Plan for MHC 2003 Discussed at First Faculty Meeting

The newly released first draft of the Plan for Mount Holyoke 2003 was the main topic of discussion at the September 11 faculty meeting. It was the first large forum at which the draft document was discussed, though additional gatherings for faculty, students, and staff are planned. President Creighton, who chaired the meeting, presented the "evolving draft plan," and a variety of professors addressed aspects of it.

Commenting on the Mission Statement section, Creighton noted that there was strong (though not unanimous) support among students, staff, alumnae, and faculty for keeping MHC a college for women. Psychology professor Francine Deutsch said she was thrilled the College was recommitting itself to remaining a women's college, and her statement was greeted with approval by several other faculty members.

There was also support for mission statement language that echoes, as Creighton put it, "overt idealism that reaches right back to the College's origins ... the idea that you can go out from here and make a change in the world." Professor of psychology Gail Hornstein praised the fervor and idealism of the language, saying the document "is truly a mission statement; it ought to be there to lead us on."

Considerable discussion followed on the implications of and appropriateness of terms used in the document, notably "advocacy" and "supportive."

In the Principles and Priorities section, described by Creighton as "a snapshot of MHC at one point in time," arguments were made for including the arts among the areas given priority, and requests were made for more information about the economic implications of the draft (this is currently being prepared) and for an explanation of how the areas given priority were chosen. There was much discussion about how changes would affect existing programs--how to slice the curricular "pie" differently. Creighton addressed that point by saying that combining the planning process with preliminary work on a comprehensive fundraising campaign will "let us do new things and support continuing things."

Discussion of remaining parts of the draft plan will continue at the October 2 faculty meeting.

In other business, faculty also heard updates about admissions, faculty grants, new faculty, and campus activities over the summer.