Doing the Right Thing

I don't know if it's the spirit of the holiday season or the importance I see of improving our spirit of service at the College, but I seem to be finding inspiration all around me. A few days after the kind farmer saved our bacon, I saw a television commercial that gave me pause. You know those moments - I've seen this commercial fifty times in the last year or two and suddenly it was as though I saw it for the first time.

Liberty Mutual Insurance launched a campaign about a year ago that continues to have “legs” – meaning that their marketing messages keep evolving while retaining the same central theme. Their current commercials, with beautiful lyrics in the background, offer images that just wash over you and sort of re-tether you to all that is good in human nature. The commercials bring the "random acts of kindness" bumperstickers to life and provide 60 second reinterpretations of the Kevin Spacey/Helen Hunt movie "Pay it Forward.”

As a former mentor of mine once said, "if you can't find it on the Internet, you're not looking hard enough" - and that was pre-YouTube. So it didn't take much for me to find the commercials on YouTube. (Hopefully, your computer will be able to play these short videos.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMwoexR1evo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw97CfZtyGw

Please take a look if you have a moment. I think their campaign captures the essence of what I hope we will become as a College. Using a slight modification of the tag line from the commercials, I would love to have us get to a point where we can say - "When it's people doing the right thing, they call it being responsible. When it's a community college, they call it Mohawk Valley Community College."

I'm still only a "half-year" into my role at the College, so I'd be interested in how far along that path you think we are and what we need to further ourselves in doing the right thing. Let me know your thoughts - presblog@mvcc.edu.

A Spirit of Service

I normally keep 3-4 ideas going at a time for these blog posts, waiting for the right time or inspiration to publish my next post. My last post focused on partnerships and how they will require us to change some of our systems and services. I believe much of our future success will come through these partnerships and increasing access, but only to the extent that our collective attitudes about service are aligned. What do I mean when I say “service?” I had a very personal experience recently that I think is a great illustration of how I define the word.

At a recent charity event, we won a silent auction holiday package that included a wreath, candle, and Christmas tree. My family and I decided we would go pick out the tree at the place designated on the silent auction certificate. The location turned out to be in a very rural area north of Rome. The sun was setting quickly as we drove down an icy dirt road. A handwritten sign said "x-mas trees .7 miles". As we continued to drive with the holiday music playing on the radio and the kids singing in the backseat, I must admit there were elements of a Stephen King made for TV movie coming together. We passed a single farmhouse and continued on past a sign that said something about "road not maintained" after whatever date. Within a couple hundred yards, we went down an icy hill that told us we were in for an adventure. We made it up a couple of daunting hills until we met our match - we would go forward no more. As I tried to back ever-so-slowly down a fairly steep hill on this two-track trail in our front-wheel drive van, we gently slid off the two-track. The right front and rear wheels were buried in muck with a log under the frame while the left front wheel was on a patch of glare ice.

As the sun set below the horizon and darkness fell, we immediately ran the half mile back to the farm house and luckily connected with the owner of the farmhouse on the corner. He confirmed that the tree farm was indeed back there - likely just over that last hill where we were stuck. "His Christmas trees are just beautiful, but yeah, the guy's location is a bit of a downside", he said. I asked if he could help and he gave me a slow smile and curl of his lip and said, "two-wheeler?" I confirmed and he quickly stopped what he was doing and said, "I can get you out." It was clearly suppertime and he was in the process of shutting things down after what I imagine was a full day of work for him. He got right on his tractor and followed us back to the van. In no time we were free from the muck where we could follow him back to the base of that monster first hill for him to tow us up to the top and set us free to go home with our "first Christmas in New York" special memory.

I share this tale because this kind soul who literally saved us (there was no cellphone reception where we were and the nightly low temperature was going to be 7 degrees) could have handled our desperate situation a number of ways - he chose kindness. He never made us feel stupid. He never did anything to escalate our anxiety. All he did was smile, tell us he would be happy to help us, and made it seem like our exceptional circumstance was nothing out of the ordinary in his experience, so everything would be okay. When I think about increasing access and expanding our partnerships that will bring various streams of underserved populations to our open door at the College, we need to have the same attitude toward helping others as my favorite farmer does.

