Workshop Series

1. People are willing to commit time and energy if they truly believe in achieving the end product.

2. Small groups (6-7 people) that meet for shorter time periods (1.5 hours) and meet more frequently (every other week or monthly) garner more ownership and commitment than a larger group (30 people) that meet longer (8-12 hours over one to two days) but less frequently (once a semester).

3. National workshops provide enthusiasm and opportunities to explore possibilities but without a structure in place "back home" to share the enthusiasm, most of it gets lost or diffused.

4. Outside perspectives (people from community colleges, business, industry, government, and community, as well as students) are welcomed but hard to incorporate into a comprehensive plan perceived to be only for the University.

1. When we originally asked people to join the Shared Leadership for Institutional Change (SLIC) project, we had great response because people were ready, willing, and committed to a change in leadership style, culture, and environment at Iowa State University.

2. The thirty-member SLIC team divided into five learning teams that met every other week or monthly. The topics for the learning teams were:

The learning teams had better attendance and created a more trusting environment than the semester meetings of the entire group. The more active the learning team, the more likely that the participants would actively be involved in the semester Retreats.

3. We tried to schedule Retreats after the national workshops in order to extend the enthusiasm to the entire group. When we didn't have Retreats, the enthusiasm was either lost or diffused. When this happened, the participants who went to the national workshops became disillusioned and then were more likely to become "unplugged" in the larger initiative.

4. The largest debate centered on whether "institutional change" was to be focused only on Iowa State University, higher education as a whole, or on the state of Iowa. The central question is "If institutional change is focused on ISU, why would external voices want to be involved? What would they bring to the table?" Even though our external partners have made significant contributions to Phase 1, there still is dissention about the right level of involvement in the leadership pilot project.

5. After our May Retreat that consisted of around 20 people, the list of core values was submitted to the strategic planning committee for inclusion in the newly-developed Iowa State University's Strategic Plan for 2000-2005. Since the core values were developed by a group that included both faculty and administration, the core values were used in the strategic plan. Amazing to several of us!

To serve the possibilities of a better world, all community members commit to shared decision making based on continual learning. Shared leadership empowers individuals and groups, creates mutual accountability, fosters dialogue, and inspires commitment to achieve shared vision and goals, which are consistent with the core values.

As we work toward creating an environment where continual learning serves the promises of a better world, all members of the Iowa State University community must act in harmony with our core values:

Excellence: We strive to continuously improve in the areas of learning, discovery, and sharing. Excellence embraces creativity, change, and innovation in order to engage and serve all stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, families, state and federal government, business, industry, communities, and citizens.

Quest for Knowledge: Through diverse perspectives, questioning, research, and discovery, we challenge ourselves to create new knowledge; and transmit, preserve, and apply our knowledge for the promises of a better world.

Shared Leadership: In a community based on shared responsibilities and decision-making, we are empowered to take responsibility for continuous learning, and are mutually accountable to our stakeholders.

Integrity: Trust and trustworthiness, together, serve as the backbone for appreciating the totality of each person, and of the institution. We expect ourselves to do what we say, that our actions will be consistent with our words, and will address the needs of others.

Commitment: We enthusiastically work hard to improve our university, and look forward to rich and diverse opportunities and challenges both at work and in the community. We pledge to make wise use of resources available to us, including financial resources, time, ability, and facilities that the institution provides.

Collaboration: We work with a broad range of constituencies to bring synergy and diverse viewpoints to the institution. Sharing and dialogue foster two-way learning within the university, and among Iowa State, other academic institutions, business, industry, government, communities, families and citizens. We first listen and then respond to the needs of a broad range of constituents, providing opportunities for collaborative knowledge creation.

Mutual Respect: Genuine caring among individuals fosters diverse viewpoints and opinions, as well as valuing the skills and capabilities of all stakeholders. We value community and continuous learning in the interest of civility, social justice, and upholding shared decision-making.

Inclusiveness: As a land-grant university, we are committed to the principles of equal access and opportunity. We constantly challenge ourselves to be proactive in protecting and advancing the interests of disenfranchised populations, and in breaking the barriers due to gender, race, abilities, economic standards, and social status. We are committed to going outside our usual constituent populations, to make higher education at Iowa State financially affordable, and geographically accessible.

Global Perspective: In today's fast-paced and ever-changing world, higher education must become a network that links students, research, business, industry, government, and community. We think globally to shape our actions, in order to better serve our constituencies in their quest to realize the promises of a better world.

SLIC is creating a pilot project for Spring semester 2000, focusing on Shared Leadership for Institutional Change. The components of the proposal include:

· A beginning workshop to be held on January 28, 2000, to develop a vision of shared leadership, practice skills needed for shared leadership, and to create an atmosphere of trust

· Learning teams that meet every other week, from February through April 2000. These learning teams would create action plans to address the goals listed in the ISU Strategic Plan

At the end of the pilot project, a proposal will be written to expand the pilot into a three-year plan to enlarge shared leadership opportunities throughout ISU to be submitted to the Kellogg Foundation for funding.

· Engage diverse participants in a reflective visioning process that includes faculty, staff, administrators, students, partners, and stakeholders to examine the need for change and create strong images of future shared leadership

· Ensure institutional commitment to shared leadership at varied levels in order to attain effective implementation.

· Examine the reward system, in particular, promotion and tenure and implement change that reflects the vision and philosophy of shared leadership.

2. Implement an integrated initiative to develop shared leadership for institutional change at Iowa State University.

· Create a learning organization model that is skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. Knowledge is quickly and efficiently transferred throughout the organization.

· Implement a process that engages all constituents of the university system and empowers innovative learners who are capable of anticipating, initiating and managing change.

· Ensure funding and time allocation to implement efficient change for shared leadership.

· Institute an evaluation system that adequately measures progress and contributes to a dynamic process of implementing shared leadership

· Provide skills and experiential opportunities for building individual passion, community commitment, and collaboration with partners.