Page 12 —Thursday, October 9,2003
Dean’s Brainstorming Sessions
Give Everyone a Voice
LIZ RUTLEDGE
Staff Writer
On September 27th and Octo
ber 4th, Dr. Williams invited faculty,
students, and anyone willing to give
up a Saturday morning to infomial
brainstomiing sessions discussing the
vision of Methodist College and offer
input on improving the school.
The
meetings
tackled such
questions as
what makes
Methodist
unique from
other insti
tutes of higher
leaming?
What should
the school
strive for to obtain distinction? Each
group came up with statements the
Dean describes as “constnicted for
our use within the Methodist College
community as we seek a common
vision for academic affairs.” These
statements were derived after a long
process of listing specific ideas and
gradually broadening them to become
all-encompassing.
The September session de
scribed Methodist as providing “a
modem, value-based education in the
liberal arts tradition, taking place in a
n urtu ri ng envi ronment, lay i ng the
groundwork for career and personal
success.”
The October group came up
with a similar though slightly differ
ence response: “In a
caring community,
individualized attention
results in creative,
intellectual, and personal
growth through a quality
educational experience
leading to opportunities
for lifetime success in all
areas.”
Some may say,
“Okay, but what’s the
point? That's just mission statement
stuff; we’ve seen it all before.”
However, Dr. Williams stressed
that “these sessions do not represent
the end of anyone’s opportunity to
contribute to the process of defining
our academic vision. Instead, 1 view
these sessions as the beginning of a
photo by Jonelle Kimbrough
continuing process of discovering and
rediscovering our common values.”
When asked how he came
about the idea to host the meetings,
the Dean replied, “What motivated
me to hold these sessions was the
realization that I was unable to
answer some very specific questions
about my job that were being asked
every day. When a faculty member
asked me, for example, why a
particular academic department was
housed within a particular division, my
response was often T don’t know.’
“After I had answered lots of
very intelligent questions with T don’t
know,’ it occurred to me that we
have such an abundance of
brainpower here on campus, why not
tap that brainpower to answer these
questions? It also occurred to me that
the answers that would result from
these sessions would be far better,
more inclusive, and have a better
chance of success than any answers I
could arrive at on my own.”
If you missed out on the experi
ence that these meetings of the minds
provided, don’t worry. Dr. Williams
plans to continue pursuing this methoc
of striving for the greater academic
good. However, he doubts that he
will keep up the brainstomiing format.
“My guess,” he says, “is that
the work produced by those two
sessions will now shift to other
venues, such as faculty committees,
informal discussion groups, and open
fomms. My goal will be to maximize
input from all stakeholders, including
faculty, staff, students, parents,
alumni, donors, ‘friends of the col
lege,’ and the Board of Trustees.”
The ability to voice your opin
ions to the Academic Dean of a
college is unique and empowering,
especially for students. Dr. Williams is
certainly providing Methodist College
with a sympathetic ear and a desire to
pursue excellence.
‘My goal will be to maximize
INPUT FROM ALL STAKEHOLDERS,
INCLUDING FACULTY, STAFF,
STUDENTS, PARENTS, ALUMNI,
DONORS, ‘friends OF THE
COLLEGE, ’ AND THE BOARD OF
Trustees. "
Dean Williams
1
photos Lindsey Tederman
Left to Right: Jennifer Packard, one of
MC's area coordinators, was given an
oxygen mask after inhaling smoke from
a Weaver Hall fire last Monday. Packard
went to the Emergency Room and was
soon released. No other Injuries occured;
Last Monday Fayetteville firefighters
rushed to put out a fire in a Weaver Hall
first floor maintainence office. A failed
battery charger unit on a circuit board
was the cause of the fire.