INSERVICE 2015: THE STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS
GETTING OUR CENTER BACK
SLIDE WITH FALL COLORS
Good morning and welcome, and here's to this new day and this new academic year! I always love the energy in the room as we connect with colleagues, and the burst of energy that hits the campus when students and the faculty come back. It's great to see all of you - the faces of the people who make Lane such a great place. This is one day when we can celebrate all of our accomplishments with joy and look forward with curiosity and perhaps some apprehension to what the new academic year will bring. I feel so fortunate to be able to share this time with you and to share another academic year, now my fifteenth, as your president. Don't know about you, but I am revved up and ready to go.
SLIDE WITH COLLEGE IMAGES
So here goes – the State of the College 15.0.
Let's start with a poem.....
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper? (Grasshopper slide)
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
These beautiful words remind and inspire me that, first and foremost, my life is entirely what I make of it. That's right. I, alone, am responsible for my experience of this existence. No matter how much I'd like to, I can't control the attitude or actions of anyone else. Nor can I allow negativity to claim me. I need to act with intention and grace, and I know you will do the same.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life in this one wild and precious academic year?
This is something I ponder more and more. I don't know maybe that's what happens when you are over 60!
FILLER SLIDE
Part of what we have chosen to do is to be here at Lane Community College. With that choice, comes the responsibility that each of us has to assure that we are doing our part to create the kind of environment that is worthy of this part of your wild and precious life. How we conduct ourselves day by day matters to assure that Lane is a decent place to work – a place of respect, honesty, civility that lives up to the values we espouse. I have to believe that we come here today and every day with the intent of creating the best learning environment possible, to learn together, work together and create healthy relationships that support our personal and professional growth and that of our students.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
SECTION 2
Gratitudes and Welcome
I want to express my appreciation to everyone who worked over the summer to close out last year and prepare for the new academic year. That takes a lot of work! Our classified staff and managers, in particular, work year-round to assure that summer school happens and that we are ready to go for fall term. I also want to thank the faculty, many of whom may have been off campus but were still engaged in reviewing curriculum and practice and getting ready for the new year.
I had a busy summer but did have an opportunity to get away a bit. Like many of you, perhaps, it's the time in my life when I am caring for elders, and I am learning so much from this experience. As usual, I made my annual sojourn to Scotland to take care of my mother.
SCOTLAND SLIDE
At 98, she is amazing; her physical health is failing, but she is as sharp as a tack.
FILLER SLIDE
A special welcome to all of you who are with us for the first time. Could everyone who has joined the college since this time last year please stand? Let's welcome them. We are so glad you are here and wish you a long and successful relationship with the college. Please reach out to them over the next weeks and months to introduce yourself and make them feel at home.
I would like to welcome our board members who are here today. Our elected board does a great job on behalf of the community and provides solid and stable leadership for all of us. I especially want to thank Tony McCown for stepping up to be chair. Welcome back to Susie Johnston, welcome to Philip Carrasco, and to the other board members who are here today and those that couldn't be here today.
And thanks to our in service team of Jessica Braun, an amazingly talented graduate of our multi-media program, Joan Aschim, and Donna Zmolek. I would like to thank Anna Kate Malliris and Elizabeth Andrade for handling the logistics of inservice this year. I'd also like to thank the Classified Professional Development Team for their work to arrange a number of great offerings tomorrow and members of the Cultural Competence Professional Development team for working over the summer to get us ready for the launch of our professional development program. And of course, my fashion consultant....Rodney Brown.
SECTION 3 – KUDOS
But before we look forward, let's take just a few minutes to look back at last year. It is important to take some time to celebrate what is right with Lane and to recognize the many people that have contributed to these accomplishments. I'd like you, for at least today, to reflect on your own best work. For it is all these individual and collective acts that make up the fabric of Lane Community College.
Even if what you were thinking about is not reflected in these upcoming slides, what is important is that you recognize that you accomplished something and made a real difference. It may have been in a quiet way, unobserved by most, but that doesn't make it any less important. So let's take a look at some of the highlights from last year.
RUN HIGHLIGHTS POWERPOINT VIDEO
Absolutely amazing! I do want to give an additional shout out to the winners of the Faculty Recognition Awards and would ask that you stand if you are here.