Customer service is an interesting concept in this country. We experience service in so many parts of our day - we all think we know it when we see it. Certainly there are common threads and strategies to providing good service. However, I believe that the best service starts with an attitude that permeates the entire experience and sends a consistent message of support, help, and understanding. We need to recognize that each student's circumstance is different – that although their story may sound the same to us as the next student in line, to them, their crisis is unique and needs our full attention. We have to remember that in all likelihood, this is their first college experience - their first interaction with us is their very first and anxiety-ridden step for them, even though we are in our tenth, fifteenth, or even thirtieth year of answering similar questions. The primary reason MVCC exists is to provide students with access to opportunity. If we can smile, tell others that we're happy to help, and make their exceptional circumstances seem like nothing we haven't been able to figure out in some way before, we will be on our way to creating the kind of environment where service isn't just something you see and talk about, it's something you can feel.

If you have thoughts on this that you'd like to share with me, please do at presblog@mvcc.edu

Creating a Culture of Partnership

Each week I have the good fortune to tour local businesses and agencies, as well as some of our own instructional labs to learn about community needs and MVCC's ability to respond to those needs. These experiences have helped expand my thinking on the notion of partnerships. While I will continue to gather information through the many meetings and tours that are scheduled in the weeks to come, I wanted to share some possible answers to the interesting questions - what does partnering mean and what does it take to create a culture of partnership at MVCC?

I have recently met with representatives from BOCES, SUNY IT, Utica College, many local businesses, particularly in the important healthcare sector, as well as individuals at the Resource Center for Independent Living, Upstate Cerebral Palsy, the Refugee Center, and others covering the full spectrum of potential partners for MVCC. From these meetings, I've found that partnering can mean a number of things - MVCC providing direct training to meet an employer need; MVCC breaking down barriers so that those served by various agencies have increased access to our educational programs and services; MVCC and a partner joining forces around some initiative or idea to strengthen our community; or at the most basic level, simply establishing a common connection based on like interests and a commitment to help one another, thus creating an environment that sets the stage for some future undefined activity that could only be brought about through partnership


If we are to reach out to unserved and underserved populations in ways that this community so badly needs, we are not going to be able to do so through standard operating procedures. Serving these populations will require us to think differently, act differently, and for many quite possibly feel differently. A focus on an expanded notion of partnership will allow MVCC to serve these communities in the Mohawk Valley in new and different ways. Partnership will require streamlined curriculum and program development systems, the removal of barriers that we may not even think exist (until we look at things through the eyes of those we are not currently serving), a streamlined intake system, and an unwavering commitment on the part of everyone at MVCC to serve others. I like the saying that success yields more success. I believe this is especially true if it results from intentional efforts like creating a culture a partnership, for it is through partnering that we will be able to expand our abilities to serve others and realize success beyond any of our current expectations.


If you have any thoughts or insights on partnerships or anything else, please share them with me at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Parking - the third rail of campus life

The third rail provides power for electric trains. If you touch a third rail, it isn't a pleasant thing. We recently had an interesting case study in organizational communication that surfaced the third rail of campus life - parking. My blog seemed fitting to capture it for the ages and attempt to clarify a few things. After participating in this effort to a point, hearing of the situation as things unfolded, and sorting the alluser emails and individual emails (thank you to those of you who chose to communicate with me through my blog email - I appreciated your insights!), here is what I have gleaned from this memorable week.

The Payne Hall lot gate is old. No tracking mechanism exists and we have difficulty if a new card needs to be made with the old system. As part of a planned project, we secured funding to purchase a new gate. The project was discussed at an Executive Committee meeting where it was recognized the manner in which this was communicated and "rolled out" would be important not to cause any confusion. As part of the (mis)communication effort, it was reported at the Safety Committee. It was mentioned that there was a list of names who could park in the lot and reference was made to contractual issues with parking. The question was then asked "does this mean that classified support staff won't get new cards and will have to find a new place to park?" Unfortunately, no clear answer was provided and people were left to their imaginations which were then further fueled by the article in Communitas. The article said that professional staff would be able to park in the lot after the new gate was installed. The meaning of the word professional in the article seemed to imply members of the professional association, which was untrue. The term professional staff was an inclusive phrase intended to reinforce the fact that MVCC is a community of professionals - all of us.

