Welcome
Good Morning and Welcome. Ceud mille failte. A hundred thousand welcomes. Bienvenido a nuestro colegio comunitario. It is great to see all of you.

Before I start, I want to acknowledge the hard work of some of the people who helped me put this presentation together: John Hambleton, Donna Zmolek, Mary Bolton, Sonya Christian and many others who contributed.

Let me take care of some housekeeping details first. After this presentation, we will have a short break and then you have some choices to make. The theme of inservice this year is Ubuntu. You may recall that last year I mentioned this concept. In its simplest form, Ubuntu is defined as the "art of being human." With origins in South Africa, Ubuntu is an all encompassing view of world life and humanity. The word itself is Zulu and inspires us to learn from others as we learn from ourselves. Ubuntu is the humanistic experience of treating all people with respect and granting them their human dignity. Just to remind you, let’s see what Nelson Mandela said about Ubuntu.

(Ubuntu Video clip)

With that in mind, you have some options: you could choose to take care of yourself by walking the labyrinth; sitting and enjoying the wonderful landscapes around the college, including sculptures by our faculty which are graciously being shared with us; or attending some wellness activities. These are intended to be primers that might get you excited about starting or continuing a practice of wellness; Tai Chi, thunder drumming or my personal favorite, NIA, which is a low impact aerobic with a mind/body/spirit component, and you don’t have to do anything that doesn’t feel good to your body! Or you could take care of someone else – go for a walk, have a cup of tea, or help someone clear up a work space. And finally, you can take care of this place by signing up to do some tasks outside or inside, such as planting the Learning Garden or doing some weeding – that’s what I plan to do for a while. If you see a corner that needs to be swept, we could probably get you a broom! This will give some of us an idea of some of the work our classified staff do, have them be leaders in directing our work and give us a chance to work side by side with each other doing something different than our usual work. Each year we have a crew do this type of thing for United Way, and it is always fun to work together.

So my plan is to join Dan Conklin to do some weeding, then go to NIA and maybe even fit in Thunder Drums. If you haven’t already signed up – no matter – just show up. It’ll be fun! Then I’ll see you at lunch. Also, don’t forget the classified recognition event at noon.

So, think about Ubuntu while you are going about your daily work. If we can treat each other with care and respect, it will help us deal with the challenges we face. Times may be tough, but there is no need to forget our humanity. We can create the kind of place we want to inhabit, but it takes all of us and our good intentions.

In the meantime, if too much coffee kicks in, I will assume that you will take care of your personal needs. That doesn’t mean there can be a mass exodus right now!

As usual, I want to begin welcoming all of you here today for the beginning of the 2007-08 year. Teaching and learning is a journey. It can be challenging and arduous, but it is journey of hope, promise and fulfillment. And we have the privilege of starting that journey every year. As educators, we are blessed with being able to have a fresh start, a new beginning every fall. Another chance to get it right! Get it right as an organization, get it right with students and get it right with each other. I can’t think of a place I would rather work because of the wonderful faculty, staff and students. When I reflect on why I want to be here, it always comes back to our compelling mission and vision and the difference we make working together.

So welcome. I want to first express my appreciation to all the faculty and staff who were working at the college this summer. We know the work it takes to wind up last year’s activities, keep things going and, simultaneously, get ready for the new year. As always, I am extremely grateful for your dedication.

I also want to thank the faculty, many of whom may have been off campus, but we know that summer is a time when many of you evaluate your classes and think about the things you can do to improve the learning environment for our students. However, without the pressure of teaching loads, I hope you had some time to rest and enjoy this glorious Oregon summer.

Thomas Moore writes: “When you are enchanted, your imagination transforms ordinary life into something extraordinary.” Moore says that children are easily enchanted, but when we become adults our ability to become enchanted diminishes….as do lots of other things, I must say!! “Fantasy goes into hiding and emotion succumbs to reason.” (Moore) It is my hope that you all had an enchanting summer….that the summer was full of encounters with nature and loved ones that filled you with awe, made you laugh, helped you relax or granted you a new insight.

