September 20, 2018
Dear Members of the CMU Community:
At Carnegie Mellon, we strive to maintain a campus environment that helps students, faculty and staff excel in all that they do. Over the past two years, members of the Task Force on the CMU Experience have recommended and implemented initiatives that nurture a healthy mind, body and spirit and form the foundation for sustained personal and professional success.
As we enter year three, the Task Force has organized into teams to advance areas of improvement for our campus community. These groups will continue to focus on efforts that make a positive impact on our campus, such as:
- Expanding opportunities committed to fitness.Group-X fitness classes will now be offered to all CMU faculty and staff, in addition to students, at no cost starting this October. This initiative is supported by our Human Resources and Athletics departments (more information coming soon);
- Enabling meaningful faculty interactions with students. Based on feedback from prior years, a CMU faculty ecosystem initiative for ongoing faculty development aims to enhance awareness and share best practices among peers that support student well-being;
- Improving our advising capabilities. Task Force members are assessing our current practices to create a holistic student advising model that takes into account multiple dimensions of students’ full CMU experience during their entire time on campus;
- Adjusting academic policies and practices, including the overload policy and the drop/withdrawal deadlines in the academic calendar to support students making better, informed workload decisions regarding their studies;
- Making progress on the classroom and learning space renovation project in collaboration with CMU’s Teaching & Learning Spaces Committee, for improved class experiences for students and faculty;
- Identifying campus community improvements. Three chosen projects submitted in this year’s UPLift Challenge will be unveiled later this semester;
- Implementing campus dining enhancements. Recent renovations to the Underground at Morewood Gardens, Wean Lobby and La Prima Expresso, and Entropy, as well as the new dining area in the Tepper Building, offer better options for social gathering spaces and eating establishments; and
- Adding new health & wellness facilities. The design process for a new Health, Wellness, Athletics and Recreation Center at the Skibo Gym site is currently underway, envisioned as a central destination for fitness and wellness resources at CMU.
We would like to thank all of the Task Force members, and the additional faculty, staff, students and alumni whose time and dedication continue to make great strides in making CMU an amazing place to study, teach and work
Visit the Task Force webpage throughout the year for the latest developments on making the CMU Experience better for us all.
Wishing you a successful and healthy academic year,
Laurie R. Weingart
Interim Provost
Richard M. and Margaret S. Cyert Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory
Task Force Chair
Gina Casalegno
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Task Force Vice-Chair
Diana Marculescu
David Edward Schramm Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Founding Director, Center for Faculty Success, College of Engineering
Task Force Vice-Chair