Last April, the President’s Office convened a group of faculty and staff representatives from all areas of campus to explore the multiple ways Lafayette engages in the community and to determine how the President’s Office might best support these efforts. As the group continued to meet through the summer and into the fall semester, it became clear that the College is in need of better avenues for coordination and collaboration in its community engagement activities, as well as better articulated institutional goals and objectives related to this work. Further, in conversations with representatives from the community, it was evident that external stakeholders would appreciate a more visible point of entry for College engagement, as well as opportunities for more regular communication and outreach to share information and create action around mutual goals and values. In addition, the College could benefit from more opportunities to chronicle the multiple systems of community impact that originate from all areas of campus. Through these many conversations, it became evident that the College has a tremendous resource in the Landis Center and, with some restructuring and repositioning, the Center could become a central hub of coordination and collaboration for community engagement and outreach at the College.
The Center has long been at the crossroads of community engagement activity at Lafayette and has helped the College build many partnerships with local, regional, and global organizations that enhance student learning and contribute to the well-being of the community. This commitment to community activity and student engagement, coupled with the existing operational framework of Landis, have uniquely positioned the Center to accept additional responsibilities that will help advance Lafayette’s commitment to meaningful relationships beyond campus.
The Landis Center will continue to report to the Provost’s Office with significant collaboration with the President’s Office through the Chief of Staff and will continue to draw on existing knowledge and enlist others working in community engagement spaces to strengthen the structures and practices that support Lafayette’s connections to the community. As the primary point of contact for community engagement activities, the Landis Center will invite and respond to the interests and concerns of partners and local residents and work with all partners to identify shared goals and deploy resources to advance these goals. The Center will coordinate the structures that support community engagement activity, convene stakeholders around shared values and action, and communicate collective community impact to all partners.
In order to support this additional charge, the Landis Center will restructure some of their internal responsibilities. Chelsea Morrese will assume the role of Executive Director of Community Engagement in addition to her role as Director of the Landis Center. She will be responsible for supporting the College’s community-facing needs and ensuring that strategic initiatives for community engagement remain aligned with the emerging strategic plan and the underlying mission and values of Lafayette. She will represent College priorities to external stakeholders and respond to related inquiries, and convene a committee of internal and external stakeholders to identify and create action around shared values and commitments. As always, Chelsea will work with staff in the Landis Center to develop and facilitate the implementation of co-curricular programs and initiatives in engaged scholarship, civic leadership, and social advocacy with the goal of cultivating lasting, mutually empowering relationships with campus, community, and local government partners.
Caroline Lee will continue in the role of Faculty Director. Caroline will continue to facilitate the engaged scholarship community of practice, and will provide additional support to faculty pursuing community-engaged projects in their courses and research.
Jodi Fowler will move into the role of Associate Director of Civic Leadership programs. In addition to Landis’ flagship programs, MOSAIC, ASB, and POSP, Jodi will provide leadership to the LafKid Connect and Community Interns teams. She will also develop and coordinate Landis Peer Leadership initiatives and facilitate opportunities for Landis alumni engagement.
Christine Cohen will take on additional leadership responsibilities as a Program Manager with Landis. She will continue to manage the America Reads program and will also provide support to community-engaged courses and the Lafayette Votes team.
Sarah Morgan will remain in her role as Program Manager. Sarah facilitates event-based community engagement opportunities for Greek organizations, Athletics teams, and other student groups through her leadership of Landis’ Pard Projects team. She also coordinates the Connected Classrooms program with Cheston and Paxinosa elementary schools and leads campus blood drives with Miller-Keystone.
Mary Foulk will continue in her role as Landis office coordinator. Mary provides program and event support to all members of the Landis team.
Becky Kaine will continue to facilitate background clearances for our campus community in her role as Clearance Specialist.