And a special welcome to all of you who are with us for the first time. Of course, we have not been able to hire many new people recently, but could everyone who has joined the college since this time last year, please stand? Please welcome them. We are so glad you said “yes” to Lane. I wish you a long and successful relationship with the college.

I would also like to welcome the board members that are here today. Our elected board does a great job on behalf of the community and provides solid leadership for all of us. Pat Albright is here today. I especially want to thank Pat Riggs-Henson for stepping up to be chair. She couldn’t be here, but vice chair, Susie Johnston, is here today to welcome you on behalf of the board.

Kudos
Even as we have been challenged, amazing things have been happening. As a board member of the League for Innovation in the Community College, I visit the other board colleges; places like Miami Dade, the largest post secondary institution in the country, Maricopa in Phoenix, San Diego. They are doing a lot of exciting things, but when I come back I marvel even more, because I would put Lane’s innovation up against any of these colleges. The difference is that they have lots of money to throw at innovation, while we are not able to do that. The fact that Lane is such a vibrant place is testimony to the work that all of you do. It is important that we take a few minutes to celebrate the outstanding work that has gone on. We need to remind ourselves that the budget isn’t everything and take a minute to recognize our accomplishments.

Last year, it took me almost an hour to go through all the wonderful accomplishments that you made possible. While I love to recognize the great work, I also want us to move through this so that we can move into taking care of self, each other and this place so this year we prepared a short video that highlights some of the great work and achievements from last year.

I want to emphasize a couple of things: Congratulations to the winners of our Faculty Recognition awards – Wendy Simmons, Katie Morrison-Graham, J.S. Bird, Kate Sullivan, Velda Arnaud, Dean Bergen, Ruth Bischel, Thomas Rubick. Let’s give them another round of applause.

I also want to say a little more about our classified employees of the month.

October 2006 - Melanie Davis, Family & Health Careers
Faculty, staff & students in the Dental Clinic were thrilled to have a full-time dental clerk position reinstated, and they are very pleased with how Melanie fills the bill. She has gone beyond expectations, using initiative to expand her job to help students, clients and her colleagues. Melanie is always kind, professional and approachable, encouraging a spirit of cooperation.

December 2006 - Tara Pemberton, Health & PE
Tara's colleagues appreciate her welcoming attitude in the Fitness Education Center. She consistently goes above and beyond to create an environment that all students, staff and community members feel welcome in. She is creative in helping FEC participants "branch out" in their workouts, as well as developing enhanced learning objectives for student interns in the Fitness Training Program. People keep coming back to the FEC because of Tara; this is good for their health and good for LCC enrollment!

March 2007 - Scott Bell, Adult Basic and Secondary Education
Scott’s colleagues gave numerous examples to justify his receiving this award. He is creative with space design – helping with the move to main campus and utilizing existing resources such as furniture & other surplus equipment. He streamlined the intake process for new students to this campus, a necessity after the loss of vital support staff. One favorite accolade shared about Scott is in regards to his non-intimidating nature, “…his gentle yet assertive nature…encourages cooperation rather than rebellion.”

Please join me in giving a round of applause for the monthly recipients.

As notable as those achievements are for our monthly recipients, we go a step further each year to identify that one individual from the monthly recipients whose contributions have demonstrated the greatest depth of impact and uniqueness. Another inter-institutional committee reviews the monthly winners, based on the same criteria, and selects one individual who has had the greatest impact on the Lane community for that year. From those monthly winners, the Classified Employee of the Year is selected. It is my pleasure to work with this outstanding individual and to announce to you the

CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR 2006-07
Melanie Davis, Office Support Specialist, Dental Clinic, Family & Health Careers

Melanie, please join me at the podium to receive this well deserved award and recognition.

