March 19, 2012 College Assembly Update

The first thing attendees noticed when they arrived for the March 19 College Assembly was that they were not given table numbers for max-mix seating. Instead, each individual was asked to go to one of the tables set up for each of the ten action teams and four standing committees sharing the initial drafts of their PLAN Documents. 

President Hayward called the Assembly to order at noon and introduced Sister Sally Marie Bohnett, SND who offered the opening prayer. 

Dan Hoppe announced that he and the Distance Education team visited the Youngstown campus in February. During their visit, Dan presented a WEBBIE award to Deb Phillips. For the month of March, Dan presented the WEBBIE award to Rosie Dunlap, long-time on-line instructor in the HCA program at Mercy College. 

Dr. Steve Cady and Sister Barbara Davis, SC introduced the process for providing feedback to the action teams and standing committees. Each person had the opportunity to “visit” three tables. One of the co-chairs for each team/committee led the discussion and a recorder captured the main ideas. At the end of the sessions, a representative from each group provided a one sentence “bumper sticker” summarizing the work of the day. 

Sister Barbara reminded everyone that all of the PLAN documents have been posted in the Mercy 2020 Course on D2L. The “reply” feature has been activated so individuals are invited to share comments or ideas related to any of the documents. A link has been created for each team/committee. 

President Hayward closed the Assembly by thanking everyone for the spirited discussions that took place and encouraged people to continue the conversation via their responses on D2L. Click on the video below to hear Dr. Karen Elliott, C.PP.S. as she shares her reflections on the Assembly.

February 20, 2012 College Assembly Update

As attendees gathered for the Assembly, they saw a background of blue skies on the front wall of the room. Members of the ten Action Teams along with the Technology, Diversity, Retention, and Facilities (Toledo and Youngstown campus) Committees have been meeting regularly to “dream” about the College’s future. Each group is creating action plans related to the five goals developed at the August 2011 Summit. Some of the actions will be able to be accomplished in the short term while others will require a longer time for implementation. This is an on-going process involving all constituencies in the Mercy College community which will advance the College as we move to 2020.

As part of the Table Chat section of the Assembly, Dr. Cady and Sister Barbara Davis, SC presented the background on the principles of Collaborative Culture. Attendees at the January 4, 2012 meeting for Action Teams individually reviewed the principles for healthy collaboration based on the work of Sandra Janoff & Marin Weisbord; Emily and David Axelrod; and Kathy Danemiller. Table groups identified those principles they believed to be most significant for Mercy College. Responses were posted on chart paper around the meeting room. Each person “voted” on the principles most important to him/her. Some principles were identified more than once. Raw data was tabulated and then refined by three members of the Implementation Team. Each attendee at today’s Assembly received a copy of their work which included a one sentence descriptor of the seven groupings. 

Responses from today’s discussion will be compiled and all will be invited to continue in “conversation” as we refine the principles of a collaborative culture for Mercy College. There will opportunities for on-going feedback and further discussion at upcoming assemblies and other venues. 

Though the agenda for the Assembly was indeed full, the collective responses from each of the fifteen table groups provided wisdom and insight for each of the areas addresses: reports from leadership; progress reports from each of the ten Strategic Planning Action Teams, Diversity, Facilities [Toledo and Youngstown], Retention and Technology; and the principles of Collaborative Culture. 

Listen as Heather Hoppe, Director of Institutional Research and Registrar, provides a summary of today’s Assembly.

Photo Slideshow from the meeting.