IC News

At Ithaca College’s spring 2021 all-college gathering, held virtually on Feb. 9, President Shirley M. Collado welcomed students, staff and faculty and thanked all those who helped make this semester on campus possible. 

“Getting to this moment, it goes without saying, has required incredible dedication and hard work by so many staff, faculty and volunteers,” said Collado. 

Many steps went into making this semester happen, including reconfiguring hundreds of spaces on campus to accommodate face-to-face classes with distanced students; moving and marking more than 3,000 chairs to indicate where people could safely sit; creating 15,000 wall signs and floor stickers to remind people of guidelines; and building and installing 400 hand-sanitizer dispensers and seven saliva test kit drop boxes. 

Collado also thanked faculty members who have been preparing for the semester. Starting on Feb. 8, approximately 61% of Ithaca College courses switched to either fully in-person or hybrid mode, with about 32% of courses being offered as synchronous online and around 7% asynchronous online. 

“Providing options for students has been so critical during the semester, including giving our students the option to either be on campus or at home,” said Collado. “I want to thank our faculty for your effort in preparing and offering learning opportunities that support our students’ circumstances and comfort levels.” 

Many staff and faculty members volunteered their time to help students move in, including 175 volunteers who worked a total of 965 volunteer shifts. 

“I was so moved by the energy and enthusiasm of our students returning to campus, but really also the excitement of our staff and our volunteers, it really has taken a village,” said Collado. “I want to also acknowledge the dedication of all members of our community who stepped up on behalf of our students and our college. Because of you, this community remains strong.”  

These draft recommendations represent a milestone in the implementation of the college’s strategic plan, Ithaca Forever, which was created by the community in the 2018-19 academic year, with implementation beginning last academic year. The president reminded listeners that the Shape of the College document is still in its draft form while the faculty review it, and that the APPIC will make its final set of recommendations to the president and provost by next week. The president and provost will release their final decisions by the end of the month to faculty, staff, students, families and alumni; and changes in academic programs and departments will take place over the next three years. 

“I want to be clear that the pandemic has intensified the urgency of this work, but it did not create the necessity of changing the business model of higher education and the very real enrollment trends across the country,” said Collado. “These challenges were here well before my team and I arrived at IC, but it is our job today, in this moment, in this historical point at Ithaca College, that we prioritize the greater good and ensure the continuation of this beloved institution and its ability to serve our students as an entire community over the long haul.” 

Next Collado talked about Ithaca College’s financial health and how the college is negotiating the challenges around COVID expenses and other outcomes of this year. Collado said that our estimated budget deficit for this fiscal year is about $24.5 million and that $7 million of the college’s expenses this fiscal year are COVID-related. She also acknowledged the impact to college revenue of our fully remote fall and a diminished number of residential students on campus this spring. 

“I know this is difficult news, but I also want to state why I’m hopeful,” Collado said, directly acknowledging the dialogue happening within portions of the IC community regarding the college’s ability to have a strong financial foundation as it makes cuts to the workforce. Collado clarified why right now and the next two years are so crucial for the college to remain on the path of strength and opportunity.  

“While other institutions may have been caught flat-footed by the challenges of this past year, our community had built a strategic plan that was already shifting our business model and the need to identify and establish a sustainable size for an infrastructure that no longer matched its reality,” Collado said. “Ithaca Forever enabled us to pivot quickly to face our reality and begin making some important changes to put us in a position of strength as we look at and beyond this moment in time.” 

She added, “If we don't have the space right now to do what we must do … if we think that we have time or breathing room to maintain the status quo, our institution will not continue to flourish in the future. We cannot afford to not be nimble for student needs, and we must invest in access and affordability for the future of IC students and our students now.”