Dawers, William

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Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Faculty Senate Index Faculty Senate 1-20-2020 Implementation of the Inclusive Excellence Study's Recommendations for Fostering Community on the Armstrong Campus William Dawers Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/faculty-senate-index  Part of the Higher Education Administration Commons Recommended Citation Dawers, William, "Implementation of the Inclusive Excellence Study's Recommendations for Fostering Community on the Armstrong Campus" (2020). Faculty Senate Index. 744. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/faculty-senate-index/744 This discussion item request is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Senate at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Senate Index by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu. Senate Executive Committee Request FormSEC via campus mail: PO Box 8033-1                             E-Mail: fsoffice@georgiasouthern.eduStandard View                                                                                          CloseDiscussion Item Request Print ViewSHORT TITLE(Please provide a short descriptive title that would be suitable for inclusion in theSenate Agenda.)Implementation of the inclusive excellence study's recommendations for fostering communityon the Armstrong Campus  SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION:(Please state the nature of your request as concisely as possible.)How should the university respond to the detailed recommendations in the report "3 CampusesOne Heartbeat" by the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership & Social Innovation foraddressing the consolidation's ongoing negative impacts on the Armstrong Campus?RATIONALE(s):(Please explain why this issue is one of general concern for the Faculty Senate or forthe University and not a matter concerning only an individual college oradministrative area.)In the report "3 Campuses One Heartbeat," the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership &Social Innovation noted that the Armstrong Campus was rated markedly lower than theStatesboro and Liberty campus in three major categories: 1) satisfaction with the campusclimate, 2) the sense of being valued and belonging, and 3) institutional commitment todiversity and inclusion. The study repeatedly links the Armstrong Campus’s low scores directlyto the “pain of consolidation.” The report includes the following recommendations quoted in thebullets below. Quotations have been edited for clarity and brevity. The same text can be foundin the attached Word document. • Elevate the Strategic Campus Integration Journey …Morethan factual communication, we feel that these leaders want to be communicated to withdignity and respect both for how things were and what they are becoming. … [The institution]must keep communicating, even repeating things it believes people have heard already, sothat those people understand that you mean it and so they know in their hearts that you valuethem as they witness you also listen to them as part of this communication process. • Restarta working team that prioritizes strategic integration, picking up from the consolidation process,to determine how you can prioritize culture-building. • Identify the top five communicationpain points and gaps and then develop a series of micro-learning tools, videos, flyers andtalking points for leaders to clarify and provide support towards ongoing change and culturalintegration. • Have the president, provost and other senior leaders get back into theArmstrong campus in a natural and organic way, beating the pavement as if the integration ishappening for the very first time. … • Tap a group of Armstrong faculty … to identify keythemes that they feel are being missed in terms of the economic challenges and hardships ofstudents. • …Campus leadership must discover avenues to understand what elements of thetransition are impeding offices and units from carrying out their jobs effectively afterconsolidation. Deans could establish a space (for example, on the first Friday of the month) toconnect with academic and staff leaders to analyze how the transition towards consolidation isimpacting their work. … • The need to launch a relentless communication campaign focused onbuilding one Georgia Southern University culture across all three campuses. • The need tocreate spaces for leadership to engage in empathetic listening with the Armstrong communityto engender a feeling of being heard. … • The need to create a training program foradministrative and governance leaders on how to foster a stronger and unified approach toconsolidation. … If you have an attachment, press the button below to attach to form and send.InclusiveExcellenceArmstrongCommunityDiscussionRequest.docx 136.16 KBClick here to attach a fileClick here to attach a fileSubmmited by: Phone:Email: Re-Enter Email:ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY This site is for use exclusively by Georgia Southern University faculty,staff, and administrators. Submissions are reviewed by the SEC forrelevance to the mission and business of the Faculty Senate. This siteis a tool not for debate but solely for information exchange. Redundantand contentious submissions will not be accepted.Note to faculty users: Double-check your data before submitting, because the datacannot by edited afterward  ApprovalResponse:  SEC Response: Discussed at the SEC meeting on 1/24/2020. Approved for discussion at the Faculty Meeting on2/5/2020. Bill Dawers will be asked to lead the discussion on the Faculty Senate floor.  Senate Response: Bill Dawers spoke to the points presented in the Discussion Item. A persistent disconnect fromthe Armstrong and Statesboro campus continues after consolidation. Various members of thefaculty senate spoke, expressing their frustration over qualitative types of communication,prioritization and communication gaps. Recommendations include the formation of an ad hocworking group a Armstrong faculty that can identify key themes that are being missed, as wellas look at a communication campaign, leadership opportunities and potential trainingprograms. The faculty senate agreed with the formation of the adhoc committee as proposedas asked Bill Dawers to give a summary report of progress by the end of the year. Discussion:Bill Dawers (CAH) referred to the Inclusive Excellence report. He advises that everyone readthe full report, not just the executive summary. In this report, Dr. Williams notes that theStatesboro numbers reporting faculty satisfaction are low, but the Armstrong numbers arealarmingly low. Dr. Williams made numerous recommendations in his report. The study foundno statistical difference between campuses regarding other aspects (gender, LGBTQ, etc.). Theproblems for the Armstrong campus are related to the consolidation. There are things thathaven’t been fully reconciled. Enrollment is down about 20% since consolidation. It feels as ifwe might be in a