After some slight technical difficulties, the faculty meeting of Dec. 3, 2013 began.
The bulk of the meeting was made up of short reports from the chairs of the strategic planning committees concerning the work that they had begun undertaking and a short discussion about the strategic planning process going forward.
The second faculty meeting of the school year took place Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the red room. The meeting focused on updating the faculty concerning developing debates occurring on campus and featured a presentation by Chief Financial Officer Kevin Weinman on the College’s current financial situation.
Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
A: I come from Belgium, originally, in the heart of Europe, from near Brussels. In my family I was the first one to go to College. I studied in Belgium, then Sweden and then Switzerland where I got my Ph. D. I studied law and politics, two different degrees, and got my Ph. D. in international relations in Geneva.
The campus was bustling this summer as construction and design teams took over the campus, finishing up major projects before students flooded in for the new year.
The first of the major projects to be completed was Seligman Dormitory. As part of the residential master plan, which has it’s origins dating back to 2001 when the College put a plan in place to update or renovate all of the college dormitories and bring the freshman to the main quadrangle, Seligman Dormitory was renovated and expanded, doubling the bed capacity of the dormitory from 23 to 46.
Facing a daunting 14 percent acceptance rate, the members of the Class of 2017 arrived on campus this week, filled with energy as they unloaded their cars and embarked on their college experience.
The class were chosen out of 7,926 applicants, of which 1132 were accepted, with 466 students arriving on campus to make up the Class of 2017. With an almost perfect male to male ratio (there are four more women than men), the students have a large amount of geographic, socioeconomic and racial diversity.
Earlier this afternoon, President Biddy Martin emailed the College community, announcing that the administration and Board of Trustees have decided to halt the College’s current science center construction, and move it from the anticipated Merrill site to an alternative location.
According to President Martin, the decision was reached after extensive debate after Facilities staff announced to her a month ago that there was an accumulation of issues with the plans; they recommended not going forward with the current plan.
Two weeks ago, President Biddy Martin announced plans to turn the Power House, a brick building on the College’s southeast side that once provided power to the campus, into a space on campus for student activities.
