Culture of Discourse: How to Take
Your Senate to the Next Level
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute
June 10, 2016
Randy Beach, ASCCC South Representative
Cleavon Smith, ASCCC Area B Representative
Culture
• A way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place
or organization
• Agreed upon norms for handling situations
• Collective approaches and expectations
• A set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, Riverside, CA
2
Characteristics of Positive Culture
In 60 seconds, at your table brainstorm as many
adjectives to describe positive work culture.
Ready??
GO!
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, Riverside, CA
3
Characteristics of Positive Culture
You
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
4
Characteristics of Positive Culture
Transparency (even when it hurts)
Collegiality (among faculty and among administration)
Collaboration (Getting to Yes, together)
Open dialog (means creating opportunities, time, safe space for
discussion)
• Respect for minority opinions (even when inconvenient)
•
•
•
•
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
5
Role of Leadership
What kind of a leader will you choose to be to shape the
discourse?
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
6
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
7
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
8
Characteristics of Positive Culture:
Exec Committee
• How transparent/open/effective are your communications
from senate president to your Exec?
• Are you encouraging work/life balance in yourself and exec?
• Are you providing training and development for your executive
committee so they feel capable and informed?
• Who sits on your executive committee?
• Diverse disciplines; small department vs big department; part-time
voices; counseling and student support faculty: non-credit; others
• How are you rewarding/acknowledging work of the Exec and
others?
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, Riverside, CA
9
Characteristics of Positive Culture:
Senate and Faculty
• How transparent/open/effective are your communications
from you/exec to full senate and faculty?
• Do your senators feel comfortable approaching you?
• What tone do you set for the relationship between faculty and
administration?
• Do administrators attend senate meetings?
• Do you meet weekly with the college president?
• Do senators dread meetings or are they excited? Have you
asked them why they feel the way they do?
• Do you have an annual retreat to set goals/expectations and
encourage involvement?
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, Riverside, CA
10
What are our meetings for anyway?
The work of the Senate:
• Vanguards of the 10+1 through…
•
•
•
•
Planning
Quality Control
Developing programs
Evaluating past actions
• Create the centrifugal force bringing the voices of the faculty body
together
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, Riverside, CA
11
Before we deliberate
• How are the issues raised, contextualized and prioritized?
• How do we ensure—before we actually meet—that there are
diverse perspectives included in the deliberations?
• How do we ensure that those perspectives feel that the space in
which we’re having the deliberations is truly inclusive?
• How do we prepare for the deliberation and the many
perspectives that will be engaged through it?
• How transparent are we with where we are in the debate
(initial deliberations, urgent action needed, etc.)?
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, Riverside, CA
12
While we deliberate
• How do we respond to dissenting views and positions?
• How do we move on while holding a space for those dissenting
views?
CTE Leadership Institute May 8 - 9, 2015 LaJolla, CA
13
After we deliberate
• Let dissent inform how you move forward
• Privilege the voices of dissenters in setting up evaluations for the
decisions/recommendations made by the body
• Publicize the dissenting points of view (not the dissenters)
• Make open and public the process for evaluation
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, Riverside, CA
14
Characteristics of Negative or
Ineffective Culture
•
•
•
•
•
Faculty on Faculty Crime (mistrust between faculty)
Mistrust between administrators and faculty
“Unwillingness to find compromise” as a principle
Assumption that all faculty know what you know
React first; ask questions later
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
15
How About Your House?
With a partner or two answer the following prompts:
What does your local senate’s culture look like?
Try for two positives and a negative
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
16
What Will You Do?
With a partner or two answer the following prompt:
What are the actions you can take to shape the culture
you want?
Try for two immediate and two long-term
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
17
“
QUESTIONS?
ASCCC Faculty Leadership Institute June 9 - 11, 2016 Riverside, CA
18