November 2009 Articles
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Shared Governance at College of DuPage: Your Input Needed Now by Glenn Hansen
NASAD Accreditation: A Meaningful Distinction for COD by Chuck Boone
Language Comes to Life in the Costa Rica Program by Sandra Anderson
Do COD Students Have Health Insurance? by Tom Tipton
Celebrate, Celebrate… Dance To The Music! by Konkel & Hagman
Shared Governance at College of DuPage: Your Input Needed Now by Glenn Hansen
The idea of shared governance at COD dates back at least to the time when faculty leaders met
with President Mike Murphy to develop a plan for collaboration on major decisions. The most recent
iteration consisted of our Leadership Council; the joint efforts of Faculty Senate and the
College Administration to develop new Mission, Vision, and Values statements; and the meetings
between Senate and the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Administrators to formulate strategic
objectives. Then in May 2008, hundreds of hours of effort by all constituencies were put aside.
We are about to begin another venture into shared governance. Will it work? Time will tell, and as always COD will be evaluated by the example we set; this is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership through action. To be successful, shared governance requires open minds, true participation by all stakeholders, a willingness to collaborate, and trust. With respect and acceptance of others' perspectives, decisions and institutional climate can be improved. It's important to realize that effective shared governance does not require unanimous agreement on every issue. However, decisions will be more favorably accepted if input is valued and the rationale for decisions shared.
On October 26, the final report from the Shared Governance Commission was sent to President Breuder. The report is on the employee portal and comments are encouraged—keep in mind that the proposed structure is a starting point. Nancy Stanko and I were your faculty representatives; we all looked at many other institutions and reference materials. We also kept in mind our history and the model we had here, looking at what worked and what didn't work.
Regardless of the exact plan, shared governance at College of DuPage will be what the participants make of it. The topics discussed by the Shared Governance Council will be chosen by the constituency representatives on the council. They will decide whether to move a decision forward as a recommendation for support by President Breuder.
The proposed committee structure aligns with our system portfolio. The structure is supposed to evolve; the list of committees is intended to be reviewed. For as long as I remember, and particularly since AQIP started, many people have said we have too many committees. In fact, the commission reviewed a list of more than 200 committees! This is where your participation comes in: please look at the list, envision where your college-wide committee fits, and speak up.
Left out of the shared governance structure are the division, contractual, and constituency committees. That was intentional, since not every issue at College of DuPage is a shared governance issue. Committees not included at the outset are not being dissolved by the proposal. Perhaps we should view this an opportunity to elevate the placement of some constituency committees to become part of the shared governance system.
Faculty Senate and our faculty committees will continue to be a major part in the decision making process at COD; that is a responsibility we will not abdicate. The Shared Governance Council will include three faculty leaders as voting members. Faculty members will be part of all the committees. In the document, it is reaffirmed that the process for selecting representation at all levels will respect the constituency group's processes. Committee on Committees will continue to appoint faculty to committees.
The process to create the final proposal was one of negotiation and perhaps a demonstration of the shared governance philosophy. There were representatives of fulltime and adjunct faculty, administrators, classified staff, and fraternal order of police. We all had different agendas and perspectives. We had to resolve our differences and trust each other in order to reach a consensus. There were issues that we all differed on, but we moved forward to this final point where we could present a report and invite further feedback.
Now your input is needed. Please respond to the proposal—so we can continue to move forward together.
NASAD Accreditation: A Meaningful Distinction for COD by Chuck Boone
The College of DuPage has been approved for Associate Membership in the National Association of
Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). What does this mean? In simple terms, the national accrediting body
of post-secondary visual arts institutions has found COD worthy of initial accreditation. Since this
accreditation is about excellence and not about minimum standards, we expect to continue to improve what
we do through self-study and peer review.
The accreditation review covered all aspects of the college's work, from our published materials to the quality of our library, to the structure of our degrees and the credit awarded for our courses. The accreditation is awarded to the college as an entity and does not cover selected programs—it's an all or nothing deal. The relevant academic programs and degrees include Art, Graphic Design, Graphic Arts, Photography, Motion Picture and Television, Interior Design, and Fashion Design. Sections of the self-study and responses were written by the faculty of each of those disciplines. This was very much a team effort.
However, NASAD membership is more than simply accreditation. It is also the offer and acceptance of a leadership role among the art and design programs of higher education. NASAD is an advocacy and self-governance organization that determines the standards and assessment methods within the field and educates the public on the importance and impact of the arts within our local, regional, and national arenas. Notably, NASAD accreditation is the standard by which most Illinois post-secondary art programs operate, and NASAD accreditation will improve our relationships with other art and design programs locally and nationally.