SLIDES OF WINNERS
Steve Candee – Social Science
Patti Jackson – Adult Basic and Secondary Education
Phil Martinez – Social Science
Anne McGrail – Language, Literature, and Communication
Marc Duyck – Health Professions
Iley McCready – Health Professions
Terry Dale – Advanced Technology
Let's give them another round of applause.
And also to our classified employees of the month. Our classified staff individually and collectively make this place hum, and let's recognize our awardees again.
If you could please stand at your place as I say your name.
SLIDES – PICTURES OF CLASSIFIED STAFF OF MONTH
August 2014 – Cassandra Rhay, Financial Aid
September 2014 – Rodney Brown, Counseling
October 2014 – Cathy Nolan, College Operations
November 2014 – Derek Nelson, IT
December 2014 – Tina Thomas, SBDC
January 2015 – Marci Parker, Women's Program
February 2015 – Barbara Dumbleton, Science
March 2015 – Sara Fox, ASA
April 2015 – Karen Wygle, Enrollment Services
May 2015 – Lori Kramer, Enrollment Services
June 2015 – Leilani Perez-Mayo, ESL
Please join me in giving a round of applause for the monthly recipients.
FILLER SLIDE
As notable as those achievements are for our monthly recipients, each year we identify that one individual to be the Classified Employee of the Year. It is my great pleasure this year to name the 2015 Classified Employee of the Year. SLIDE OF Leilani Perez-Mayo would you please join me at the podium to receive this well-deserved award while I share a bit about you with your colleagues?
Here are some quotes from the nominations:
"Leilani shows effective coping skills and applies them in the work environment. She creates a pleasant workplace atmosphere because she is good about communicating with faculty and staff. Leilani embodies excellence in everything that she does. She is meticulous in her attention to detail and makes everything she touches look better. Leilani has a wonderful, infectious smile, which makes my day just that much better!"
Please join me in honoring the 2015 Classified Employee of the Year.
FILLER SLIDE
Finally, we don't have any formal recognition for managers, but they also pulled their weight last year, so I would like to recognize them for everything they did.
SLIDE OF MT. HOOD
I want to take just a moment to acknowledge the passing of some of our own:
(Former faculty and staff)
JIM MATHEWS - Automotive Technology
VIOLET JOHNSON - Business
DON MICKEN - Electronics
LARRY MURRAY - Community Education
TILLY ULAM - Food Services
BARBARA HASBROUCK - Language, Literature, and Communication
RICHARD ARCHMBAULT - Longhouse
JOHN COONEY - KLCC
RON MITCHELL - Social Science
MARSHAL SAUCEDA - Board of Education
WES CHAMBERLAIN - Health & PE
STANLEY ALBERSON - Theatre Arts
BERT DOTSON - Lane's First Employee
JACK POWELL - Language, Literature, and Communication
BOB McCORKLE - Counseling
BARBARA BAKER - Continuing Education
REBA MORRISON - Disability Resources
FILLER SLIDE
Finally, there are two groups that deserve special mention - Financial Aid and FMP. The Financial Aid department did amazing work to review all of our data and challenge our default rate. That resulted in a new rate of under 30% being awarded. This was time consuming, tedious work that paid great dividends for all of us. Could our Financial Aid crew stand and be recognized?
I think we just must celebrate getting our Center back. It was noisy, inconvenient, dusty and confusing......maybe some of you had this experience.
GOING FOR COFFEE VIDEO
Yes, this project challenged our daily habits and routines. Change is not easy! And daily change is well, annoying! But look what we got – we got our Center back!
FACILITIES POWERPOINT
As we move back into the building our next task will be to engage students in using all the services available.
LEARNING COMMONS PARAPHANALIA
ACKERMAN TUTOR CENTRAL
The board chose to name the tutor area after Bob Ackerman. Bob first came on the board in 1965. While he wasn't on the board the entire time, he served several more terms, and by the time he left the board last June, he has had a fifty year connection with Lane Community College.
PHOTO OF (ALMOST) FINISHED CLASS BUILDING
Could our FMP crew stand and be recognized – ahead of time, on budget. There will still be a long punch list to finish up this term but it's awesome that the biggest construction project on campus since the college was built in the 60's is almost move in ready.