Melanie began at Lane as a timesheet employee in the Cooperative Education office in September of 1992 and became a contracted employee in March of 1997, working for Lane Family Connections, and has worked in the Dental Clinic since September 2005.

She saw the need and worked to facilitate a “Senior Smile Day” last April, serving 57 senior citizens with clinic visits in one day! She “sells” our clinic off-campus, as well, bringing in friends and family as clients and helping with community outreach. Outside of Lane, Melanie is a busy mom of three kids, and she loves to read when she can find the time.

Please join me in honoring the 2007 Classified Employee of the Year, Melanie Davis.

We’ve recognized those classified staff members who have received Employee Recognition awards this year, and many more are yet to be recognized. Your stories comprise what makes this institution great. The Classified Employee of the Month Award was created to help us get those stories out. Join us this year in nominating individuals who are demonstrating excellence, innovation, diversity and partnerships that stand above the rest.

I want to mention a couple of things about Marketing. We spend very little on marketing, and Tracy Simms has been doing a great job to make every dollar go as far as possible.

Funded from the Carl Perkins grant, the Marketing department worked with the division chairs from the Career and Technical programs to develop this fall's recruitment commercial. We hope you've seen it on a wide range of local and cable channels, but if you haven't . . .

(Hands video)

Marketing is also working to create an online community that will engage current and prospective students as well as community members. Life@Lane is a student moderated blog that introduces new topics each week. Check it out from a link on the home page and LaneTubersCafe is a student moderated YouTube channel. Each of these new environments employs a cost effective strategy to harness the power of viral communications.

Finally, I want to recognize the work done by all of you, those in instruction and student services in exceeding our FTE goals and this, too, in a climate of budget cuts. Bravo!

I’d like to recognize the start of the work on instructional redesign, the focus on the financial impact of our instructional practices and making changes to positively impact the financial situation while not compromising student learning. This work has started directly identifying the financial savings, and I look forward to this work deepening in the next two to three years.

I’d also like to acknowledge the extraordinary work of College Operations, even after significant personnel cuts over the years. Information Technology, I know that last year was very difficult for you. Thank you for remaining committed and diligent in your work.

All of this in addition to simply doing the important daily work of teaching and serving students – awesome!

Looking Ahead
Bill Staines, singer and songwriter said: “We are crossing the water our whole life through, we are making a passage that we hope is true, every heart is a vessel, every dream a light, shining through the darkness of the blackest night.” It is our hearts and our dreams that will help us through the bleak times. I wish I could say that we are entirely through those times, but we aren’t. There is good news and not so good news. As projected, we did overspend last year. Not so good! Since we cut more than needed to balance the 2008 budget, if we are careful this year, we should end the year in a positive position – our revenues should exceed our expenditures for the first time in a few years, which is good news. But we are not out of the woods yet. The projections for the 2009 budget present similar challenges to last year. What we do with vacant positions, what we do in bargaining, what happens with enrollment this year, whether there is any additional funding from the legislature--all of these have an impact on the 2009 budget and will either put us in a deficit or balancing position. All of this will become clearer as we go through the year. In the meantime, we are discussing the assumptions we will make to build the budget, and within the next few weeks we will share projections with you. So 2009 is still a challenge.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If we make sound decisions for the 2009 budget, I think in the following year we have a chance of being through this dark time. Now there are many variables that could impact that. The economy needs to stay healthy. Not being a wealthy person myself, I have never really tracked the stock market that closely. But recognizing the connection between our funding and the economy, I am always listening for indicators that might affect our revenue. The governor has promised community colleges a ten percent increase in the next legislative session, and at that level I can begin to see some respite in this funding situation. For those of us who are planning to be around Lane for a few years, I can see a time in the not too distant future when we can be assured that there will be enough money year over year to cover our costs. Not much additional money, but enough. But it very much depends on the decisions we make this year. I am sure I can speak for you in saying that we are all mighty tired of facing this budget challenge year after year. Therefore, I am committed to making whatever decisions need to be made this year so, if we have to make cuts, we can count this as the last year we need to do so. For that to happen, we need to think and work together creatively for the good of the college. We can only be healthy and assured of our jobs if the college is healthy. In this we have a powerful shared interest. More on that later, but let me talk for a few moments about where we are going.