We all gain from this distinction. Faculty gain an opportunity to engage in national discourse about the expectations of arts education and to apply these ideas locally. Students earn a highly credentialed arts education within the DuPage environs. The college as a whole can take pride in the latest evidence that we are indeed at the forefront of higher education, that we are providing the highest quality educational and cultural opportunities, and that we are a model of distinction for community college education. Our mission is clearly engaged.
You can visit the NASAD web site for more information on its accreditation standards.
Language Comes to Life in the Costa Rica Program Sandra Anderson
"Oigo y olvido; Veo y recuerdo; toco y comprendo." I hear, and I forget; I see and I remember;
I touch and I understand. This Confucian proverb perhaps sums up best why the Spanish faculty and I are
so dedicated to our language and culture study abroad programs.
My colleagues Edith Jaco, Elizabeth Mares, and Laura Ortiz and I have accompanied hundreds of students to Costa Rica and Spain to help bring their study of Spanish alive. Old and young, traditional and non-traditional students from many different backgrounds have participated in the Costa Rica program, and there are learning opportunities for all literally around every corner.
Helping a "Tico" high school student with his physics homework on a bus in San Jose, attending a birthday party with your CR family or going to the market to buy groceries with the senora, meeting Costa Rican college students while strolling the UCR campus, cheering for the Saprissa soccer team with new Costa Rican friends as they play the opening game against Germany in the Copa Mundial, learning to dance to the rhythm of salsa and merengue after classes: these are our hands-on adventures.
Students attend Spanish classes in the mornings, five days a week. The classes at Forester Instituto are taught by native speakers and are small, allowing students to be active learners of Spanish. If they place into Intermediate level or above, our students sign a pledge that they will not speak English for the five-week duration of the program. This allows them to maximize the immersion experience.
Currently Edith Jaco and I are revising the curriculum for the Culture and Civilization course to take advantage of new resources online and in our own COD Library. Marianne Berger has been a wonderful support in helping us locate the best, most relevant materials for our students. We expect to have an even richer, dynamic, and more interactive learning experience for our students this summer as we take off on our journey to "touch and understand" our world.
Do COD Students Have Health Insurance? Tom Tipton
Like a lot of people, you may be thinking over the various bits of advice you've heard about H1N1 flu.
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate; whether or not to visit a doctor if you have flu-like symptoms. You
have the luxury to weigh these options. If you start to feel really sick, you know you can go to the doctor.
But what about your students? That depends. In fact, 18- to 24-year-olds are in a high risk demographic for
the H1N1 flu, according to the Center for Disease Control, but they may not have good options for getting
treatment if they need it. The next time a student coughs on you, consider that she or he might be avoiding
going to the doctor because… you guessed it, no health insurance—and little access to Student
Health Services for screening or advice.
According to the Census Bureau, over 29 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds were uninsured in 2006. Add the fact that the numbers of uninsured have been trending up rapidly for a long time. Add the fact that the last census was before the economy crashed. It's likely, if the national numbers hold true, that 33 percent of your students are uninsured. Are they likely to go to a doctor and pay out of pocket, or ask their unemployed parents to pay, to check out that cough and fever?
It is ironic that higher education faculty, nationally and here at COD, have been relatively quiet about health care reform. Is it because we are distracted by local brush fires? Is it because we tend to avoid issues that smack of partisanship? Or, is it because we feel that health care issues are irrelevant to education?
Ask the 900 students at St. Charles East High School—just a stone's throw outside of our district—who called in sick on October 19 with flu-like symptoms whether health care is relevant to education.
The NEA has long held the view that "students can't learn unless they come to school healthy." More recently, it has stated its principles specifically regarding health care reform: "Congress and the President have put comprehensive health care reform at the top of their agenda. The National Education Association believes this effort is vital to the nation's economic recovery and a crucial ingredient for great public schools for all students." The NEA opposes "proposals being discussed in the United States Senate that would limit or cap the employee tax exclusion for health benefits in any way" and supports a public option.
If you would like to learn more about the NEA's position, or get involved in the NEA's effort, please visit the NEA's web page The Right Way to Pay for Health Reform.
Celebrate, Celebrate… Dance To The Music! by Konkel & Hagman
The holidays aren't the only time to celebrate. C'mon, do a little cabbage patch dance in your seat, or
if you really want some seat dancing inspiration, check out this
YouTube video.
(We're sure she is either a librarian or an English professor.)
The December issue of the Faculty Advocate is just around the corner, and Accolades is all about celebrating faculty accomplishments and achievements. Tell us about educational achievements and degrees, classroom/program successes, publications and presentations, awards, athletic achievements, musical/theatrical accomplishments and more. We want to hear about your personal accomplishments as well as your professional ones. We want to read about your creativity, innovation, spirit, and hard work both in and out of the classroom and campus.
Send your submissions to column editors Ida Hagman or Mary Konkel by Tuesday, November 24 for inclusion in the December Faculty Advocate's Accolades column.
