How We Developed

Our Strategic Plan

In the Fall 2009 semester, Dean Benjamin Rifkin put out a call for faculty, staff, current students, and alumni to join a Strategic Planning Committee to draft a new strategic plan for the School of Culture and Society.  Over 50 individuals agreed to serve; Dr. Celia Chazelle, Professor and Chair of the History Department, agreed to serve as the Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.

The Committee met in plenary session in October 2009 and mapped out a process for members of the Committee of the Whole to work in the following subcommittees:  Advising, Alumni Relations, Community and Community Outreach, Consistency (with TCNJ documents), Curriculum and Student Learning, Ethics, Faculty, Fundraising and Development, Intellectual Climate, Internationalization, Leadership and Governance.

The subcommittees met and developed questions for the larger community; these questions were collated into a survey sent by e-mail to all faculty, staff, current students and alumni.  Responses to the survey were sent back to the subcommittees for their consideration.  The subcommittees drafted sections of the proposed strategic plan, which were shared through a Wiki with all members of the entire Strategic Planning Committee.

A drafting committee assembled in early December 2009 to create a draft of the Strategic Plan based on the sections created by the subcommittees.  This draft was posted to the Wiki for comment and then sent by e-mail attachment to the entire Humanities & Social Sciences community.

A series of public fora were held in February and March for faculty, staff, current students and alumni to share their concerns and thoughts about the proposed Strategic Plan.  Another survey, asking for comments and reactions, was also sent by e-mail to all members of the Humanities & Social Sciences community.

Another drafting committee, consisting of volunteers from the larger Strategic Planning Committee, gathered in April 2010 to review all the comments received through the comment period fora and survey.  The drafting committee considered all the comments and suggestions and revised the Strategic Plan.  This revised version was then posted on the website of the School of Culture and Society in mid-April 2010.  At that same time, all faculty, staff, current students, and alumni were asked by e-mail to vote to affirm or not to affirm the proposed Strategic Plan by participating in one final survey no later than Friday, April 30, 2010.  97.5% of those responding voted to affirm the proposed Strategic Plan, a great consensus to complete the effort on this important project.

We are grateful to the following individuals for their time, energy, and dedication to this project and are especially grateful to those individuals who chaired subcommittees for this process, as noted below: 

Professor Robert Anderson (Sociology, Liberal Learning), chair of Subcommittee on Advising

Ms. Meg Ayers (Staff, History Department)

Mr. Greg Caiola (Alumnus)

Ms. Joanne Cantor (Staff, Philosophy & Religion)

Professor Celia Chazelle (History), Chair of Committee

Professor He-Len Chung (Psychology)

Professor Holly Didi-Ogren (World Languages & Cultures / Japanese), Chair of Subcommittee on Internationalization

Mr. Patrick Donohue (Bonner Center), Chair of Subcommittee on Community and Community Outreach

Ms. Amanda Esposito (Student)

Dr. Candice Feiring (Psychology, Academic Affairs)

Professor Alvin Figueroa (World Languages & Cultures / Spanish)

Dr. Christopher Fisher (History & African American Studies)

Dr. Debra Frank (Institutional Effectiveness)

Professor Ellen Friedman, (English)

Professor Janet Gray (Women’s and Gender Studies)

Ms. Lynette Harris (Career Center)

Ms. Eileen Heddy (Alumna)

Mr. Ray Hennessey (Alumnus), Chair of Subcommittee on Consistency

Professor David Holleran (Criminology)

Ms. Mary Lynn Hopps (WILL)

Professor Jean Kirnan (Psychology)

Mr. Chris Larthey (Information Technology)

Professor Rebecca Li (Sociology), chair of Subcommittee on Curriculum and Student Learning

Professor Miriam Lowi (Political Science / International Studies)

Mr. Peter Manetas (Development)

Mr. Nicholas Manetto (Alumnus), chair of Subcommittee on Alumni Relations

Ms. Nancy Mansfield (Development)

Ms. Lisa McCarthy (Alumni Affairs)

Ms. Rebecca McGrath (Development)

Mr. Marc Meola (Library)

Professor Jiayan Mi (English, World Languages & Cultures / Chinese)

Mr. Christopher Morris (Student), Chair of Subcommittee on Leadership and Governance

Ms. Ceceilia O’Callaghan (Career Center)

Professor Kim Pearson (Journalism)

Mr. Andrew Polansky (Alumnus)

Professor Brian Potter (Political Science / International Studies)

Professor John Ruscio (Psychology)

Dean Benjamin Rifkin

Professor Qin Shao (History), Chair of Subcommittee on Intellectual Climate

Professor John Sisko (Philosophy & Religion, Honors Program)

Dr. Jon Stauff (Center for Global Engagement)

Professor Felicia Steele (English), Chair of Subcommittee on Fundraising and Development

Professor Glenn Steinberg (English, First Seminar Program), Chair of Subcommittee on Faculty

Professor David Stillman (Staff, World Languages & Cultures / Spanish)

Ms. Sara Stryker (Student)

Professor James S. Taylor (Philosophy & Religion)

Professor Morton Winston (Philosophy & Religion)