Feb. 28 Town Hall Meeting
The four value statements that have been formulated to date are:
- dynamic educational opportunities
- inter-professional collaboration;
- innovation and scholarly engagement; and
- excellence in teaching and public service.
Question 3: What would make it hard to live out these value statements in a uniform way across the university?
- Resources and politics.
- Current structures.
- "This is the way we've always done it."
- Administration needs to buy into these values.
- Traditional structures and Victorian language.
- How do we make critical thinkers?
- Lack of finances.
- Cultural resistance to change -- silos.
- Lack of clearly defined and measurable goals.
- Aversion to risk.
- Lack of uniformity.
- We've already done that attitude.
- Trying to do all things, too many and none well.
- Inability to communicate.
- Lack of a common goal.
- Duplication of courses.
- Duplication of resources.
- Bureaucratic system.
- No reward for being dynamic.
- No thinking out of the box.
- Departments competing for resources -- not collaborating.
- Community voices that see WSU as a drain to the area (funds).
- Funding.
- Recruiting the right students/faculty.
- Lack of publication.
- Lack of buy-in from faculty, students, and community.
- Recruiting to a changing university.
- To recognize the performance of faculty and students.
- Clarity of the values.
- Mixed agendas.
- Exclusionist.
- Lack of overarching common goal.
- Bureaucracy -- has gotten out of hand.
- The liberal arts person -- we are a place to learn something.
- Global issues course has been taught by 26 different persons who donate their time to teach the class. A class that should be integrated into the general education program on campus.
- Duplication of resources -- better processes that are adaptable.
- Lack of adaptability.
- Lack of finances at the top.
- Resistance to change.
- Budgets reflect values!
- Employers need someone who can critically think. We are losing our way.
- If these values were really in place our students will be successful and the student body would grow.
- These are not valued across the university and not uniformly present now.
- We must reward these values -- tenure and promotion, performance evaluations. Pay is not always the answer. (A participant suggested, for example, that a WSU “red” parking tag be awarded to employees instead of money for demonstrating these values.)
- Biggest obstacle -- must be "owned" by everyone, not "me" but "we." We can do this together and have an outstanding university.