NOTES Executive Leadership Team (ELT) Meeting Monday ~ September 23, 2013; 3:30 PM 5:00 PM; Room 9201 In Attendance (Names are listed in alphabetical order by last name and the names of those in attendance at the September 23, 2013 ELT Meeting, are in bold-faced type.) -Backes, John Acting Vice President for Academic & Student Affairs -Campbell, Daryl Interim President -Garnsey-Harter, Ann Interim Executive Director Virtual College & Resource Development -Hills, Jim Special Assistant to the President - Communications & Marketing -Kelemen, Mary Interim Executive Director - Auxiliary & Logistical Support Services -Sampson, Diana Executive Director - International Education -Smith, Stephen Vice President for Human Resources & Legal Affairs -Trippel, Stuart Interim Executive Director - Business & Student Support Services -Woodmansee, Holly Interim Executive Director Budget, Capital Financing & Physical Plant Welcome Daryl welcomed everyone to the first ELT Meeting. He spoke of the loss of Faculty Members Erin Walker and Troy Wolff and expressed his appreciation to members of the campus community who assisted with and attended the memorial events for both Erin and Troy. Review: Executive Leadership Team (ELT) Purpose, Responsibilities, and Norms & Expectations President s Cabinet Communication Network Daryl stated that the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) would essentially be a working group of the President s Cabinet. He referred to the previous leadership structure the President s Senior Executive Team (PSET) and the Senior Executive Team (SET) as well as the composition of the PSET and the SET. Daryl acknowledged that there was no real science to the groups and that the PSET morphed over time to a reporting of what the President had on his mind and what he was doing. Once it was determined that Daryl would be serving as the Interim President, he began to brainstorm ways in which to expand the College s administrative leadership team to be more inclusive and diverse while capturing the best parts of the PSET and the SET.
Daryl and John noted that while a smaller group (such as the SET) is conceivably able to move forward in a more efficient fashion, not having Deans and Directors at the table to broadly represent the Academic and Student Affairs perspectives, led to a core group of leaders with a level of frustration and feelings of disenfranchisement. Daryl spoke of good communication as his highest priority and stated, As leaders, we must become masters at communicating well. In alignment with his commitment to good communication, Daryl developed a communication network which he named the President s Communication & Advisory Network: The President's Communication & Advisory Network has been developed to ensure that a cross-section of the campus community can contribute their voices, experiences, and expertise as well as leadership skills toward the continued enhancement and advancement of the College. The President s Communication & Advisory Network consists of the President s Cabinet, the Executive Leadership Team, the Operations Committee, the Faculty Senate [Council], the Classified Advisory Group and the Students/Student Body Association. As he was brainstorming what such network would look like, Daryl had an opportunity to consult with the leaders of the campus constituencies regarding his thoughts surrounding the Network. Faculty Senate [Council] Daryl met with Faculty Senate Council Chair Kira Wennstrom. He noted, This allows for President to interface with the Faculty as a whole. The expectation is that if there are issues to be raised, they can be raised directly to the President. Daryl spoke of planning to attend Faculty Senate Council meetings as either a participant or an observer, depending on the will of the Faculty Senate Chair. Students/Student Body Association (SBA) Daryl met with SBA President Michelle Wu and stated that he and Michelle will do our best to meet frequently. He added, The SBA President will determine which students and/or SBA representatives will attend the meetings with him. Daryl referred to SBA Prime Minister Tony Owuor s remarks during the Fall Convocation and noted, We will meet them where they are. Classified Advisory Group (CAG) Daryl met with Jerry Owens, Chief Shop Steward of the Classified Staff Union. Daryl conveyed, We don t have a formal mechanism to communicate with Classified Staff on non-union related matters. During my meeting with Jerry, we agreed to form the Classified Advisory Group (CAG). John inquired if the CAG would be in conflict with the COPE group. Daryl responded that the CAG is intended to be different and would rather look at the broader scope of Classified Staff matters and not focus on individual jobs. Page 2
Daryl stated that when he shared his ideas about the President s Communication & Advisory Network during his meetings with the leaders of the campus constituencies, questions arose about the role of the College Council and the College s governance structure. He added that he had an opportunity to meet with Fall 2013 College Council Co-Chairs Joanna Haeck and Jim Hills and asked Jim to speak to the College Council and its connection with the President s Communication & Advisory Network. Jim referred to the College Council as being the connective tissue This is the President s restructuring of the College s communication channels. When it involves the different constituencies, it can start feeling like governance. How will others know what the other groups are saying and passing on to the President? That is where governance comes in. Governance still plays a very important role on campus and the Network is not taking the place