I believe the ambiguous wording in the article coupled with the ambiguity from the safety committee meeting led people to paint current events with a historical brush - interpreting today with a yesterday lens. I tried to communicate in a selective fashion through particular email aliases, which was quickly escalated to an allusers chatroom format. This then further escalated the commentary to surface parking issues associated with other areas on campus. All I can say there is that in the short term we will have a new gate for the Payne Hall lot; Long-term, we hope to update the Campus Master Plan, at which time all of our parking needs will be assessed to identify strategic solutions to parking issues.

The intent was to install a new gate. The intent was not to imply that one employee group was more important than another. I remain committed to developing systems and structures and managing symbols to the best of my abilities that reinforce the critical importance of all employee groups, of all job classifications, of all individual employees in supporting our students clarify and achieve their goals and serve our community in creative ways to help our region thrive. When we're able to look back on this week, that of tricks and treats, I hope the only change we will have on this is a new gate and common memory affirming two things that we do know in this world of so many unknowns: 1. communication, both sending and receiving messages is critically important to our success as an organization and 2. parking is the third rail of campus life.

If you have any further reflections on parking, please share them with me at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Access, Excellence, and Engagement

The inaugural/community event last week was a great experience for me. I appreciated the nice attendance and felt so fortunate to be joined by David Brancaccio for what felt like a very relevant conversation. I thought my blog would be a good place to post the substance of my formal remarks from the evening. I continue to be encouraged by the potential of this region and the position of Mohawk Valley Community College to serve the community in varied and significant ways.

Inaugural Remarks - 10/26/07
...thank you for joining me this evening…an evening that certainly marks the ceremonial aspect of becoming President of such a successful institution. I wanted to use this event as an opportunity to model what MVCC does so well – seize every possible opportunity to present some kind of learning experience. I think we will be able to do just that tonight with an exciting lecture and dialogue with one of America’s leading journalists, Mr. David Brancaccio.

As I assumed the responsibilities of this position, I have carried with me a quote from Howard Lowry, President of Wooster College in the 1940s – I’ve modified it slightly to bring it up to date... Lowry said, “A college is a corner of our hearts where hope has not died. Here no battle is yet quite lost. Here, we assert, endow, and defend as final reality the best of our dreams. Here lies our sense of community.” With that in mind, I’ve gone about my work here focused on three themes - Access, Excellence, and Engagement.

Access is the core value of the community college mission. As the gateway to postsecondary education in the Mohawk Valley, MVCC has educated thousands of people in and around this community; we know that thousands more have not had easy access to the college’s services for a variety of reasons.

It is my immediate goal to examine ways to improve access for those
unserved and underserved populations – whether the barrier is financial or administrative – we will do our best in the coming months and years to ensure that their dream of a college education is deferred no longer. We have a tremendous sense of purpose here – I will continue to emphasize our commitment to access so that we make sure that as the community’s college we are as welcoming as possible.

That commitment to access warrants attention to the second theme – excellence. Excellence creates a bit of a paradox within our mission of access, in that we are challenged to take students from the most diverse backgrounds of preparation and life experience and get them all to the same place – So that when they leave us, they meet the high standards of our four-year partners who will continue to educate them and the high expectations of our business partners who will employ them. For me, this paradox of access and excellence presents the wonder of community colleges. How do we account for this at MVCC? – In a word – support.

At MVCC our accessibility is reinforced by comprehensive support services to assist students in and out of class. We will continue to develop our talented faculty staff and refine our advising, tutoring, and other support services, so that access and excellence are not compromisein any way. As we increase our reach to underserved populations, we will have to sharpen our collective skill set to meet their needs and commit to providing even greater support than we have in the past.

This brings me to my third theme of engagement – to engage means to actively commit to something. I’ve spoken to faculty and staff here about this notion of engagement –it’s important in so many ways. As Vince Lombardi once said, “Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” I want us to commit to pay even closer attention to the needs of our community. We are a community in transition and as a community college, we have to recognize that our programs and services need to transition as well and maintain that delicate, sensible balance of anticipating new challenges and responding to current demands.

