AU needs to create a better "neutral space" on the university's campus where different campus communities feel they can connect with one another, School of Communication Artist-in-Residence Russell Williams said during the Strategic Plan Steering Committee's first town hall meeting Friday.
"Yes, Mary Graydon Center is the student center so to speak, but people from other parts of the university may not feel that they can just come into Mary Graydon and have meetings without stepping on toes," he said. "In the long-range plan, there needs to be a different type of physical space to allow people ... from the diverse areas of the campus to come and interact with each other."
The committee established a set of six overarching themes to guide the discussion, including "student centeredness" and "a life-long connection to AU," according to information the committee e-mailed to all participants who responded to an R.S.V.P. request.
Participants began by discussing different issues and topics over lunch. They then designated one person from each group to report back what they discussed as part of a general discussion session.
Some participants said during the lunch portion of the meeting that the university also needs to improve its accessibility for visitors, according to Chipley Jones, a second-year graduate student in the School of Education, Teaching and Health and international student director for the Washington Semester Program.
"The big one that needs to be addressed is the Welcome Center," she said. "It's kind of hidden. Nobody knows where it is. There was a comment about the stains on the carpet. "
Julie Wickham, a School of International Service undergraduate adviser, said she came to the meeting because of the lunch and to see how things would go.
"I just wanted to see what would happen - who would show up and what people would say," she said. "I'm delighted there was a full house for this."
Jones said she was glad people from every level of the university got the chance to participate.
The meeting was the first in a series of six planned meetings for members of the AU community to give their opinions about what the university should focus on in its new strategic plan. The board approved a scope of the plan at the meeting Feb. 29, which gives them the ability to address issues in 14 different areas.
The committee will also launch a strategic planning Web site in the next two weeks, according to Committee Chairman William DeLone.
