In the spring of 2020, as the College faced an uncertain future due to the pandemic and subsequent U.S. economic collapse, the Board of Trustees formed the Bell Tower Committee to generate and vet ideas to support the long-term financial sustainability of Wells College.
The Board of Trustees, recognizing their fiduciary responsibility, worked with the College community and with the College's existing strategic plan to ensure that we have adequate resources to implement the plan and to measure the expected outcomes. The board's efforts are to assist the President's Cabinet to prioritize the plan in the coming months and years ahead, recognizing that the campus community is adapting to the uncertainties presented by COVID-19.
With that in mind, in late June, the Bell Tower Committee submitted its initial findings to the board and the president, fulfilling its charge. The board then formed a Strategic Planning Steering Committee to build upon those recommendations and the existing Wells College strategic plan, and formulate a prioritized strategic plan with expected outcomes for the next four years. By summer's end, the working group had identified four primary strategic objectives, with a cross-functional team of faculty, staff, students, alumni and trustees assigned to each objective.
In guiding their efforts, the committee is asking all to consider the following:
One key assumption shared by the entire group is that the College, to ultimately succeed in meeting the needs of a 21st-century student population, simply cannot continue to operate in all the same ways it has in the past.
This is truly our moment to transform Wells—the time is now.
Vicki Keller Panhuise '74, Trustee
Katie Fong '06, Alumna Trustee
Deborah Gagnon, Professor of Psychology
Charles Kenyon, Dean of Students
Gerard Turbide, Vice President of Enrollment Services
