About
Background
In April 2022, the Caltech Co-Curricular Group (C3) Final Report highlighted several significant issues affecting student life at Caltech. The report emphasized that the intense focus on academics and research often hinders holistic student development. Many students expressed feeling unsupported in transitioning to industry careers, with career services and the curriculum overly focused on academic pathways. Alumni described their time at Caltech as "difficult," "painful," and "traumatic," citing long-term negative impacts on self-esteem and mental health.
The report also pointed out inadequate formal support structures, with many students relying heavily on peers due to the perceived lack of effective advisors and counseling services. According to the 2021 Assessment of Climate for Learning, Living, and Working, 71% of respondents felt "comfortable" overall, but only 38% of women and 65% of trans-spectrum respondents felt the same, compared to 78% of men. Additionally, 19% reported experiencing exclusionary or hostile conduct, with trans-spectrum (41%) and women respondents (22%) reporting higher rates. Only 39% of graduate students felt a strong sense of belonging, compared to 52% of undergraduates, leading a significant percentage to consider leaving Caltech.
Between 2015 and 2019, the percentage of undergraduates disagreeing with the statement "administrators at Caltech are genuinely concerned with my welfare" increased from 42% to 51%, suggesting a growing sense of distrust within the undergraduate community. Faculty concerns about declining student preparedness, increased course failures, and rising Honor Code violations have strained relationships further.
In response to these challenges, ASCIT is launching the Student Life and Experience Conference (SLEC). This initiative aims to foster collaboration between students, faculty, and administration, addressing all aspects of the student experience through data-based recommendations and actionable plans, with the goal of creating a more supportive and unified Caltech community.
Objectives
The objectives of the Student Life and Experience Conference are:
- Facilitate Transparent and Constructive Dialogue: Ensure that all voices are heard and valued by promoting open and transparent communication among students, faculty, and administrative staff.
- Develop and Implement Actionable Recommendations: Based on thorough data analysis and stakeholder input, create a clearly articulated plan to enhance engagement, support, and overall well-being of the entire Caltech community.
- Promote Inclusivity and Unity: Through the conference, develop initiatives and programs that promote inclusivity and unity, ensuring that all members of the Caltech community feel valued, supported, and interconnected.
Overview
The Student Life and Experience Conference (SLEC) will extend the format of the established Student Faculty Conference (SFC) to cover important non-academic aspects of student life. The SFC will continue to focus on academic issues, involving only students and faculty, while the SLEC will also include administrative staff to ensure a holistic approach to enhancing the student experience. The SFC will be held on April 10, 2025, followed by the SLEC on April 11, 2025, both in Ramo Auditorium. The scopes of each committee are currently being finalized and maybe adjusted to be more appropriate.
Special Topic Committees
Special Topic Committees are designed to address overarching topics relevant to current circumstances surrounding the student experience. These topics are decided by the Conference Chair and are intentionally broader in scope compared to standing committees. Tasks for each committee for the 2025 special topic committees are given below:
- Evaluate current student engagement with campus extracurriculars and whether their level of engagement corresponds with student needs and support of personal well-being.
- Develop methods for remediating gaps in the fulfillment of student needs and expectations from campus extracurriculars.
- Assess the accessibility and inclusivity of campus extracurriculars and ascertain Caltech's performance in promoting interaction between students and faculty.
- Start developing a leadership development program that focuses on cultivating comprehensive leadership skills in students.
- Develop an overall campus structure that: (1) Addresses key facets of the student experience that interface with academics to integrate the existing structures within each academic division, facilitates multiple communication channels between faculty, students, and staff, and creates partnerships between academic divisions and student organizations to enhance co-curricular activities; (2) Encourage continuous input and review processes across various groups within the campus community, ensuring that decisions and policies are regularly assessed, refined, and adjusted in a timely manner based on broad and diverse perspectives. (3) Incorporate consistent communication within existing campus frameworks to foster a collaborative culture and promote cooperation among all campus stakeholders, emphasizing conflict prevention, mutual respect, and constructive dialogue.
- Examine the current needs for resources dedicated to student support and programming at Caltech and develop a strategy to address these needs effectively.
- Engage with stakeholder groups within the Caltech community to explore their values and priorities, with the aim of collaboratively developing recommendations that reflect and support these values and priorities as well as the Honor Code.
- Reflect on the roles and responsibilities of a mentor/advisor within their appropriate context to ensure consistency across campus, supporting both academic and co-curricular student development.
Standing Committees
Standing Committees focus on specific, ongoing aspects of student life. These committees will be present in future SLECs, analogous to the SFC option committees. Given the interconnected nature of various aspects of student life, discussions and topics may overlap between different committees. To avoid this, committee chairs will coordinate with the conference chair regularly.
- Develop an engaging orientation that provides a comprehensive introduction to Caltech while developing a class identity to ensure that first-year students understand and retain critical information about campus resources, foster community, promote successful adaptation to college life, and offer continuous psychological and social support.
- Formalize a FYE program that builds on and integrates existing academic, psychological, and social support structures throughout the first year, creating a cohesive and supportive experience for students at Caltech.
- Develop a plan to support clubs financially, ensuring their long-term sustainability. The plan should minimize reliance on single-use resources and instead foster a sustainable financial model.
- Enhance faculty engagement to facilitate improved access to resources and student-faculty connections at Caltech.
- Broaden outreach efforts to resources and opportunities outside of Caltech.
- Utilize survey data to examine the impact of events and related programming, including aspects such as inclusivity, accessibility, and other important perspectives.
- Modify guidelines and approval processes for events and pranks to encourage creativity while maintaining safety and respect on campus as well as reduce any undue burden on student leaders.
- Develop straightforward, practical safety and alcohol guidelines to ensure a safe environment for all campus events.
- Reflect and analyze current recruitment messaging and strategies to understand their impact on the diversity and interests of students applying to the Institute.
- Address tensions between students, faculty, and staff that have arisen due to recent modifications to the admissions decision-making process. The dialogue will be held on the premise that faculty members are the sole stakeholders with decision-making authority.
- Develop a proposal to incorporate students into the admissions decision process in accordance with guidelines prescribed by the faculty board.
(Currently in Progress)
- Enhance understanding of student experiences with dining services to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Look into the financial framework of dining services to ensure alignment with institutional priorities and student needs.
- Highlight and support ongoing efforts to enhance sustainability within CDS operations, building on the progress already underway to advance institutional environmental goals.
- Investigate the possibility of establishing avenues for alumni to provide financial support for both individual teams and general athletic and recreation programs.
- Investigate the possibility of establishing avenues for alumni to provide financial support for both individual teams and general athletic and recreation programs.
- Develop strategies to connect the Caltech community with athletics and improve perceived value to campus.
- Develop key components of new Diversity and Inclusion Advocate Program(s).
- Evaluate the representation and inclusion of diversity in undergraduate experiences within the undergraduate student experience.
- Develop key components of an improved Equity & TIX Advocate Program as well as the new Accessibility Advocate Program.
- Create a plan to rebuild trust between the TIX & Equity and CASS Offices.
- Evaluate the state of equity and accessibility across the undergraduate student experience to identify barriers and opportunities for improvement.
- Understand factors influencing student well-being, including stressors, support systems, and available campus resources.
- Explore student perceptions and utilization of health, wellness, and fitness resources on campus.
- Establish consensus on the role of experiential learning and professional development at Caltech.
- Explore trends in trajectories of undergraduate students post-graduation to inform program development.
- Develop strategies to enhance and expand support for experiential learning and professional development opportunities.