Perhaps the most complex aspect of engagement is the extent to which we can engage our external community. I believe that for the College to be a great partner, we have to start with “yes” - It’s not so much saying yes to everything, but rather it’s more of an attitude that pervades the entire College – we’re going to give everything we have to try to make things work when our community needs us.

We already have some great partnerships in place here, but I know we can do more. The challenges faced by this region can rarely be solved by one organization. The potential to expand partnerships was a significant attraction for me when considering this position. I get excited when I think about the different connections that the College already has as the result of having a comprehensive mission.

We have the potential at the College to build on those connections and serve as a conduit that can connect multiple partners around common objectives and build creative solutions for our community. What I’m talking about is intentionally, actively seeking partnerships at every turn - making partnership a signature of how people perceive Mohawk Valley Community College – it’s top of mind for all of us – here on staff or for members of our community – that we’re all thinking, “how can MVCC be part of the solution?”

These three themes of access, excellence, and engagement will continue to guide my thinking as I learn more about the College and the community and hopefully connect some dots that have been waiting to be connected so we can make Mohawk Valley Community College that
• special place in the corner of our hearts where hope has not died;
• where no battle is yet quite lost;
• where we assert, endow, and defend as final reality the best of our dreams; where our sense of community - here in the Mohawk Valley - can be found at Mohawk Valley Community College.

MVCC alumni making a difference

I frequently comment that I have an informal "alum of the day" program. As I'm out in the community meeting people, I invariably cross paths with an MVCC alumnus. More recently I had the chance to see the impact and influence of an MVCC education through our alumni. I attended a "meet the candidates" forum held in our theatre. The event was sponsored by our social sciences department and facilitated by our public policy students. Of the more than 30 candidates in attendance running for County Executive, County Legislator, Utica city Mayor, or Utica Common Council, nearly one-third made mention that they were graduates of MVCC. What a proud moment for the College to see graduates going on to serve the community in so many important ways.

In addition, I had the good fortune of attending a great event for MVCC alumni in the Rochester, New York area last weekend. Of MVCC's more than 30,000 alumni, more than 700 live in the greater Rochester area. So the 30 plus alumni and their guests who joined us for the event had a great time. I had the pleasure of meeting alums from the class of '49 when the College was housed at the Country Day School in New Hartford; and members of the class of '55 and '57 when many classes were held in the old Episcopal church on state street; alums from the '60s talked about the opening of the permanent campus in Utica; and the alumni from the 70s and 80s reminisced about many of their favorite faculty members, some who are still here and some who have since retired. I met a few married couples who met while attending MVCC and have enjoyed long and happy marriages in addition to their successful careers.

I was struck by how much success and happiness people had experienced since graduating from MV - many were still in their field of study, while others had gone on to Clarkson, Syracuse and other universities for advanced degrees to pursue even greater success. To a person, their memories of their time at MVCC were special and positive. It was a wonderfully organized event, coordinated by the creative staff in our Institutional Advancement Office and it reminded me of the power of education. In this society that is set up with so many possibilities, individuals can find themselves dealing with sometimes overwhelmingly negative situations in a spiral that is difficult to escape. However, those who have found a way to complete an education, like MVCC alumni, are well-equipped to explore and experience so many of the positive benefits that come with an education.

I look forward to working with our Institutional Advancement Office and our Alumni Association to continue reaching out to our outstanding alumni base that are experience such success and making a difference in our communities. If you have any ideas for engaging our alumni in the life of the College, let me know at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Traditional inauguration or community event?

Invitations recently went out for a community event on Friday, October 26th. The event will include a brief formal element that will serve as my official inauguration to serve as the fifth president in the 61 year history of MVCC. The focus of the event however, is to have noted journalist and author David Brancaccio spend an evening with us discussing the dynamics of a changing community such as ours here in the Mohawk Valley and the role education has to play in creating the future.