downward spiral. This campus isn’t as active, engaged, or cohesive as it oncewas. Bill Dawers then opened up the floor for questions and comments. Questions: JackSimmons (CAH) asked if there was a single thing that caused the drop off in enrollment. BillDawers (CAH) responded that quality communication might be an issue directed towards thehwbland 9125079307wdawers@georgiasouthern.edu wdawers@georgiasouthern.eduApproved1/24/20202/5/2020lower enrollment. Our external messaging missed some beats. Things like the lack of sports,administrative disarray, the lessening of attention to military affairs, all contributed to thedecline. Carol Jamison (CAH) asked about rebranding and making clear to students and thecommunity that many of the unique aspects of the Armstrong campus are still in place. BillDawers (CAH) agreed that branding in the community is an issue for us. The community isvery unclear about what the consolidation has meant for us and for the community. Trish Holt(COE) added that the community doesn’t understand and is confused about the effects ofconsolidation on the Armstrong campus. There are rumors about the state’s vision for thiscampus. Clarifying rumors would help. Carol Jamison (CAH) talked about this issue as acommunity issue that extends beyond currently enrolled students. Chris Cartright (CAH) askedwhat faculty can or should be doing in the community to change the narrative. Could we writeletters to the editor that report on faculty and campus happenings? The consolidation isperceived as diminishing our offerings rather than increasing the possibilities. Bill Dawers(CAH) noted that with the loss of certain majors and the implementation of a schedule thatdoesn’t work for students, there is a sense that Armstrong doesn’t offer what we did before.That sentiment is out there. Only 31% of faculty feel as if they belong, according to Dr.Williams’ study. How can we expect those people to establish new narratives? Faculty need abetter understanding of where things are going. Did the new Health Profession building lead tomore nursing slots? This is one of many details that faculty should be informed about. Thethings we used to do are difficult as faculty may no longer feel empowered to do those things.Lack of internal communication hinders our external communication. Scot Lingrell (EnrollmentManagement) said that this conversation is worthwhile, and the campus needs to heal. There isa lot activity going on that could be communicated more broadly. What began as a campusmorale issue moved to include an enrollment issue. When you have enrollment concerns, itleads to other issues, and the opposite is also true. Dr. Lingrell’s office has put together a one-year tactical plan for enrollment for all three campuses. By the end of March, they should havea draft of a Strategic Enrollment Plan that will question and help us identify what about us isimportant and will attract students. The Strategic Enrollment Plan is putting together a groupfrom each campus so that he can get a sense of what makes each campus special. Strategieshave to be approached differently from each campus. The variety of opportunities is exciting tohim as an enrollment manager. We haven’t done the best job communicating theseopportunities, he explained. For instance, adult students need weekend and evening programs,sometimes short term. Some of our campuses are better at delivering this kind of schedulingthan others. We hit the nail on the head as far as the significance of the vibrancy of thecampus, he stated. It is critical to this campus. John Lester (Communications and Marketing)agreed. He stated that GSU is spending more money on advertising Armstrong in Atlantacompared to the other GSU campuses. Strategic Marketing Communications is essential. Eachcampus must be marketed differently. He hears the faculty and is working on branding for eachindividual campus. His office is also working on improved internal communications. Bill Dawers(CAH) said that these initiatives sound like the right way to go. Part of the problem is that weare now two years removed from the consolidation. The question is, how do we make up someof that ground? Helen Bland (JPHCPH) asked Dr. Lingrell about the Strategic Enrollment groupson this campus. How can faculty who want to be part of that committee join? He explained thatthe deans nominated people to be on the committee. He assumed that they would berepresentative. She then mentioned faculty focus groups on branding. Meetings will be held onWebEx for those who want to participate. Jack Simmons (CAH) said that he is pleased to hearabout the marketing campaigns, but the central concern that Bill Dawers raises about a senseof belonging can’t be resolved through branding and marketing. Carl Reiber (Provost) thenremarked that he appreciates the discussion. Context is critical, he explained. We have hadadministrative turnover that has affected the situation. How we make up ground is key.Consolidation was challenging for everyone. There were issues with different cultures ondifferent campuses, such as scheduling issues. Each campus is unique and has a uniquehistory. What was formerly working needs to be put back into place. We need to empowerfaculty. If they feel stifled, they need to come up a level to get their message across. Thefaculty need to feel as if they own their programs. New programs are being added toencourage enrollment. He can’t announce all of these until they are approved and finalized. Heacknowledged that communication has been a problem. John Lester is new to his position, butsees the moving parts. He will help us make up for lost ground. We are working on internalcommunication to better facilitate information. Bill Dawers (CAH) stated that he is heartened tohear about these initiatives. However, what was working at Armstrong isn’t working now. Weneed a working group to identify issues (as explained in Dr. Williams’ report). Could we have agroup that outlines those issues? Helen Bland (JPHCPH) added that she likes thisgroup that outlines those issues? Helen Bland (JPHCPH) added that she likes thisrecommendation. Melissa Gayan (CAH) asked about recruitment. She hears a lot about thebillboards but wonders about the human presence that we have locally. Scot Lingrell respondedthat we have a very robust recruitment initiative. It has recently become more personalizedbecause it is targeted to high schools or social media. He is pleased with our recruitmentefforts, but we need to differentiate a bit better what is special about each campus. Thediscussion of this item then concluded for this meeting, but Helen Bland stated it will be anongoing discussion.  President's Response:  

Implementation of the Inclusive Excellence Study\u27s Recommendations for Fostering Community on the Armstrong Campus

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1752&context=faculty-senate-index

Implementation of the Inclusive Excellence Study\u27s Recommendations for Fostering Community on the Armstrong Campus

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