Chancellor Richard Telfer hosted the October Listening Session on Oct. 22, giving students and faculty an opportunity to ask questions and discuss university topics.

Telfer believes the Listening Sessions are something more students should take advantage of.

“It is a good opportunity,” Telfer said. “Some students make an appointment or catch me as I walk through the University Center but a lot of them are hit and miss. The listening sessions are a great way for students to talk to me.”

Normally, the listening sessions have no agenda. They encourage input, suggestions, and questions from the audience lead by Telfer and Provost Beverly Kopper.

This session was different. Telfer provided the audience with a handout from the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee, identifying what their goals are for the next two years for the university.

Telfer said the committee is reasonably comfortable with these goals, but they want to begin to present them to different organizations on campus to gather input and suggestions.

The main goal discussed was reviewing and adjusting the current academic program array, and creating new programs that align with the university mission.  Telfer said he wants the programs to evolve as the campus evolves.

This goal included a comprehensive approach to improve advising.  The committee said they believe there has been improvement in advising, but the university is not as far along as they need to be.

Eric Roche, an academic adviser, gave his input during the session about what he wants to see from the university in the next two years.

“I’ve seen growth in our first year programming and I feel we do a great job in retaining students, but I feel that there is much more we can do past the first year,” Roche said.

Along with advising, Telfer said the university plans to utilize and improve assessments of programs.

Roche said assessment is important to determine if programs are effective.

“I think it is a step in the right direction, in terms of advising, to look at our advising structure and assess if the consistency is there.”

Other topics Telfer touched on included education research, diversity and becoming involved with regional communities.

The final topic focused on professional and personal integrity. Telfer said the university plans to develop a reasonable structure for workload and compensation for to enhance the campus culture.  Telfer said these values are important for students, but they are harder to measure than the other goals.

“I think they are grand goals but I want students to see what is possible,” Telfer said.