I said last year that we couldn’t keep doing things the same way. We have not been getting the result we want so we must think differently. The same approach won’t work!

This vast wall stands between us and our preferred future. How do we get around it or through it? It starts with being clear about where we are going.

Several times last year, the question of where the college was going came up. As people were trying to endure the challenges we were having, they were also trying to look ahead at what we are trying to become - what’s the vision?
I must admit I am a bit puzzled by this, because I always look to our vision statement – Transforming Lives through Learning – our mission, core values and strategic directions. I always go to this document. We developed it in a collaborative way, and though we have made progress, we have not achieved all of the directions, and so I use that as my guide.

We are trying to fulfill the vision and mission, achieve the strategic directions and live by the core values. Perhaps the idea that achievement of the directions resulting in transforming lives is not concrete enough for some. Perhaps some need to know exactly what the college will look like. I could try to paint a picture, but I still don’t know if it will be specific and concrete enough, because the truth is that we are a complex adaptive system, and the kind of change we are undergoing is not simple “cause and effect” or “do A and B happens.” Complex adaptive systems recognize organizations by referring to their states of certainty and agreement. The more certainty and agreement there is, the more the organization is in a state of stability but is also inflexible and can easily die; and the more lack of certainty and agreement, the more the organization can end up in chaos. However, there is a mid range where the organization/system learns from its state of uncertainty and through conversations forms agreements and thus is able to transform itself.

But let me try to be more concrete –

It’s pretty simple in my mind: There are seven things I want for the college:

1. I want this to be a good place for students – one where they are learning, achieving their goals and dreams, making progress, going to the next level, transferring to the university, going to work in a good paying job, moving into college education from secondary education, satisfying their lifelong learning needs;

2. I want the college to respond to community needs – I want us to be relevant and critical to the success of the community, helping the community move forward, because we have been part of the dialogue on the future of the community, a vibrant part of community economic and civic progress, meeting needs of employers;

3. I want the college to be a satisfying place to work – a civil, engaged group of people who work together for the collective good of the college, and in so doing, reap individual rewards—whether it’s decent salaries and benefits or more intrinsic rewards; where the value of every single group and person is acknowledged and celebrated; where there is an understanding that everyone has a contribution to make and that we get rid of the pecking order and envision one class of educator – first class educators in the quest to serve students;

4. I want a college where we have a balance of talk and action; where we have simplified and streamlined processes; where we are as productive and efficient as possible;

5. I want us to be fiscally sustainable – no choice here! Where we have enough money year over year to maintain efforts and perhaps even do some new things or repurpose funds to meet an emerging need, without worrying about having to cut just to get by; where people feel secure not just because we have a sustainable budget but also because each individual is doing a stellar job that is making a difference to the whole;

6. I want everyone to understand their part in the big picture – that each person’s actions or inactions have a huge effect on the whole; that we can’t afford to carry one person – everyone is giving at 100% - we recognize that in each other and we celebrate it;

7. I want us to understand that there may not be enough public money (though we’ll work hard to get more) and that we can be entrepreneurial without betraying our mission and generate money to sustain ourselves.

Really, everything I have just said is a less fancy way of stating our strategic directions – when I read them – this is what they say to me. So when you are wondering where we are going, what it is we are trying to achieve, I ask that you look at our vision, mission and strategic directions and know that is what we are trying to accomplish.

But let me be even more concrete:

This past year, the board of education reviewed our mission and decided that they wanted the college to continue to be a comprehensive college. They could not see lopping off part of our mission whether basic skills or continuing education or career education. That means that if we have to contract, we will need to do it in a way that protects the mission overall.

