Charge from the President’s Leadership Team
The Board of Regents Visioning Task Force has called upon the college to create a program that would result in “a four-year development plan for every Ole.” This program “should combine the requisite support with excellent academic resources and thoughtful, intentional mentoring.” The Program should “bring together classroom learning, advising and mentoring, engaged learning, co-curricular experiences, and post graduate planning, preparation and exploration.”
The Board expects a presentation of a plan for this new program to the full Board by the May, 2022 Board Meeting, with implementation beginning by Fall, 2022.
The President’s Leadership Team (PLT) has been charged with carrying out this work, and we think that is best accomplished through the “For Every Ole” task force. We believe that many of the elements of such a program already exist at the college, but they are not formed into a structured, coordinated, intentional program designed to achieve the outcomes contemplated by the Board’s Visioning Task Force.
Beginning with a careful reading of the Visioning Task Force’s report, and supplemented—but not constrained—by the document “Existing Advising, Mentoring, and Planning (AMP) Opportunities at St. Olaf College” prepared by Brandon Cash and Melody Geiger, and informed by input gathered from students, staff, and faculty, the “For Every Ole” Task Force is charged to develop a program that meets the goals articulated by the Board’s Visioning Task Force.
This program may incorporate existing programs at the college. The Task Force may also identify gaps in those existing programs and propose activities or programs that would fill those gaps.
The Board has set forth an aggressive timeline for this work. The Task Force should strive to meet that timeline if possible, but it should prioritize quality over speed in developing this program. There should be a progress report available for the next Board of Regents meeting in the first week of February and a completed, or substantially completed proposal by May 2022.
TASKFORCE MEMBERSHIP
Kirsten Cahoon, Director of the Piper Center, Chair
Brandon Cash, Director of Student Activities
Justin Fleming, Senior Associate Dean of Students
Steve Lindley, Director of Financial Aid
Reginald Miles, Interim Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Associate Dean of Admissions and Multicultural Recruitment
Susie Smalling, Professor of Social Work & Family Studies; Associate Dean of Social Sciences
Maggie Broner, Professor of Romance Languages – Spanish
Jenele Grassle, Associate Director of Alumni Career Services