While some might have hoped for an event that focused, or included employees in more meaningful ways, I chose this format for a number of reasons. In terms of a meaningful event for employees, I hope we have meaningful events every day in the normal course of events on campus in both Rome and Utica. I do believe this format will be a meaningful event, as it magnifies our ability as a college to take every opportunity to create moments for learning - and with Mr. Brancaccio on the program, I'm sure it will be.

I wanted to seize this opportunity to try something a little different. I feel that something else was needed in lieu of a traditional inauguration, with administration and faculty in academic regalia marching in a processional of some kind. Rather, this is an opportunity for us to turn outward and engage our constituents in conversation and thinking about our community and the issues we face in this region.

A community reception will be held prior to the evening event to recognize our sponsors of this event, donors to the MVCC Foundation, and elected officials. The only staff invited to this community reception were the Executive Team, the presidents of the Professional Association and the Association of Mohawk Valley Adminsitrators, and the Chair of the College Senate. They were invited to help represent the College at the reception with so many community constituents in attendance.

David Brancaccio is a well-respected journalist who has covered a vast array of topics for National Public Radio and Bill Moyers and has some unique perspectives that he's gained through his work as co-host of NOW on PBS. The evening will be an engaging and enlightening experience for all who attend and should shed light on the significant position Mohawk Valley Community College enjoys in the future of our community.

I hope you and a guest will be able to attend.
Randy

Respecting Our Surroundings

The issue of respect has come up in a variety of contexts as I've been speaking with faculty, staff, and students around campus. I gained some additional perspective on this notion when Vice President Feola and I recently visited one evening with the third shift facilities staff. Respect for our buildings, grounds, classrooms and offices surfaced as a topic of conversation in our staff meeting. Although it was late for some of us (and early for others), we talked about the fact that the third shift facilities staff perhaps have the best insight as to how we treat our facilities. With support from Oneida County and the state, MVCC has invested more than $30 million in its buildings and grounds in the past ten years. We have substantial improvements scheduled for the quadrangle of the Utica Campus next spring and are in the process of considering the best way to approach upgrading many of our classrooms. However, the cleaning staff see a disturbing trend that could lead us to a sense of neglect when it comes to how we collectively treat our surroundings.

The College continues to strengthen its sense of community and affirming a mindset about how our beautiful campuses are treated has to be part of this effort. My conversation with the facilities staff included ideas about how to get people to take better care of things. If we increase our attention to detail when it comes to our facilities, we'll all increase our sense of personal responsibility for keeping things clean - we'll take care of the little spills we make in the office; we'll stop in the hallway or on the sidewalk to pick up the piece of paper; we'll properly dispose of cigarette butts; and if an accident occurs in a classroom, it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Recognizing that students with busy schedules have needs, we allow food and drink in the classroom. If anything is spilled during class, particularly in rooms with carpet, the student or faculty member needs to notify facilities at break or immediately after class. If that doesn't happen, the next class immediately files in and grinds the mess deeper into the carpet.

As we build on the long history of excellence and standards at MVCC, we need to hold each other accountable and work on this one day, one event, one moment at a time. We need to collectively commit to respecting our surroundings and keeping our campuses clean, while we establish a new level of excellence for how we think of ourselves - we (students, faculty, staff, and community) are worth it. This commitment will serve us well as we continue to invest in upgrading our facilities and individually serve as good stewards of these incredible physical resources that help create the dynamic learning environment at MVCC.

You can't mandate a sense of pride in things, but I guess you can blog about it to learn more about what people think. I've shared some perspective that I've gained from the staff who do the majority of the cleaning on campus. I just know that the level of pride we take in our institution is reflected in how we take care of it. However, my three months here isn't long enough to know if we're getting better, worse, or staying the same, but it's important enough to me to post here and see what others think. Please share your perspective with me, whether it's the same or different, and any ideas you have on this issue at presblog@mvcc.edu.

Learning on Display

Learning on display is a phrase the leading educational architects use these days when designing new educational facilities with open, flexible classrooms and soft-spaces outside the traditional classroom that expand the concept of learning environments. In the past few weeks I have had the great experience of witnessing learning on display in a variety of ways here at MVCC.