of governance. Daryl noted that he had asked Jim to create a wheel like graphic that would reflect the connectivity amongst the College s Governance Committees and the President s Communication & Advisory Network entities. Daryl referred to the College Council as the conscience of the College, in the governance sort of way. The Council holds everyone accountable. Daryl communicated that each member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) is by virtue of position and includes the President, Vice Presidents, Executive Directors and the Public Information Officer. The ELT functions as the institution s recommending body for decisionmaking and planning. Working with the President and the Cabinet, the ELT synthesizes stakeholder input/counsel on matters of substantial importance to the College into cogent and informed recommendations to the President. Daryl added, The ELT, like the President s Cabinet, is an advisory body. John spoke of the ELT as pulling things up through the Cabinet by looking at resource allocation (financial, human) and to lift the burden off of the Cabinet by packaging recommendations to the President. Daryl agreed with John in that the role of the ELT is to do the heavy lifting. This becomes more than what we think we should do but also is about paying attention to what else is coming our way. Daryl answered in the affirmative when Ann inquired if he was planning to have similar conversation with the College Council in relation to how the College Council will work in this context. Stuart spoke of advisory versus decision-making and stated, It would be improper to say the ELT decided when the President is responsible for all major decisions. Mary concurred with Page 3
Stuart adding the importance for the President to communicate, The ELT recommended and I decided. The ELT s role is not to rubber stamp. Daryl provided an overview of the Primary Responsibilities and Norms and Expectations of/for the ELT. Each member is expected to check their day-to-day role at the door and function in the manner that serves the best interests of the College as a whole. Check your status. Everybody is equal and everyone s input is valued. Members are expected to be on time and to remain for the duration of the meeting. For those who have travel obligations, every effort should be made to connect to an ELT meeting via audio and/or visual avenues. Members are at different levels of leadership. You will be developed by your peers. This takes patience and everyone is expected to participate fully in meetings. Communication needs to be honest, direct, frank fierce. Daryl noted that from time to time and with or without advance notice, he may defer the responsibility for facilitation of a meeting to another member of the ELT. He added that a member can pass on serving as the meeting facilitator. Daryl spoke about his identifying a Disparity Monitor for each meeting The role of the Disparity Monitor is to closely follow the discussion, identify and call out any behaviors, issues or aspects of the discussion that may diminish the ELT s effectiveness going forward. The Disparity Monitor ensures that all necessary issues are brought to light in any discussion, and that necessary dialogue about those issues then ensues, if appropriate. The Disparity Monitor has the exclusive authority to interrupt a conversation at any time when (s)he determines a need to do so. Over time, each member will have the opportunity to serve in the role. Note: Serving as the Disparity Monitor does not preclude a member from participating in a meeting. Review & Discuss: Board of Trustees Agenda Daryl provided an overview of the agenda items for the September 25, 2013 Study Session and Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees with Holly, Stephen and Stuart summarizing the agenda items for which they are responsible. Update: VPASA Conveying that he was on day four of being back in his former role as the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs (VPASA), John communicated that he has quickly discovered Page 4
what has and has not transpired since his retirement. While recognizing that inroads have been made in advising, he expressed frustration with what he referred to as an inertia level status in relation to the College s strategic initiative related to Internationalization. John spoke of wanting to generate a work plan for the Interim VPASA that would assist in keeping the College on stable footing. Discussion: President s Cabinet Agenda The first President s Cabinet meeting is scheduled Tuesday, September 24 th and Daryl indicated that he would spend a fair amount of time doing what we did at this meeting and would likely share a draft of the President s Goals for 2013 2014 that are in alignment with student achievement and resource development. He also spoke of wanting to talk about where the College is in relation to Student Housing and asked members of the ELT for possible topics for the President s Cabinet agenda. Stuart stated that it would be helpful for Daryl to draw a distinction between the Cabinet, OpCom and the Operations Leadership Team (OLT). Mary spoke of the need to de-silo academics and operations and used the example of being on the same boat but headed to different shores. Several mentioned that it would be helpful to see more information on enrollment reporting at President s Cabinet meetings with Holly adding that the information needs to be broken down to a departmental level. Ann expressed her appreciation for the Norms and Expectations and communicated the need for the President s Cabinet to operate under the same. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 5:05 PM. Page 5