There will be a legislative session in February, and we will be working hard to receive additional revenue. It is true that our allocation improved, but it did not measure up. It did not merit the patting on the back and jubilation that went along with the end of the session. My theme song for the session is this: the Dixie Chicks – I’m Not Ready to Make Nice. Enough said, there is work to be done.

And I’ll have a chance to do some of it. You may have read that the Governor signed two Executive Orders a couple of weeks ago. One created the new Commission on Post Secondary Education, which I will be co-chairing with OSU President Ed Ray. Just as important is the formation of a Forecasting Committee. This committee will identify the elements that need to be included in the essential budget level for the Community College Support Fund.

Here at Lane we have three strategic directions: Transforming the College Organization, Transforming Students’ Lives, Transforming the Learning Environment. Let me just share some specific activities that will occur this year to further these directions.

Transforming Students’ Lives

• Continue to develop effective retention strategies that are fiscally sustainable
• Keeping students here and taking more credits is easier than recruiting new students
• Develop programs to meet workforce and student needs –e.g., programming for and about seniors—CNA II, Gerontology, Fitness, Physical Therapy Assistant; expand niche programs like Gaming, Respiratory Therapy, Energy Management, Dental Hygiene
• Seamless pathways from high school to Lane, Lane to OUS, and within Lane
• Continue to focus on attracting more high school students, and this time with a focus on those that are academically prepared. Why UO when there is Lane?
• Expanded Career Technical opportunities through RTEC
• Focus on seamless transition for ABE/GED students into collegiate level courses
• Continue our conversations about instructional redesign so that we clearly have positive fiscal impact by modifying instructional practices and maximizing student learning opportunities in a fiscally prudent way

Transforming the Learning Environment:
We have started planning for a facilities bond measure. Our current bond, passed in 1995, will be paid off in 2009. We have an opportunity to make a real difference in ours and our students’ lives in the upcoming months. Instead of looking backwards and lamenting the circumstances that brought Lane into the fiscal difficulties it faces, all of us, with a little effort, can make a big difference over the next year.

Lane's facilities need updating to move into this century. Basic infrastructure, like heating and air conditioning, and other maintenance required to protect the taxpayers' investment in the college facilities needs to be undertaken. All of you need a quality work environment to perform at your best. The Downtown Center, so important in our connection to the community, needs to be made functional. Every day you do your part to make Lane a great institution that benefits all of Lane County in a myriad of ways and touches the lives of everyone.

Now we are going to ask the community to do their part to continue this great tradition of service to Lane County. We will most likely be bringing an $80 to $100 million bond to the voters to accomplish these efforts. If we bring it in November 2008, we will be asking for a rollover, or continuance, of what they are already paying. So we won't be asking them to pay anymore than they already are. If we wait, or don't have the resolve to win, we will have to bring it to the voters later, this time with a request for a raise in taxes, and the odds of success will be far less.

Some of you may be asking: why are we focusing on that when we need operating money? Well, to the extent that we can raise bonds to pay for infrastructure, it relieves the general operating fund from allocating those funds. For example, our boilers are almost 40 years old. At some point they are going to break. We have many buildings that no longer meet the pedagogical needs of the contemporary classroom.

The working theme for the bond is renewal. We would not build any new buildings; rather we would upgrade existing buildings to meet the needs of the future, especially those that were not included in the last bond. We have a preliminary list of buildings that would be included in the bond and are beginning conversations to identify what kinds of spaces would be needed in the buildings. The board has had three preliminary conversations about this and will make decisions about what needs to be included in the bond by next spring. We will also have internal conversations.

In the meantime, we know that we cannot leave passage of the bond to chance. The local option tax levy showed us that. We will be doing polling in the community to hear what voters have to say, and we will be organizing a grass roots public information program in the community. We will need your help with this. Each of you is an ambassador for the college – when you are in the grocery store, church, the neighborhood coffee shop or chatting with your neighbor over the fence – the messages you share about Lane can make all the difference.

