The Pennsylvania State University
A Reflection of Phase I of the Kellogg LINC Initiative and What Has Been Learned.
It is important to have both the commitment and presence of senior leadership
in a change initiative that crosses boundaries and traditional governance
structures.
Participants in new initiatives spend time and energy trying to determine what
the administration wants them to do before they are able to take ownership
for the process themselves. They want the comfort of having parameters set and
a clear charge for their work. We tried to put in enough structure early
on to satisfy their concerns but also turned over more responsibility to them as the
year unfolded.
Creating learning communities that include students, staff, academic and nonacademic
administrators brings richness to the discussions. The diversity of
opinions, experiences and disciplines add value to the learning. The selection
process of community participants is critical to the success of the effort.
Although, the learning communities meet separately, there is a need to have
opportunities for them to meet collectively so that they understand they are
part of a larger effort.
It was important and timely to inform the learning community members about
current institutional leadership models and decision making practices if
members are being asked to identify their own change agenda.
The process of community building required time, organization and
facilitation. The design team and facilitators met regularly to plan and
discuss direction for each community, and gave considerable thought to the
process as well as the substance of the meetings.
There was not as much progress for shared learning with our partner
institution as we would have liked. We relied on video conferencing and the national
workshops but we werenít able to make the necessary inroads that would have
moved the partnership forward. In part, this was the result of our learning
communities adopting quite different foci at the two institutions.
There is value in respecting diverse learning styles and providing
opportunities for participants to engage in diverse learning experiences, e.g.
art, bureau dramas, case studies, etc.
Despite their best intentions, one learning community could just not sustain
their commitment simply because their calendars did not mesh. We lost a few
people as a result of this.
By the end of the year, our learning communities were ready to identify topic
areas they wanted to pursue for the future and have now committed to these.
Louise Sandmeyer
Executive Director
Center for Quality and Planning
405 Old Main
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pa. 16802
Phone: 814- 863-8721
FAX: 814-863-7031
http://www.psu.edu/president/cqi/
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