Staff Editorial: Mecca Metamorphosis

The proposals that were the subject of town halls, speak outs, meetings, and even protests during the last academic year are finally beginning to take shape. 

Change has arrived at Howard and there is more to come. Sure, you've noticed the new Potbelly, but there is much more to it than that. 

The renewal process is categorized according to five "strategic initiatives" including academics, faculty, administration and staff, facilities, and the all-important, students first, according to the new webpage designed to keep the Howard community informed.

    In terms of academic renewal, students in several different departments across the colleges within the University, like the School of Education, have been notified about their programs' impending end and some are required to complete the requirements for their degrees by as early as August of 2014.

 Those departments have also stopped accepting applications for admission. Other programs have begun their restructuring processes in an effort to better serve the much-debated intellectual needs that will prepare Howard students to be competitive in the twenty-first century job market.

A decrease in the number of staff is intended to "reduce redundancy and cost, [promote] staff development, and provide improved career paths for staff," but what will a smaller staff realistically mean for the way in which certain academic departments function. (Is your favorite professor part of the "Phased Retirement Program"? What about the one you can't stand?) Ever better, what will it mean for lines in the A-building? In any building?

If your dorm or your classroom (or both) still looks like it probably did when General Oliver Howard's daughters frequented them, get ready for "Extreme Mecca Makeovers". (Yes, bio students, there is hope.) The campus master plan details upcoming renovations for "eighty-nine buildings and thirteen residence halls". (Does that mean an elevator is coming for Slowe?)

Some of the implementations of the Students First Campaign designed to enhance the "student experience" include learning co-horts for more individualized attention, particularly for new students.   

To a certain extent, change at Howard is good and more than necessary. However, in order to ensure that students do indeed come "first," it is up to us as a student body to stay informed and active. If any or all of the (partly sarcastic) questions raised above are of interest to you as a Howard University student, then it is important that you pose them if they are not being asked, find the answers if they are available, and even offer solutions that might not otherwise be considered.

Rumors are rampant and panic is commonplace, but knowledge and participation are crucial and much more beneficial. The PCAR petitions may be gone, but our presence is still necessary, now more than ever. That is the only way to truly ensure that all of our concerns are heard and that the proper adjustments are made.