Another major project is our Opening Doors fundraising campaign. We will "Open Doors to a Healthy Community" - the Health and Wellness building and endowed chairs – and we will "Open Doors to Achieving your Dreams" - scholarships and innovation.

This campaign is now in what is called the “quiet phase.” The total amount of the campaign is $22.75 million, including the $6.75 million we received from the state for a new Health and Wellness building. We have to match the state money for the building. In addition, we will raise money for endowed faculty chairs, perhaps in health, but also in areas of donor interest - $3 million for scholarships and $1.5 million for a fund for innovation. Though more focused on health as far as the building is concerned, the other components will positively impact everyone. Also, raising the match for the building through private philanthropy frees up the bond project for renewal projects that will affect everyone in a positive way.

During the fall, we regularly conduct our combined United Way and Foundation internal campaign. This year we will be adding the Opening Doors campaign as an option. Now, I am well aware that this is not a good year to ask any of you to give because of the sacrifice you made. I just need to tell you that when I go out to ask a donor to give $100,000 as a leadership gift or $1 million one of the questions, I often hear: “are the people that work at Lane invested in this?” It really helps to be able to say that 100% of our faculty and staff have given to the campaign. It’s not about the amount – everyone has their own limits depending on their financial situation; it’s about participation. I encourage all employees to join me in supporting the vision of Lane's future by joining me in the campaign. I am absolutely committed to assuring the success of this campaign through contribution of my time and energy and a financial gift that will be a stretch for me and my family.

You will be hearing more about these two major projects in the coming months, but I wanted to give you an overview of where we are with them.

Another significant project that we will be working on this year is a Peace Centre. You may recall that I mentioned this two years ago, and it seemed to resonate with many of you. A group of us have been meeting periodically to discuss what a Peace Centre at Lane might look like. As a result, there are a couple of initiatives underway. This fall we will be holding a Peace Conference. Peg Allison and Stan Taylor are co-chairs of that effort. I am also pleased to announce that the Visiting Scholar, funded by an Endowed Chair fund, will be awarded to the Peace Centre. The last visiting scholar worked on the development of Chinuk Wawa classes, which this fall we are offering via distance learning to students at Chemeketa Community College and Portland State University. We are working on a number of ideas for this year – a speaker’s series on the topic of peace, a visiting scholar for one term and professional development in the area of non-violent communication available to our faculty and staff.

This year we will also be offering a Leadership Institute for faculty and staff who might be interested in moving into leadership and/or administrative positions in the future. In the next ten years there will be a shortage of leaders in community colleges nationwide due to retirements, and developing future leaders is an important obligation. The Institute will begin with a two-day retreat and then one day a month through May. We will be bringing community college leaders to the college to facilitate sessions throughout the year. Look for information on how to apply in the next couple of weeks.

The Community College Moment is now an established journal, entering its eighth year. Interest from around the country is growing, including participation from League for Innovation schools. The next issue, exploring “Democracy,” promises to be timely and relevant in 2008. The deadline to submit pieces for the next edition is October 15. Contact co-editors Steve McQuiddy and Ken Zimmerman for further information.

Transforming the College Organization
Continue to build a culture of evidence:

• Expanded access to student data (retention, enrollment)
• Expanded access to financial data (dashboards, cost per FTE, revenue per FTE)
• Expanded access to productivity data (capacity utilization, other ratios)

Fiscal Sustainability can be both incremental and systemic, and I’m calling for both.

• Internal process improvement
• Internal instructional redesign
• Productivity
• Entrepreneurial activities

We will also be involved in statewide work, with the Post-Secondary Quality Education Commission, legislative work and external resources.

