Posted on behalf of Tom Grape ’80, chairman of the Board of Trustees, and David Lissy ’87, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees.
We have just completed a two-day visit to campus, where, over the course of 22 meetings, we had the opportunity to speak directly with students, faculty, and staff about their concerns with campus climate, leadership, and governance issues. Along with the results of the student vote and the many emails and phone calls with parents, alums, students, faculty, and staff in recent weeks, these meetings have helped to provide us with a picture of the challenges confronting Ithaca College.
We wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some of what we’ve heard this week and over the last couple of months.
First, our visit further demonstrated to us what we had discussed during our October trustees meeting: That Ithaca College is not in a place where all students, faculty, and staff feel a sense of belonging and inclusion. We were particularly pained to hear once again from students of color who spoke in bravely personal terms about how interactions they had on campus had left them feeling alienated and caused them to lose their pride in Ithaca College. Just as importantly, we heard repeatedly that members of the IC community have raised these concerns and offered solutions in the past without seeing adequate action, leaving them with questions of how accountability will happen and a feeling of fatigue.
Second, we heard concerns about campus culture and leadership. In our meetings, students, faculty, and staff described insufficient levels of trust, transparency, and accountability. We heard many viewpoints about President Rochon and his leadership. We heard the word fatigue again, from staff who feel that they are being asked to do several jobs in one without clarity of their new roles, from faculty who feel there have been too many new strategic initiatives and ideas introduced in recent years, and from students who want to be able to give their full focus to their educational endeavors.
Third, we heard concerns and questions about Ithaca College’s governance. Students, faculty, and staff feel that they don’t have an adequate voice in college governance. Community members generally feel they don’t have information about how key strategic decisions are made and priorities are set. In one meeting, a participant described college governance as “a black hole.” To begin to address this shortcoming and opportunity for improvement, in the coming days we will share more information about how the Board of Trustees functions. We were encouraged to hear about Provost Rifkin’s group, made up of members from each constituency on campus, and its efforts to help reshape the future when it comes to shared governance. As you know, the Board passed a resolution at our last meeting to show our support for rethinking the shared governance structure at the college.
As we move forward, there are a few things we want to share with you. First, we are actively engaged on these issues, and we will continue to listen. Second, we will provide a detailed briefing on everything we have heard to the full Board of Trustees. Third, along with our fellow board members we will consider and act upon – in a holistic way – the complex issues and range of solutions that have been raised with us. Ultimately, we will need the collaboration of the entire IC community, working in a sustained way, to be successful.
We are grateful to everyone who has taken time to meet and speak with us, and we are heartened to see the strong commitment from across campus to improving Ithaca College, which shows that our community, now as ever, is thoughtful, vibrant, and engaged. We invite all of you to share your perspectives with us by emailing trustees@ithaca.edu. Although we cannot promise that we will be able to respond to each email individually, we can guarantee you that we will read every one and circulate it to all of the trustees.
On a personal note, we are both Ithaca College alumni who cherished our undergraduate experiences. We want all students to find their time on campus to be what it was for us: welcoming and rewarding. That is the work ahead, and we take it seriously.
Sincerely,
Tom Grape ’80 and David Lissy ’87
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20151203170638364