Emergent Opportunities

Community-Building Actions

• Exploration of common hour possibility. (Provost, Registrar, Chair of Faculty, Bi-Co colleagues).
• Provide moments to gather and process current events that have a broad impact on campus. (President, Dean of Undergraduate College, Dean of Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Dean of Graduate Studies, Chief Enrollment Officer).
• Continue to experiment with ways to communicate about events on campus. (Chief Communications Officer).

Faculty, Student and Staff Support

• Begin process to evaluate/determine resources needed to rebalance faculty workload, including the possibility of moving to a 2/2 teaching load for faculty to relieve faculty strain and to recognize the less formal forms of student/faculty interactions that are important to our educational mission. (Provost, Rebalancing Faculty Workload Committee, CAP, CA, Department Chairs, Full Faculty).

Connection to the Broader Community

• Re-evaluate our existing Climate Action Plan to raise awareness and to tweak again with community input (post-COVID). (Director of Facilities, Chief Communications Officer, Provost.)

Community-Building Actions

• Experiment with a weekly coffee hour at a designated time that will change each semester.  Attendance was strong and higher than the past practice of sporadically scheduled coffee hours. (President’s Office, Chief Alumnae/i Relations and Development Officer).

Faculty, Student and Staff Support

• Additional staffing for Access Services --- move director to full time; added a full-time associate director position; continue GSSWSR intern. (Dean of Undergraduate College).
• Two faculty lines added to address enrollment pressures. Positions given to Psychology and Math have been filled. (Provost, CAP, CA).

Connection to the Broader Community

• Free monthly SEPTA passes during the academic year for undergraduate and graduate students so that they can take advantage of opportunities/events in Philly. Pilot Program to start in September 2024. (Dean of Undergraduate College, Provost, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, SGA leadership).

Community-Building Actions

• Explore revival of the Community Day of Learning. (President’s Office, Provost, Chair of Faculty, Dean of Undergraduate College, Dean of Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Dean of Graduate Studies, Director of Athletics and Physical Education, SGA President).
• Hold open houses so community members can get to know various departments on campus --- use Communications recent event as the model. (Chief of Staff, Chief Communications Officer).

• CAP processes to take advantage of institutional data and to take a multi-year, future orientation to allocation of faculty lines.  Coordination with Curriculum Committee to make sure that staffing can meet program expansion.  How can CAP and the Provost respond to the pressure of departmental contributions and cross-departmental initiatives that create pressure on faculty resources? Provost, Chair of CAP, Registrar, Institutional Research.

• Course scheduling to take advantage of the full week and de-densify course times so that students can take full advantage of the offerings.  (Provost, Registrar).
• Continued evaluation of dining options, particularly in light of desire for building community and in consideration of growing need for flexibility for students with diverse food needs. (Dean of Undergraduate College, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Director of Dining Services).