since June to examine current and anticipated problems in the course schedule and recommend possible solutions. The committee will meet with department heads this afternoon to see if its proposed schedules are feasible for them. A survey on the proposals also will be distributed. It’s anticipated to implement a new schedule in spring 2021.

There have to be 11 blocks of classes. Adding evening classes is being considered. Karen said the biggest challenge has been incorporating 15 minutes of passing time between classes and a 4 p.m. stopping time for athletics.

One of the possibilities is starting classes at 7:45 a.m. Tim Uhrich noted that most dining facilities aren’t timed for that.

Faculty and staff are concerned about crowding in dining facilities; students aren’t.

Schedule changes might require staggering the times of some administrative departments.

For more information, view background material provided for the November open meetings that gathered feedback from the campus community.

Working groups

Amir Tejani gave an update on the three working groups created in response to the 2017-18 Campus Climate Survey. Chairs of the groups invited people to join. Amir said they are gathering as much information as possible and working with the campus community as they deliberately seeking solutions. The spring deadline for answers was probably too ambitious. There won’t be one answer to these challenges. The groups will be reporting out to the campus, probably first with key findings. 

Optimizing Year-Round Use of Campus Facilities
This arose from the Deloitte study on opportunities in higher education and the departure of the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth summer program. One issue to address is the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from open beds left by students studying abroad for the spring semester. One possibility is to bring in a group of new students in the spring who have taken a gap semester or studied abroad in the fall.

Student Campus Employment
This group is exploring how to expand meaningful work opportunities for students and make the best use of work-study funds. All work-study money is already within departments as opposed to a centralized place where departments apply for it. Also, students want a higher minimum wage

Recreation Services has a system of responsibilities and promotion that mirrors the modern-day workforce. How can that be replicated and scaled elsewhere on campus?

The group is working on having all positions listed in Career Spot.

Campus Events Analysis
The high volume of campus events creates space pressures, event conflicts, and resource challenges. This group is studying the type and frequency of events offered and considering the centralized efforts that would most effectively provide high-quality programming and maximize campus engagement.

Transition to Google Drive

Hannah Tatu explained that the College is running out of storage space, and instead of buying more, it’s decided to move content from the U and P network drives to Google Drive, which it’s had for the past 10 years. This education version is HIPAA compliant and offers more security than free individual accounts. The trash folder is never emptied. Files will be accessible on people’s phones, with no need for VPN. 
Users can log into Filestream with their Lafayette credentials. The G Drive will show up, and they can drag items there from the U network drive. This is a good opportunity to delete unneeded files. By July 1, the U drive will be in read-only mode. 

There is training for the transition later today as well as on March 18 in Pardee 28 (in the basement; turn left off the elevator).

Parent and Family Relations

Director Amy Blythe said she’s the liaison between the College and parents and families. She provides resources to parents through the website and regular newsletters. She tries to provide educational materials to lessen how often parents reach out to campus offices. If you want information communicated to parents, let Amy know.

Amy also runs programming throughout the year for the incoming class. She sends a welcome email to incoming students. Regional welcome events for incoming students are hosted throughout the country by parents and alumni at their homes and offices.

About 1,500 family members visit campus on Family Weekend. Those with high school juniors are invited to a daylong session to help with the college search. There is an orientation session for parents on Move-in Day.

A few parents stay active after their children have graduated. Parents are encouraged to attend alumni events.

Admin Council

The council will meet in early March to plan the rest of the semester. If someone is an expert is something, please volunteer to give a presentation.

Minutes compiled by Dave Block ’93