But when all is said and done, and it's almost done, what an amazing transformation, not only of the building, its spaces and functionality, but also a plaza that totally transforms the look of the campus. We are getting our Center back, in more ways than one.
So that's a look back. What a year! To all of you: bravo, and thanks for continuing to go above and beyond to serve our students and the community.
SECTION 4
Okay, you have been sitting for a while now, so it's almost time for a stretch break.
STRETCH SLIDE
Once we start to look ahead at what's on the plate for this year, you will get exhausted pretty quickly. Sometimes it feels too hard and we feel too weary, we all experience "stretches" during the school year, excuse the pun, when the grind of daily routines take their toll – working at a feverish pace, overwhelming demands, work never done, papers to grade, budgets to balance, contracts to settle, floors to be mopped. But we must remember that our students can be turned off so easily, and we need to be alive in this work so it is important that we each take care of our own health and wellness. In the spirit of strengthening our bodies and deepening those squats, let's direct our attention to Wendy and the Fabricators to take a short stretch break.
"WE BUILT THIS CITY"
WENDY AND HER TEAM DANCE TO THE STAGE (1 ½ to 2 min of music, then fade)
(Wendy shares the wellness/giving opportunities.)
SAFETY SLIDES
WELLNESS SLIDES
FILLER SLIDE
Wendy mentioned the WE CARE campaign that faculty and staff participate in to support scholarships for our students. We launch this every fall and many, many of you give generously. You know, these days I have very little problem asking a donor for a million dollars or more but I find it awkward to ask you to give so perhaps you can hear from this student and save me from that.
FOUNDATION VIDEO
FILLER SLIDE
SECTION 5 – THE FUTURE
So let's look ahead to what is coming up. At the national level there are several things that will affect us and certainly take up some of my time as we work through them.
National and State level:
Game Changers – There is a lot in the literature and press right now about the need for higher education to change dramatically. You can't go to a meeting, pick up the higher education press, or for that matter the national and state media without seeing calls to action to reform, repurpose, reinvent. And more recently, we are beginning to see charges that we are failing to do so.
SCHOOLHOUSE/TIME TRAVELER SLIDE
Is that true? Jen Lara – faculty member at Anne Arundel in Maryland, one of our League sister colleges, in a recent article, talked about a time traveler, who having traveled a hundred years hence was very afraid, bewildered and disoriented but then was instantly relieved when he ran into a building where everything looked the same! Because it was a college!
This is a little harsh because many changes are going on across the country and indeed at Lane but they are still a work in progress and not yet at scale. In our current world where there are few headlines that do not contain the words –transform, redesign, reform—we are not going to find all the answers by looking backwards. We must engage in some bold conversations to create our future. We can be informed by many thought partners from outside – policy makers, employers, educational leaders—but what we decide to do, where we decide to take Lane in the future must come from inside – the linchpin is you – each and every one of you.
This press to change is highlighted in many recent articles and books outlining the external environment that is driving the need for us to think and act differently.
For example, David Price in his book
OPEN (BOOK SLIDE) –
How we'll work, live and learn in the future champions a revolution in education, intertwining social, economic, and environmental global events with the disruptive emerging technologies of the Internet and mobile devices, which are influencing, and being influenced by, a transformation in learning.
Price challenges the reader to become engaged, to learn about learning, and to consider how the future of learning might differ from our current, more traditional, formal approaches to learning. He calls for a paradigm shift to make learning more innovative, effective, engaging and impactful.
He maintains the world has gone SOFT – an acronym for sharing, open, free and trust – think Airbnb or couchsurfing.com where we have someone we don't know sleep on our couch or rent a room in our homes and trust that the person is not an axe murderer, and he believes this way of being will deeply impact learning. Students are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the way they learn in the formal space measured against the open learning they do in the social space.
He asserts that this direct challenge to centuries old orthodoxies can't be ignored.
Once the possibility exists for students to study informally, compiling their own learning playlists, putting together units of study that appeal to their passions the one size fits all model will appear alarmingly anachronistic. This is already happening. Learning must be collaborative, social, passion-led and values driven, networked, horizontal, democratic and creative.
