Gianna Hayes and Julia Garrison
News Editors
President Anne McCall addressed the College community in Gault Recital Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 17 in her second campus-wide meeting in a presentation titled “Framing Our Future.” She outlined a strategic action plan for the College’s next steps in financial security and longevity as an institution.
Approved by the board of trustees on Sept. 11, McCall laid out the plan in three pillars, representative of four aspects of the campus community. The plan is currently set to be an expedited three-year process. The administration will revisit the plan later with a more “reasonable timeline,” laying out the possibility of a five-year plan instead.
“[The plan] harnesses creativity and innovation to bring Wooster’s extraordinary education to those who will thrive here,” McCall said. “[It will draw] students through academic innovations, experiential learning for all and vibrant campus neighborhoods.”
The first pillar seeks to achieve the goal of “financial vitality for extraordinary student experience,” McCall said. This part of the plan lays out the College’s plan to reach budget stability by the fiscal year 2027. McCall stressed the importance of “embed[ding] long term financial discipline into all our practices.”
This pillar involves creating new sources of revenue for the College. These include launching programs that would make the College “more competitive” in its curriculum, including the mention of new courses and experiential learning offerings — both digitally and physically. It seeks to address issues of enrollment by increasing entry routes to the College through improved recruiting techniques.
Pillar two seeks to “reignite our mission and vision.” The department of marketing and communications held focus groups last week to help strengthen Wooster’s brand identity and a vision for a new website. The focus groups were facilitated by Director of Marketing and Communications Alexa Konstantinos with help from an outside branding and identity consultation firm. According to McCall, Konstantinos had shared that the panels were integral to their findings — which will not be available until a few months from now.
“What this pillar focuses on is providing a vision of elevated academic and experiential innovations built on the strong foundation of Wooster’s identity and traditions,” said McCall. In this vein, McCall hopes to incorporate more experiential learning — like professional opportunities — into the student experience at Wooster.
Pillar three focuses on strengthening campus community with the proposal of a “Wooster Village,” mentioned by McCall multiple times throughout her address as a possibility for the future of student housing at Wooster. McCall also mentioned the need for a welcoming work environment — where Wooster can be seen as a top choice for employees searching for their first or next job opportunity in higher education.
During the infrastructure portion of her presentation, McCall outlined that Douglass Hall is on-track to reopen in July 2025, with the bottom two floors housing first-year students and the second two floors housing upper-level students — a living situation not generally custom of the College, with dorms usually designated as either first-year or upper-level student hubs.
The formal presentation concluded with a call to action to “get involved appropriately in ways that work in your schedules, in ways that pull on your skills and ideas, your aspirations.” While discussing creating an environment that students, faculty and staff can thrive in, McCall also mentioned criticism between “different groups on campus that may be blaming different groups on campus,” urging the community to “set aside that way of thinking,” to continue, according to McCall, to better the College community.
After the official presentation wrapped up, McCall and her cabinet opened the floor for questions. McCall, seated in the middle of her 11-person cabinet, held a microphone and passed it to relevant administrators who helped answer attendees’ questions.
The first question was from Elys Kettling Law, research and information services librarian. Law asked about whether or not the new strategic plan laid out ideas on incorporating the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance into current and future buildings and community spaces.
McCall explained that “[the College] can only do one project at a time,” but offered examples of compliant infrastructure put in since her arrival to the College, such as Douglass’ renovations, and the ramp leading up to the president’s house.
McCall mentioned the role of disability advocacy at the College, explaining that “[ADA compliance] is a basic concern and that we need to be mindful of it in absolutely everything we do.” Lin Hillis, vice president for human resources and interim vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, added on to McCall’s remarks, outlining the College’s broader goal of being an “employer of choice.”
“One of the main pieces of employee engagement is getting to work with a diverse workforce,” Hillis said. “[A] diverse workforce is not only just what religion you believe, what your sexual orientation is, what the color of your skin is — there’s also invisible diversity too.”
According to Hillis, “invisible diversity” includes an individual’s personality type, background and financial situation. She and CDI have been working to put together a curriculum for faculty and staff to improve employee belonging on campus.
A question brought up by both Law and another attendee, German Studies professor Beth Muellner, regarded the Underground (UG). McCall addressed concerns for developing the UG into an ADA-compliant space last academic year, with a focus on working with students to provide a new, more accessible space. “I’m personally in waiting mode,” she said, referring to the lack of students’ responses. Muellner encouraged “alternative ways to utilize the spaces that have become beloved to students” as opposed to providing replacements or alternatives. McCall responded, citing the “technical reasons” the UG could not be made compliant.
The official strategic plan was sent in an email at 4 p.m. on Sept. 17 following McCall’s address. The email included the strategic plan and the presentation that was used during the address. McCall also attached a form where the campus community can share their thoughts about the strategic plan.
