The following comments were turned in on cards at the meeting yesterday. Two of the three were in response to our discussion of what we do well and what we could do better in terms of faculty conversations.
What would be helpful?
– Everyone fully present, for example, not on laptops etc. (which also distract others)
– Stand while speaking = attention to speaker and intentional thoughts from speaker
What would be helpful in faculty meeting?
– A different space? A room with more light?
– More opportunities for threshing
– Return to the practice of standing while speaking in faculty meeting
– Return to the practice of minutes of appreciation.
The final comment was a general one, from Tom Guthrie:
We have a lot of things up in the air right now:
– Gen Ed revisions
– attracting adult ed
– interim academic dean may restructure academic climate
– Jane is exploring big ideas (e.g. block schedules, MA/MS programs, guild hall…)
I don’t really understand if/how all these moving pieces fit together. Is there an answer or can we discuss?
One card also contained a work of art, which I photographed and included below. I hope I have it oriented correctly.
Our group thought it would be helpful if the process matched the outcome. We had the impression that outcomes are often made by executive actions because consensus was not reached and a decision had to be made.