He ends by suggesting we face a very uncertain future – a complex set of possible futures and no one can authoritatively predict how things will look in ten years. We know only two things- we should learn to embrace uncertainty; if all certainties are gone we need to be open to radical shifts in how we work, live and learn.
This is just one example of the demands for us to change. I am sure that in your reading you have encountered similar justification for our reform.
"AND NOW I UNDERSTAND SOMETHING SO FRIGHTENING & WONDERFUL-HOW THE MIND CLINGS TO THE ROAD IT KNOWS, RUSHING THROUGH CROSSROADS, STICKING LIKE LINT TO THE FAMILIAR." ~ MARY OLIVER
We are being challenged not to stick to the familiar.
On the positive side there is America's Promise.
HEADS UP Graphic
The Heads up campaign – a grass roots effort to build support for free community college is underway. President Obama unveiled the America's College Promise proposal to make two years of community college free for responsible students, letting students earn the first half of a bachelor's degree and earn skills needed in the workforce at no cost. He said, "This proposal will require everyone to do their part: community colleges must strengthen their programs and increase the number of students who graduate, states must invest more in higher education and training, and students must take responsibility for their education, earn good grades, and stay on track to graduate."
In addition, the President proposed a new American Technical Training Fund to expand innovative, high-quality technical training programs that meet employer needs and help prepare more Americans for better paying jobs.
There are some important messages in this for us:
SLIDE WITH TEXT
Enhancing Student Responsibility and Cutting the Cost of College for All Americans: Students who attend at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA while in college, and make steady progress toward completing their program will have their tuition eliminated. Many of our students are less than half time. What do we do about that?
Building High-Quality Community Colleges: Community colleges will be expected to offer programs that either (1) are academic programs that fully transfer to local public four-year colleges and universities, giving students a chance to earn half of the credit they need for a four-year degree, or (2) are occupational training programs with high graduation rates and that lead to degrees and certificates that are in demand among employers. Other types of programs will not be eligible for free tuition. Colleges must also adopt promising and evidence-based institutional reforms to improve student outcomes. Major messages for us in that short paragraph.
Ensuring Shared Responsibility with States: Federal funding will cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college. States that choose to participate will be expected to contribute the remaining funds necessary to eliminate community college tuition for eligible students.
Expanding Technical Training for Middle Class Jobs: This fund will award programs that have strong employer partnerships and include work-based learning opportunities, provide accelerated training, and are scheduled to accommodate part-time work. Programs could be created within current community colleges or other training institutions.
America's Promise is largely good news but there are inherent challenges. I think we need to pay attention. Whether it actually gets through Congress or not, there are clear policy intentions here that are being taken up by presidential candidates that we cannot ignore.
Moving on.... at the national level since Reclaiming the American Dream – a report from the 21st Century Commission, was published—AACC has launched the Next Big Things Initiative - a commitment to student success- a set of campus-driven changes to better prepare students to thrive in the 21st--?century economy. Graphic Next Big Things/AACC
The reform aims to improve all steps along the community college pathway–from college readiness and stackable credentials to completion and job opportunities–positioning students for both educational success and career growth.
The initiatives include:
• Partnering with K-12 schools to improve student preparedness for college-level coursework
• Establishing a common data system with regional schools and universities to track student progress from high school through community college and on to four-year institutions
• Collaborating with companies and industry leaders to ensure training and courses align with the demand for workforce development
• Engaging the community to support universal community college and America's College Promise
Pretty much everything else is potentially a big head ache! Or as Sean Hayes says, "Bad News."
BAD NEWS VIDEO
FILLER SLIDE
There are a number of threats or opportunities, depending on how you look at it, before us.
SLIDE – GAME CHANGERS?
Game changers – let me just quickly mention some of what is being discussed
1. Look for more discussion about competency-based education
2. Move to sub-organizational accreditation – there are funds available for new providers in new delivery models – "unbundling" higher education is happening around us. Post-secondary education is no longer contained to the existing and traditional degree levels – there are various levels of granularity. We are at the end of the monopoly that traditional higher education holds on post-secondary education as the sole authority over what counts for quality and relevancy. Organizations are not waiting for us –they are developing their own credentialing system.
3. Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Reauthorization like a Russian novel: it's long, it's boring and in the end everyone dies – or almost, either from boredom or by being pushed over the edge by the insanity of some of the proposals. We will be working closely with AACC and ACCT and the American Council on Education to monitor this.
4. Accountability demands - College scorecard. SLIDE OF LANE'S SCORECARD This is what ours looks like – published just two weeks ago. It's a shift away from ratings to providing information for potential students. Of course, it continues to use the faulty IPEDS data. That is why we, and by that I mean all Oregon community colleges and the HECC, are looking at adopting the Voluntary Framework of Accountability. This was developed by and for community colleges. If enough colleges and states adopt it, the plan is that we can promote this method as the way we should be measured and assessed.
VOLUNTARY FRAMEWORK OF ACCOUNTABILIY SLIDE
Then there are some things where the jury is still out
Complete College America- Gamechangers
Performance based funding, corequisites in remediation, 15 is full time, structured schedules, guided pathways – more on that later.
At the state level we will continue to monitor troublesome issues like the Western Promise, monitor the HECC and so on.
So there is a lot going on in the external environment that, whether we like it or not, will impact us. We have the intelligence here to look at all this stuff and decide how we want to respond but that means we need to engage in robust discussion and develop our unique strategy for addressing (or not) these challenges.
So how does all of this context and all of these writings about the future of higher education inform what we are going to do at Lane this year and into the future?
1. So we will start with examining our NEW CORE THEMES – SLIDE The IEC a collaboration of faculty, staff and administration has developed new core themes. They have been approved by the board and the IEC will now flesh out and develop indicators to assess how the core themes lead to mission fulfillment. During fall term we will have an open meeting on each of the core themes so we can embellish and fully understand their meaning as we do our work. These new core themes were included in the Year 1 report we submitted to NWCCU a couple of weeks ago and will serve as the basis for our ad-hoc report due next spring on, Assessment, Institutional effectiveness, Student Learning Outcomes and Program Review.
2. Building on the core themes we will develop a new five-year strategic plan. Again, there will be ample opportunity, if you choose, to be an active participant in its development. THE FUTURE IS NOT WHERE WE ARE GOING BUT ONE WE ARE MAKING – JOHN SHAAR. SLIDE OF QUOTE Please help make the future with us. If we want a different outcome we need to think differently. We need to view the past as a guide post not a hitching post – we can't sit still: we must create new opportunities together. Yet, renewal comes at a price in these times of zero sum budgets. If we are to reimagine our future, we must be clear on what we want to carry with us into the future and then envision what else we need to do. There have been calls for increased collaboration between the administration and the faculty and staff. I'm there. It's a two way street. Our broad based groups will offer many opportunities for engagement. I simply ask that you engage on the front end.
3. We will also be working with a number of programs undergoing the Program Review process. I am very excited about the robust faculty-led process that has been developed. This is work in which we should be engaged all the time – scanning the environment, the job market and assuring our programs lead to available, family wage jobs.
The STRATEGIC ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN (Slide of cover) was approved by the board recently. It is designed to serve us in times of growth and decline. Again, developed by a broad-based group of faculty, staff and students, it is available online for you to see. Over the summer we have already started to implement. We have been looking at enrollment patterns, finding out that a lot of the enrollment decline is in returning students. Of course, there are multiple reasons for that –transfer, getting a job—but that's not the whole answer. We have been actively reaching out to these students to encourage them to register. Counseling staff have been conducting new student academic advising since June 25th serving 60-90 students as many as three times a week. We will be implementing more of this plan going forward. And of course, we will continue to recruit. We must improve the college going rate because our overall population is not going to grow that much in Lane County. Currently, only 28% of high school graduates go to college.
