Ad Hoc Bridge Planning Task Force

Charge (from 11/14/2005 ALLCAMPUS email from President Mitchell):

The task force's first principal objective is to identify measures for improving campus climate and diversity that can be implemented (or, at a minimum, agreed upon and authorized) before adoption of the Strategic Plan in April 2006. In addition, I expect the task force to be especially helpful in shaping the diversity strategy and initiatives in the Strategic Plan, in accordance with the planning calendar. Already the task force has developed a list of outcome expectations for the reviews by outside consultants of the Women's Resource Center and the Multicultural Student Services Office. The task force will follow the progress of these reviews carefully.

As articulated in the developing strategic plan, as Bucknell establishes itself as a leader in preparing its students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, we must have a campus community - our community of learning - that truly reflects the rich diversity of the global community. As I noted in my inaugural address, Bucknell must do better in areas of diversity, not only recruiting and retaining top students and staff from a variety of backgrounds areas such as ethnicity, geography, religion, race, sexual orientation, lifestyle, political thought, and socio-economic living situations, but promoting understanding across boundaries that often exist between and among these areas so that civil discourse and civic responsibility can be modeled on campus and taken beyond Bucknell. The work of the Bridge Planning Task Force will be key to moving us forward towards this goal, particularly during this time of staff transition and organizational restructuring.

Provost Mary DeCredico and Vice President Charlie Pollock will receive periodic reports and recommendations from the task force and use them to further the work being done at present in pertinent areas of the campus and for the ongoing discussion about strategic planning. We plan to hold an open forum on the diversity portion (along with all the other portions) of the strategic plan in the spring semester. In the meantime, you are welcomed and encouraged to contact any of the task force members to provide your thoughts.

Task Force Membership