Provost Mark Schlissel P'15 spoke about the University's strategic planning initiatives at Wednesday night's general body meeting of the Undergraduate Council of Students.
"Smart people realize that plans are meant to continuously evolve," he said.
The planning stage should take the academic year to complete. The University announced this week the establishment of six planning committees to assess upcoming goals.
Current questions under consideration by the ad hoc committees will include online education, continuing renovations, expanding the endowment and universal financial aid, he said.
"It's not a no-brainer," he said of need-blind admission for international students. The University already spends around $90 million - or upwards of 10 percent of its budget - on financial aid. Still, the planning committees will consider the logistics of expanding their need-blind acceptance policy to international, transfer and resumed undergraduate education students.
The goal of planning is "to make what we do more valuable to the world," he said.
Schlissel also spoke about the recent damage to furniture and exit signs in Keeney Quadrangle.
"This is a problem that I'm embarrassed by," he said, adding that there seems to be a cultural acceptance of property destruction in certain dorms. "They're expected to be trashed," he said of the Keeney lounges.
Several students were also appointed to faculty-student committees during the meeting. Meric Ozgen '14 will serve on the Campus Planning Advisory Board, Efe Cudjoe '15 and Rachel Leiken '16 were selected as representatives to the Diversity Advisory Board, and Ian Trupin '13.5 was elected to the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices.
Abigail Braiman '15, chair of the Committee for Admissions and Student Services, said her committee met with the CareerLAB about holding a panel for international students focusing on the logistics of working in the US job market.
Afia Kwakwa '14, chair of the Campus Life committee, said the committee is working on a guide to sophomore and junior housing, as well as changes to food and utilities in the dining halls.