RECRUITMENT VIDEO
4. There will continue to be focus on student success. We don't want it to be just about degrees, yet we know that students do better when they have one. LOSING STUDENTS CARTOON By 2018, 63% of all jobs will require some post-secondary education – we need 22 million new college educated workers. By 2025 will have shortage of 16 million college graduates; the economic problems of this shortfall are evident. It will be felt at the GDP level and personal level. The poverty rate for Americans 25 years and older with no degree is more than three times higher than those with at least a bachelor's degree. If we truly believe in social justice and want to narrow income inequality and reinvigorate economic mobility we must help more students complete a degree. This is most acute for low income families – Between 1970 and 2011 the percentage of Americans in the top income quartile attaining a bachelor's degree by age 24 rose an estimated 31 points. In contrast, bachelor's rates for the lowest income quartile rose only 4.2 points from 6.2 to 10.4 percent. We need to tackle this challenge particularly for students of color. If we cannot increase the rate, they will have bleak prospects.
5. We will also dig into the Next Big Things – some of which are already underway at Lane – we need to assess what is working and decide what additional strategies need to be put into play. For example, improving pathways to transfer to four-year institutions – Sadly, there is a littered landscape of lost credits – credits that do not count for students when they transfer. In a recently published book, Redesigning Community Colleges, GRAPHIC OF BOOK the primary contention was that the cafeteria model of general education that is so pervasive is problematic and impedes student success because it leaves students to navigate on their own. The authors argue for a guided pathways approach. The intent is not to limit students' choices and experimentation but to give them a pathway, by default, if they are not sure where they are going. Fortunately, a Faculty Interest Group – Beth Landy, Rosa Lopez, Caroline Lundquist, Sarah Lushia, Gerry Meenaghan, Ce Rosenow, Gina Szabady, and Kate Sullivan studied this book during the summer and has developed recommendations for consideration.
Simultaneously, the Executive Team is discussing this book in our weekly Learning Moment. This work deserves our attention, and I expect lots more discussion. We will be purchasing books so that they are readily available.
Lane will continue implementing student success programs until all students have access to the educational opportunities needed to succeed in school and life.
BOND 2016?
6. We are also considering going out for another facilities bond in 2016. To the extent that we can take care of the many facility needs through bonds, it relieves the pressure on the general fund. The conversation has just begun with the board. We have identified a preliminary list of possible projects. We will be asking the Bond Leadership Team and Facilities Council to convene forums to discuss this list and recommend additional projects. We will then conduct polling on the projects after the first of the year and finalize a list for consideration by the board. If the board decides to go for it, it will be a heavy lift because it will be a tax increase, but we have the person power here to do the political work necessary to pass a bond.
DIVERSITY SLIDE
7. We will be launching the cultural competence, agility, diversity education professional development program this year. There is extensive information on the CCPD website about this. There is more work to be done but we are positioned to start. At the same time we will be instituting a new orientation/onboarding for all new contracted employees. This is something we have not done well. It will be a two day event offered every term and we will reach out to those hired in recent years to attend. At the same time we will be designing seminars for part time faculty and staff.
Plans are in the work to hold another Classified Participation Day this year. We have done this before where classified staff attend and we have a dialog about issues that are affecting the classified staff at the college.
As you can see it's already shaping up to be a very busy year. Which reminds me – though we all may feel the need to chill out before students have even arrived,
NO POT SLIDE – it's still not permitted on campus! Any plans to cash in by growing in our Learning Garden and including it in our culinary program are on hold until the Feds make some changes – just kidding – though not about the fact that it isn't permitted!
FILLER SLIDE
SECTION 5
Of course, all of this work is to advance our ability to serve students and it is that daily work on which we must stay focused. Whether it is the requirements of accreditation, or balancing a budget we must never forget why we are here. If we do not keep our students and the creation of a very best learning environment, front and center, we are not doing our jobs.
SLIDE - WE MUST WALK CONSCIOUSLY ONLY PART WAY TOWARD OUR GOAL AND THEN LEAP IN THE DARK TO OUR SUCCESS.
- HENRY DAVID THOREAU
We face serious and urgent problems as a nation: vexingly persistent racism; ongoing unemployment, especially in minority communities, and widespread underemployment; the fragile nature of the globally-interconnected economy; crumbling and decaying infrastructure; and the looming threats of terrorism, to name only a few of our most obvious challenges. And these problems as well as the challenges outlined earlier seep into our world at Lane.
So what will it take from each of us to put students and their learning at the heart of what we do?