Focusing on our vision, mission, strategic directions and these specific areas of action that I have outlined will take us through the short and mid term. However, we can’t stop there. Most of the projects I have mentioned above need to be part of a larger vision to prepare us for the future. The existing strategic plan runs through 2008, so I have begun to think about 15-20 years out to envision what Lane Community College should look like. I won’t be here to see it, nor will many of you, but unless we envision it now we won’t be taking the right steps over the next few years to accomplish that vision.

The board is initiating community conversations to develop a 2020 Vision. We will have parallel conversations internally. Certainly, the Opening Doors Campaign and the bond planning are all part of what we want to look like in the future.

We will have a parallel conversation within the college. We will use the ideas of the World Café. Juanita Brown, who did a lot of work with migrant farm workers, states that conversations that matter often take place around a kitchen table. She has developed a methodology to have conversations in that matter, and we will use that for our internal conversations that will begin this fall.

There are two additional projects that we will work on this year. I have used the expression - Building the Bridge as We Walk Across It – in reference to the governance system. Those of us involved on the governance councils, particularly College Council, know that the bridge needs some work – maintenance and some reengineering. To that end, we will be making some changes this year, and at the end of the year we will do a comprehensive assessment. There are some who see the governance system as a failure, and for very different reasons. Some think it takes too much time and managers should just get on with it; others think the system does not go far enough. I don’t think it is possible to reconcile these conflicting notions to everyone’s satisfaction. What I do know is that we need vehicles for bringing everyone – each stakeholder group’s representatives – together, a table where multiple perspectives can be heard; we also need to be clear about authority and responsibility and where that lies for different decisions that must be made, and college governance is certainly one of the essential structures for making that happen. So I am not considering doing away with the system, but certainly to make improvements where they are needed.

I will also be bringing a group together to review the administrative structure. We have a number of vacancies, and it is time to assess what the college needs.

Working Together
So how do we get this done? We have pitched our tents in higher education here at Lane Community College, probably the most human of all enterprises. We are tired of cutting budgets; tired of spending half the year figuring out how we can keep everything going instead of focusing on why we came into education in the first place – to serve students. How can we keep going if morale is low and some are fearful? How can we manage if we are afraid to do what is needed for fear of criticism or worse, character assassination? How can we be positive when there are still challenges we must face? How can we paint a face on the future and excite or incite others to positive action?

Well, one thing I know, we can’t expect to get out of this waiting for someone else to do it for us. We can’t wait around for someone to come rescue us.

I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. I do think there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we are not there yet. One thing I do know is this: there is an immense well of talent and creativity here; there is a commitment to this college and our students; there is a path out if we can agree to work together to walk to the end of the tunnel.

I can provide leadership, but I can’t do it alone. Many of you can and must provide leadership in your own way. If we join together, we can overcome these challenges; if we polarize and separate, I can almost guarantee failure. We can be in a tug of war or we can work together.

Bill Stafford wrote:
Some days when you look out, the land
is heavy, following its hills, dim
where a road bends. There are days when
having the world is a mistake.
But then you think, “Well, anyway, it wasn’t
my idea,” and it’s OK again.

Suppose that a person who knows you happens
to see you going by, and it’s one of those days.
For a minute you have to carry the load
for them, you’ve got to lift the whole
heavy world, even without knowing it,
being a hero, stumbling along.
Some days it’s like that. And maybe
today. And maybe all of the time.

Well, I hope not all of the time, but maybe today, maybe this year, all of us will need to take turns in helping carry the load for each other. Can we do that? Can we stop the division between faculty and classified staff and value how both contribute to a student’s learning?

Stafford again:
What you Fear will not go away; it will take you into
yourself and bless you and keep you
That’s the world, and we all live there.

We all live there; we all live here. As we talk about our desire for peace in our world, it’s got to start right here. Otherwise, it’s cheap talk or at worst, hypocrisy. We have much in common, more than what separates us. The image of the “commons” and the common good must be part of our thinking and acting. It presses us toward inclusion and justice and conveys an image of a shared life.

“That’s the world and we all live here.” We must learn to problem solve together.

