ENVISIONING THE UNIVERSITY TALKING ABOUT WORK, WORKING ON TALK

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ENVISIONING THE UNIVERSITYTALKING ABOUT WORK,
WORKING ON TALK

• Franklin Pierce University
• January 16, 2009
• Michele Holt-Shannon
• Bruce L. Mallory

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Purpose of the day

• Collective reflection and conversation
• Framing concerns and questions (diagnosis, not
  prescription)
• Participatory and democratic dialogue
• All voices are equal, leave your status hat at
  the door
• This I believe
• Listening is an act of love
• About
• the integration of Franklin Pierce University
• our individual and collective work
• the processes we use to get our work done

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By the end of the day

• We will still be talking to each other
• There wont be a rush to the hallways to hold the
  meetings after the meeting
• We will have a sense of our shared academic and
  organizational values (and where we might
  diverge)
• We will have prioritized the tough issues to be
  addressed during the spring
• We will have clarity on next steps
• We will be clear about the ultimate intended
  result and consequences of our work

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Processes

• How closely do we live up to the ideals of shared
  governance?
• How transparent are communications and
  decision-making?
• Do we know whose authority it is to make which
  decisions?
• How does the existence of multiple campuses
  affect processes of governance and communication?

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A shared understanding of shared governance

• How would you describe the processes of
  governance and decision-making at FP?
• Is ad hoc good enough?
• Are the spheres of authority and responsibility
  clear?
• What would a more structured governance process
  look like?

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National Models

• Joint governanceStatement on Government of
  Colleges and Universities American Association
  of University Professors, the American Council on
  Education, and the Association of Governing
  Boards of Universities and Colleges, 1966, 1990.
• Collegial governance --characterized by or having
  authority vested equally among colleagues of, or
  related to a college or its students collegiate
  adherence to the ethos, standards and conduct
  that govern behavior among colleagues within a
  given organization or profession marked by
  camaraderie among colleagues.
• Participatory governance--a process emphasizing
  the broad participation (decision making) of
  constituents in the direction and operation of
  political systems. While etymological roots imply
  that any democracy would rely on the
  participation of its citizens (the Greek demos
  and kratos combine to suggest that "the people
  rule"), traditional representative democracies
  tend to limit citizen participation to voting,
  leaving actual governance to politicians.

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Spheres of Joint Governance(AAUP, ACE, AGB)

• Faculty
• Curriculum, academic standards, terms of faculty
  appointments (and PT), student experience as it
  connects to academic program
• Administration
• Strategic planning, reduce obsolescence and
  foster innovation, manage fiscal and physical
  resources
• Trustees
• Fiduciary and corporate stewardship, mission
  oversight, appt. the president, advocate with
  stakeholders

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By the end of the day

• We will still be talking to each other
• There wont be a rush to the hallways to hold the
  meetings after the meeting
• We will have a sense of our shared academic and
  organizational values (and where we might
  diverge)
• We will have prioritized the tough issues to be
  addressed during the spring
• We will have clarity on next steps
• We will be clear about the ultimate intended
  result and consequences of our work

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Next steps

• How will todays conversation be documented and
  shared with others? Who else needs to be in
  these conversations?
• How will we prioritize the challenges and
  aspirations that emerged today?
• What kinds of venues/gatherings do we need to
  sustain this conversation? How often? Who
  facilitates?
• How will this work be integrated with formal and
  informal governance groups, and the Presidential
  search committee?
• What will we have in front of us on July 1? On
  September 1? A year from now?

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Tough issues

• How can we integrate these discussions with the
  recruitment of the next president?
• How do we acknowledge and set aside past baggage
  that can get in the way of future change?
• Is there sufficient trust/social capital in place
  to allow us to move forward collectively and
  constructively?
• Do we understand ourselves well enough to
  communicate a clear, consistent image of who we
  are and who we aspire to be?
• Who will provide the leadership for the
  conversations ahead? How can that leadership be
  shared among administrators, faculty, staff, and
  students?

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Resources

• Mallory, B.L. Thomas, N.L., When the medium is
  the message Promoting ethical action through
  democratic dialogue, Change, September/October,
  2003.
• Mallory, B.L., An Invitation to Dialogue Shared
  Governance at the University of New Hampshire,
  April, 2008
• Mallory, B.L., Leading in the UNH community
  Achieving common goals through shared leadership,
  August, 2007, http//www.unh.edu/democracy/pdf/cat
  alyst-paper2_20071116.pdf
• Special issue of Peer Review, Student Political
  Engagement, Spring/summer, 2008
• Center for Collaborative Policy, Assessment
  Report Governance, Culture, and Climate of
  California State University, Sacramento, April,
  2008 http//www.csus.edu/ccp/assessment/index.stm
  
• Mortimer, K.P. Sathre, C.O., The Art and
  Politics of Academic Governance, Westport, CT
  (2007)
• Statement on Government of Colleges and
  Universities http//www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/poli
  cydocs/contents/governancestatement.htm.

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Franklin Pierce UniversityMission

• Franklin Pierce University prepares its students
  to become active, engaged citizens and leaders of
  conscience. Whether at the undergraduate,
  graduate or professional level, its academic
  programs are grounded in a liberal arts tradition
  and are unified by the theme of the Individual
  and Community.

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values

• Inclusion
• Transparency
• Parity
• Serving students
• Honesty
• Community?
• Liberal arts for life and career
• Service
• Academic excellence

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Next steps

• Kiss your brain
• Replace faculty meeting will all-university
  senate
• Where in the world is FP relative to governance
  now in place? Who makes ultimate decisions in
  these committee?
• Form committee to work on proposal for academic
  senate
• Show something concrete out of today
• The issues were framed for us today (cgps/rindge
  and governance)we need to talk about trust and
  related issues
• Determine how faculty can have ownership for
  curriculum and academic standards
• Define the organization are we 2 or 1? From
  their build governance
• Find ways to improve communication NOW
• Small group discussions on strengths and values
  that we cherish feed that to larger group and
  post on web site
• Organizational goals, starting with mission
  statement, should drive the structure of the
  organization

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More next steps

• Enhance communication, increase band width, to
  increase participation
• At next faculty meeting, agenda is set by
  faculty, deliberative session, moderated by
  faculty, announcements sent via e-mail
• Similar meetings to discuss issues that were
  outlined in invitation
• True joint governance with constant consistent
  feedback
• Improve academic reputation of FP
• Investigate and examine alternative forms of
  academic gov.
• Use current planning group, convert to working
  group, present menu of organizational and
  governance models
• Entire faculty should be unionized
• Rep. of admin. on governance committees, to
  assess what is and isnt possible early on
• Should RFF switch to AAUP?
• Broader based discussion of org. and gov. models,
  to arrive at optimum arrangements
• Make clear to pres. candidates that this
  discussion is underway, they will have to buy
  into it.
• No deadlocked decisions
• Green initiatives
• Include athletics folks in discussions