Jen Lara suggests that three elements are necessary:
MINDSET SLIDE
1. Embrace a growth mindset – Carol Dweck's work about the impact of mindset on achievement – growth mindset = more success. This is characterized by open-mindedness, curiosity, tenacity and resilience. Necessary to ignite bold conversations, create real change and improve student success
2. Entangle students – students leave because not connected – we say because of family etc., but students need to connect and engage. The CLASS project will help us do this. Conversations about guided pathways will help; putting students at the hearts of decisions will do this.
3. Amplify your actions. Change and disrupting the status quo are not easily acceptable concepts for most of us because many of us like to hold the torch for yesteryear. But we need to decide what we cherish and want to take forward and agree to leave the not so good parts behind.
Working together is key. Collaboration is the driving force for most innovation. Bringing together people who have different ideas, approaches, and experiences creates a fertile environment for generating new concepts and methods. We need a new kind of collaboration that is intentional, self-forming, based on shared values and goals.
It is not that we will all agree. Of course we won't; but it is how we conduct ourselves in disagreement that will be the mark of whether we are really remembering why we are here. Sometimes, I fear that we are so busy fighting with each other that we either forget why we are here in the first place or it takes up all our energy that would be better used to fight the external threats that clearly are present.
SLIDE "THINGS THAT MATTER MOST SHOULD NEVER BE AT THE MERCY OF THINGS THAT MATTER LEAST" GOETHE
We will need broad engagement and we, the board and administration, are committed to working with various groups to provide many opportunities for engagement so that we can envision our future together. President Teddy Roosevelt, who has been in the news recently, stated in a speech at the Sorbonne in Paris that we need to be in the arena.
SLIDE "THE CREDIT BELONGS TO THE PERSON WHO IS ACTUALLY IN THE ARENA...WHO STRIVES VALIANTLY; WHO ERRS, WHO COMES SHORT AGAIN AND AGAIN, BECAUSE THERE IS NO EFFORT WITHOUT ERROR AND SHORTCOMING; BUT WHO DOES ACTUALLY STRIVE TO DO THE DEEDS.....WHO AT THE BEST KNOWS IN THE END THE TRIUMPH OF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT, AND WHO AT THE WORST, IF S/HE FAILS, AT LEAST FAILS WHILE DARING GREATLY....." ROOSEVELT
We have work to do but it is a noble cause and we should make no apology for trying to get it right. The fault lies in not trying and taking risk – just as in the classroom or science lab every day experiments are going on, this is true at the college level as well.
There will be hard, courageous conversations but at the end of the day we must find common ground while holding on to the high ground.
FILLER SLIDE
We know that polarization sells – whether Fox news or MSNBC is your channel of choice – you see it every day. There is a cost to polarization and there is a cost to incivility, and every single one of us pays the price whether we are a participant or a spectator. We need honest, civil, and solution-focused conversations about these and so many other issues. We've got to find ways to collaborate on the shared ground of commitment to the common good—to pursue pragmatic and workable strategies to give students realistic opportunities to make their lives better and to create conditions of empowerment and encouragement which nurture students efforts at self-development. We need to practice such honest and constructive conversations here.
Unfortunately, the posturing, position-taking, and name-calling may have jaundiced how we see each other closer to home. We seem to have forgotten our commonalities, and we've magnified our differences instead. Let's get our Center back. We can do this. Lane has the most intelligent, talented, activist faculty and staff on the planet – just sayin'. Yes, that's you! Let's channel that talent into the right work. Let's work together with fanatic discipline in a civil way.
When we are civil—using our powers of speech to make our case but not to manipulate; to debate but not to demean; to serve and not to dominate—we model a way of being in the world that is reflective of the peace community.
Civility is also a way of bearing witness to the dignity of all human beings. Even people whom we do not particularly like and with whom we have significant disagreements are human beings.
