With so much happening on the national scene this fall, I can imagine that you may not have been focused on what’s happening at Carleton. In contrast to the constant churn of the news cycle, the rituals, rhythms, and regularity of life at an academic institution can lull you into assuming that nothing is changing. In fact, we’re hard at work implementing the transformative goals of the strategic direction we approved last year, Carleton 2033: The Liberal Arts in Action, and we’re excited about the progress we are making.
The goals of our strategic direction do not address the College in isolation. On the contrary, many of the plan’s recommended actions respond directly to national or global trends or issues. The world of admissions and financial aid, for example, has become increasingly challenging and competitive as colleges have worked to continue diversifying their student bodies in the wake of the Supreme Court decision outlawing consideration of race in the admissions process. Carleton has always placed a high value on socioeconomic diversity, and this effort has become increasingly important as other forms of diversity are less visible to us. The Carleton Access Initiative seeks to increase the resources available to bring students with the highest level of need to Carleton, and through the generosity of our community, we have already raised $30 million. Carleton 2033 calls for additional enhancements to our financial aid program, including expanding no-loan financial aid to a wider income band and reducing loan levels for all students on financial aid—and these will also become a focus of future fundraising efforts.
On a broader scale, the College’s new vision for sustainability reflects the need to equip Carleton students with the tools they will need to address the growing challenges brought by climate change. It has been developed and modified in light of recent research and evolving practices about how to maximize the impact that colleges can have. Carleton’s vision for sustainability has a strong curricular focus that seeks to use our leadership in the area of energy efficiency and sustainability as a laboratory for growth and innovation on the part of our students. Recognizing that ecosystems transcend the boundaries of campuses or nations, it calls for a community-centered approach to sustainable living and learning.
Carleton’s curriculum, too, is adapting to new directions both within and between traditional academic disciplines as the boundaries of knowledge continue to expand. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities is providing funding for Curricular Bridge Courses between Humanities and STEM fields, an initiative to support faculty in developing courses that demonstrate the powerful connections between seemingly disparate disciplines. Carleton was also the recipient of a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the Indigenous Engagement in Place initiative, which among other goals will help lay the groundwork for a proposed minor in Indigenous Studies. We also have a group of faculty and staff leading a campus-wide exploration of artificial intelligence and its impact on both curriculum and operations at the College.
The community-building goals of Carleton 2033 reflect many of the challenges that were evident on a national scale during and after the pandemic. Strengthening support for student health and well-being is a major objective that was the subject of its own task force. We have recently implemented its recommendation for 24/7 access to telehealth counseling, and are excited to be able to address many of our goals in this area through the construction of the Class of 1974 Center, a new home for Student Health and Counseling, which is now underway with planned completion in fall 2025. Other action items reflect broader goals of equity and agency. Specific recommendations for a more targeted wage structure for student jobs on campus, for example, and a more inclusive approach to staff representation in campus governance, are in the process of being designed and implemented.
Moving forward in these areas will take time, effort, and resources. But it is inspiring to see all the ways in which we as a community are working to address on campus the kinds of issues that might seem difficult to manage at a larger scale. This is one of the most important lessons our students can take from their Carleton experience: that working towards change here will prepare them for the impact they can have on the broader communities they will join later.
—Alison Byerly