In the past year, I have heard managers and others share stories where he or she was attacked in a personal way; where classified staff felt devalued; where faculty felt diminished. It is playing out between employee groups, within employee groups and within departments and between branches of the college. I don’t have all the answers, but one thing I do know is that kind of diminishing behavior will not resolve anything. It only serves to separate and anger. Each one of us is responsible for changing this. In an atmosphere of scarcity, it is all too easy to resort to this kind of behavior. Personal attacks are a form of organizational violence, and we must confront it. We don’t want to act like this.
Make no mistake – these kinds of behavior do not bring us to resolution. For those who have experienced this, it is testimony to their courage that they continue to focus on their work and try to build good relationships.

Stafford again:
When they criticize you how do you
Hold your wings? I hold mine out
And down, descend a little, then more.
Cool air comes. Nobody cares how low
I descend, and the way my eyes close
Makes me disappear. They have their sky again.

We have our tensions, no doubt about it, but we can try to understand conflict as a productive force. Differences of opinion are a critical part of life and learning. However, when it leads to personal attacks and personalized response, it turns differences of viewpoint, fact or interpretation into individual wounds. When this happens, it threatens relationships. It shifts the work quickly from the intellectual work of understanding and learning about a substantive difference to the emotional work of mending or compensating for damaged pride or identity. Instead we must work together.

I am asking those of you who do not want to be a part of diminishing others to join with me in having the courage to confront this in a civil way; to let people know that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. As educators we are here to build people up, not tear them down.

We are going to need the grace to design and sustain a community of meaning and hope, a community that will offer all members the opportunity to learn and grow, to make a contribution, to be seen and recognized for who they are and what they bring. We are going to need people of good will. And we must recognize that while we have been undergoing budget challenges relentlessly, for our students, it is their moment in time for learning, and we need to assure that the moment is the very best it can be. Though it may be hard, we need to serve them well with optimism and hope and a focus on what they need to fulfill their dreams. It is amazing how small acts of optimism can become a force.

I have become slightly addicted to YouTube (though I don’t know who has the time to develop these videos). This particular one caught my attention for two reasons; it demonstrates the power of this technology, and it shows that sometimes funky, oddball behavior can bring a smile to people and in fact it is quite contagious. This is a story of a person in Australia who went out on the street with a message. A band heard about it, put one of their songs to the video and posted it on YouTube. Look what happened.

We have work to do.

“In the human world abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together to celebrate and share our common store.” Palmer

Let’s choose community.

“Is it possible to become more intentional about creating spaces—in relationship, in community—where our fearful shadows can emerge into the light to be seen for what they are, where the truth and love within us can appear and make a claim on our lives?” Palmer

I do believe that it will make for a better quality of work life.

Stafford again:
What can a person do to help
Bring back the world?

We have to watch it and then look at each other.
Together we hold it close and carefully
save it, like a bubble that can disappear
if we don’t watch out.

Ultimately, we all must have the courage to put the college first, to focus on our common interests and see how we can accomplish them, to see the humanity in each other, not the difference, and to work together to make the college sustainable for all of us. It will take courage. If we are brave enough we can get the job done.

In the ideal
It is a harvesting,
This work we do-
A reaping of crops grown
From ancestral seeds,
A gathering of first fruit
From vines that trace their sources
Beyond geography,
Beyond gender,
Beyond the bleach
And blush
And black of skin
And root themselves in watery grace,
In knowledge that nurtures us all.

In the ideal
Our classrooms fill, like cornucopias,
overflowing with the bounty of our grange.
Life stories, heaped among the texts,
Spill into hallways of our schools,
Crowd the sidewalks or subways
Or ride yellow buses home,
Altering the form of knowing,
Changing heads,
Changing hearts,
Changing history
Bringing harvest
Home.

Betty Spinner

So let’s be brave enough to bring the harvest home. I wish you well in the coming year. Thanks.