We have work to do. We have work to do. When students enroll it is an act of optimism and trust. We need to share that optimism and trust. We hold students futures in our hands – when we see their multiple acts of heroism we know that we have a moral imperative to do the right thing. During the summer I was preparing for a reception I had at my home for the faculty from across the country that were here for Anne McGrail's Symposium on Digital Humanities. I was pushing my cart around Costco. I passed this man and we made eye contact and moved on. A moment later the man tapped me on the shoulder and said: You are at Lane, aren't you? I acknowledged that was the case. This happens to me all the time and I never know what is coming. It is usually positive, but sometimes not. Anyway, he said: I just want to thank you. You saved my son's life. Wow! He went on to tell me about his son's story; his early difficulties, his redemption at Lane and completion of his doctorate on the east coast. This is our story. But to make it happen day after day is not easy work.
SLIDE OF SOUTH POLE
When Scott and Amundsen were vying to reach the South Pole first they approached it very differently.
Amundsen saw it as a 20-mile march and survived. Scott did not. This is our 20-mile march but we have to keep moving.
I will do my part. When I ponder what I want to do with my one wild and precious life, frankly, this is it for me. It's all about Lane.
I, too, have work to do: I will be very involved in all of the things outlined above. In addition, I will be spending time doing the work of passing a bond, raising money for the Political Action Committee that we will need; continuing our Foundation efforts to raise another $30 million dollars; monitoring the work of the HECC, particularly around the troublesome issues related to Accelerated Learning; participating in coalitions to amend the tax structure in Oregon; and connecting more with employers around workforce needs; involvement in the group that has been formed to push America's Promise. And I will be doing it with excitement and enthusiasm in service of this great college and our noble mission.
FILLER SLIDE
You know, last year was a hard year for all of us. I have always known that not everyone agreed with what I had to say, but I always felt that I could be forthright about what I was thinking and that would be okay. Over the last couple of years, I have experienced a shift where every statement I make is parsed out, loaded with intent and used for purposes I can't fathom. For the first time ever that made me afraid – afraid I might say the wrong thing or strike the wrong note. I have come to realize that yes, I must be thoughtful, but I can't control those who want to impute bad intent. When you accept you will be disliked and liked in equal measure, that is extraordinarily freeing and liberating. You can't appeal to everyone. If you let it get to you when people dislike what you say and the way you say it, then you would never do or say anything.
So I plan to be thoughtful but I also plan to fully engage, to be in the arena, to challenge, to listen, to think critically and to act. I plan to keep unwavering focus on people and strengths, to be appreciative and continually focus on what's good at Lane and what we want more of.
I'm all in on Lane. Are you?
I am also going to keep my sense of humor.
I've been taking lessons from Kid President:
KID PRESIDENT CLIP
I know there will be days for each of us that we will wake up and as American author Joan Didion phrases it, it will be a "bankrupt morning" where you wake up, devoid of inspiration for the work. But that is when as Mary Oliver suggests
SLIDE "AND THAT IS JUST THE POINT... HOW THE WORLD, MOIST AND BEAUTIFUL, CALLS TO EACH OF US TO MAKE A NEW AND SERIOUS RESPONSE. THAT'S THE BIG QUESTION, THE ONE THE WORLD THROWS AT YOU EVERY MORNING. "HERE YOU ARE, ALIVE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT?" ~ MARY OLIVER
I believe that each of us wants to make a comment with our lives and make a difference in the world. On the days it is hard, take Martin Luther King, Jr.'s advice: "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."
On those bankrupt mornings, instead, think of the words of Mary Oliver
"Still, what I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled—to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even to float a little above this difficult world." ~ Mary Oliver
Eudora Welty wrote, in The Wide Net, "The excursion is the same when you go out looking for sorrow as when you go out looking for joy." On the journey ahead, whatever a day may bring, I want to look for joy. And you know what, I think most people do. I believe that most of us want some simple things – a decent place to work, great colleagues, work that make a difference in the world. All of that is possible here.
"Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed." Mary Oliver
RED BARN SLIDE
We have work to do and we may not succeed in all of it. We will have dared greatly. Rep John Huffman said "Let's shoot for the moon and hit the broadside of the barn rather than aim for the barn and hit the fencepost.
Let's walk on air against our better judgment as Seamus Heaney suggests.
We are Lane Community College. Student Success starts here. I believe this college is a storehouse of miracles, and if we keep our eyes peeled and listen with care, we can see the moments of wonder and transformation right before our eyes. They are always there waiting to be seen and savored.
I wish you a great year.
END SONG – BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN