The College's long-range planning process, begun last fall, is identifying the basic principles and priorities that will guide Oberlin's decision-making over the next quarter century.
The most recent phase of the process was a series of town meetings held by 14 planning teams in early March. The teams (which in-clude faculty, staff, students, trustees, and alumni) had been organized around topics that emerged from last fall's focus groups as the most important for consideration by members of the College community.
Students, staff, faculty, as well as trustees and alumni on campus for the day moved freely among the meeting rooms in Peters Hall, contributing wide-ranging perspectives on the issues earlier identified as most critical to examine for preparation for the year 2020. Those topics are:
Attendance at each session ranged from a few to more than 50 participants, and President Nancy S. Dye said, "I think they went very well. The ones I went to were very substantive."
The planning teams will continue their work in March and April, and capture their thinking in brief summaries. Their reports will be reviewed by the Advisory Committee and used to create the set of long-range priorities for Oberlin. To develop further campus-wide understanding of and commitment to the broad, recommended directions, the long-range priorities will be discussed on campus this spring and reviewed with the trustees in June.
"This has been an open, interesting, and exciting process, involving all members of the College community in critical discussions about Oberlin's future," comments Danette DiBiasio Wineberg '68, president of the Alumni Association and member of the Advisory Committee.