The notion of learning on display is what pops in my mind each time I see so many of the civil engineering/surveying students out and about on the quad with their surveying equipment - going beyond the classroom - and putting learning in action right here on campus. Being new, I don't know if this kind of thing happens all the time, but I've recently gained a new appreciation for all the different ways learning can happen.

I watched the theatre auditorium fill with students and faculty to participate in a great constitution day event. A week later a number of students joined close to 100 community members to watch the Oneida County District Attorney debate at 5 p.m. in the evening, as our social sciences department continues to creatively expose students to the complexities of democracy at work.

That same week, I watched the auditorium fill once again for a fantastic lecture on the top 5 emerging technologies by New York Times writer David Pogue. A few days later, more than 80 students attended a special cultural series lecture on the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. I particularly enjoyed this event as I got there early and went upstairs to sit in a comfortable chair and just take in the rhythm of the campus while I waited. For about ten minutes, everyone who was hanging out in the lobby was wonderfully entertained by a spontaneous piano concert from a very talented student who breathed amazing life into a normally dormant piano that many fail to recognize in their daily travels. As I sat and listened to the impromptu concert, I watched a senior faculty member on his way to teach a class. He had a skip in his step, a glow on his face, and an energy about him as he moved among the students in the hall - a visible enthusiasm that would make one think it was his first day on the job. As I watched him go, Ipods, laptops, and cellphones were buzzing all around me and it felt good to just take in a small sliver of the daily student experience at MV.

Similarly, the very next day I walked right through the middle of a classroom on my way to a meeting. A wise faculty member decided students might be more engaged in learning if the class met outside and left the confines of their four walls. Perhaps it was the lack of a single cloud in the sky, the warm sun, the 73 degree temperature, or the gentle breeze that prompted the relocation, but it was great to see someone seize the moment and spontaneously create a more active learning environment for students. It was also nice to see the campus take advantage of another beautiful fall day in the Mohawk Valley when I walked through the tent on Student Clubs and Organizations Day. I enjoyed getting to see the more than 50 student groups on campus available for students to participate in and extend their learning beyond the traditional classroom.

The manner in which MVCC faculty support and encourage their students to participate in these learning opportunities - whether it's required, extra credit, or simply encouraged - and create spontaneous (or planned) non-traditional learning environments is part of what makes MVCC special...where learning is clearly on display.

If you've seen learning happen in surprising or creative ways, let me know at presblog@mvcc.edu.

More thoughts on meetings

I recognize the element of paradox in my previous posts on strengthening communications and closing meetings that were formerly considered open. This post is a follow-up to share a few more thoughts on this important aspect of our culture.

Communication certainly needs to be strengthened, as it can be in any organization. However, the sense of teamwork also needs to be strengthened, which is why some meetings have been moved from open meetings to what some would call "closed" and I would call staff meetings. The advantages to this approach are multi-fold:

• in a staff meeting, the group of individuals can interact in a variety of ways that allow them to grow together as a team


• team members can "muddle" through issues without hesitation or sense of being misunderstood in a more open setting with non-team members sitting in and observing the meeting proceedings and potentially taking things out of context


• the "closed"nature of the staff meetings places the responsibility on the group leaders to communicate the meeting outcomes in more visible ways to the College community

Hopefully, these potentially positive elements will result in better decisions being made and more consistent and meaningful communications being shared. I recognize only time will tell on this and I will be watching the developments closely.

Additionally, I have received some questions about why I have removed the Vice Presidents from a number of committees. The main filter I've used here is to remove Vice Presidents from committees that generally make recommendations to the Executive Committee (i.e., College Senate, etc.). I feel it is important that committees are allowed to conduct their work in ways in which they feel trusted to do their work versus having VPs participate in making the recommendations that they will be receiving as members of the Executive Committee. I have left the VPs on some other committees that are more like work groups that require perspective from one or more of the VPs (i.e., Campus Safety Committee, etc.). Removing the VPs from some groups also helps to strengthen the positive dynamic and the importance of a well-functioning Executive Committee.

I sincerely appreciate the feedback I've received on this blog thus far. If you have any additional insights or questions on this or other topics, please let me know at presblog@mvcc.edu.