“Past is prologue.” Thus began our President’s opening address at Inservice Day this past Tuesday. I am always inclined to take note when Shakespeare is invoked. I have attended many Inservice days and Convocational days – call them what you will – but perhaps few had as much import for the college as this one, as we wrestle collectively with the implications of Pathways for College of DuPage and how it might be implemented and what form it will take, all we hope to benefit the future generations of students that will pass through these carpeted hallways. Such times naturally bring many questions, uncertainties, and attendant discomfort.

I want to stress that, from the beginning, the position CODFA leadership has taken is to encourage our members to engage fully in this discussion. We established a Senate task force to review Pathways at other colleges in order to identify potential problems and make recommendations. One of our team participated in the recent fact-finding mission.

“Show me the data,” one of our former presidents once proclaimed. The pathway to Pathways is through analyzing the data, connecting the dots, and co-constructing a structure thoughtfully and holistically, recognizing those aspects that already exist, and revisiting the past to rediscover those aspects that worked then. This is a work in progress.

I want to dispel any notion, lest there even be a faint glimmer of such, that the “union” – our Association – presents any impediment per se to a Pathways future, whatever that might look like. Just as there are board policies to guide your operations, so our contract provides a framework to guide the relationship between the administration and the members; and of course within both there are attendant constraints and limits.

Thinking on showing data, when we see, we will believe. And the rest will follow. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

Thank you.