Administrative Council Meetings
Significant learning points:
The significant learning point for me in
this activity was how different the culture is at each campus. While at each campus we were treated to a
wonderful tour, the tone of the administrative council meetings was
interestingly different.
Owens (10/18/13) – The general impression I got from this meeting was that Dr. Smith wants to make sure everyone in the room understands the “why” behind every issue and decision. She also offered insight into how each initiative affected the various divisions and encouraged her team to “dig deeper” and research how they could be more effective. The importance of data-driven decisions was emphasized on multiple occasions. Finally, there was evidence of how she sometimes has to “step in” in order to move projects along (parking lot, HVAC bids) when they get hung up at OOP.
Terry (11/15/13) – The agenda of Terry campus administrative council meeting was driven by divisional updates, which was significantly different from the Owens campus meeting where the divisional updates were only a small part of the conversation. At Terry, each dean/director took quite a bit of time to explain to the council what had taken place in that division since the last meeting. While it was clear that the Terry campus faced similar issues as Owens, the environment and culture is different. For example, thanks to an early registration push in which one third of students registered for the spring semester within the first week of open registration, their spring enrollment was up 25% compared to the same time period from the previous year.
Stanton/Wilmington (1/31/14) – Similar to Terry, the administrative council meeting at Stanton/Wilmington was also driven by divisional updates, only they were much shorter and less detailed than what was shared at Terry. The focus of this meeting was on the upcoming Mardi Gras fundraiser and the need for “all hands on deck” to complete the preparations.
Owens (10/18/13) – The general impression I got from this meeting was that Dr. Smith wants to make sure everyone in the room understands the “why” behind every issue and decision. She also offered insight into how each initiative affected the various divisions and encouraged her team to “dig deeper” and research how they could be more effective. The importance of data-driven decisions was emphasized on multiple occasions. Finally, there was evidence of how she sometimes has to “step in” in order to move projects along (parking lot, HVAC bids) when they get hung up at OOP.
Terry (11/15/13) – The agenda of Terry campus administrative council meeting was driven by divisional updates, which was significantly different from the Owens campus meeting where the divisional updates were only a small part of the conversation. At Terry, each dean/director took quite a bit of time to explain to the council what had taken place in that division since the last meeting. While it was clear that the Terry campus faced similar issues as Owens, the environment and culture is different. For example, thanks to an early registration push in which one third of students registered for the spring semester within the first week of open registration, their spring enrollment was up 25% compared to the same time period from the previous year.
Stanton/Wilmington (1/31/14) – Similar to Terry, the administrative council meeting at Stanton/Wilmington was also driven by divisional updates, only they were much shorter and less detailed than what was shared at Terry. The focus of this meeting was on the upcoming Mardi Gras fundraiser and the need for “all hands on deck” to complete the preparations.
Leadership characteristics enhanced:
#6 - Exhibits a strong sense of team
spirit – At the Owens Administrative Council meeting, the LDP participants
volunteered to participate in their initiative to mentor the next IPEDS cohort
to encourage them to persist to graduation.
As a result, we were each given 3-5 students to communicate with over
the remainder of the academic year.
#8 - Is able to see the "Big Picture" – Each administrative council meeting began with an update from President’s council and/or the board meeting, followed by an at length discussion of major campus projects/initiatives. Sometimes that discussion was led by the dean/director and sometimes it was led by the campus director, but either way, it was clear that this level of communication is essential in order for everyone to have an understanding of his/her role in moving forward. These meetings were also a great way to see how major decisions are communicated from President’s council, through the administrative councils, and then down to the divisional employees.
#8 - Is able to see the "Big Picture" – Each administrative council meeting began with an update from President’s council and/or the board meeting, followed by an at length discussion of major campus projects/initiatives. Sometimes that discussion was led by the dean/director and sometimes it was led by the campus director, but either way, it was clear that this level of communication is essential in order for everyone to have an understanding of his/her role in moving forward. These meetings were also a great way to see how major decisions are communicated from President’s council, through the administrative councils, and then down to the divisional employees.