Margit Johnson and Jill Tollefson

The 1998 21^st Century Committee Report subtitled this subcommittee’s chapter as “a collaborative enhancement of the learning environment.” The report stated that “Carleton should be a place where we model communication and thoughtful decision-making” and “the quality of relationships among employees of the College has a significant impact on our students.” The report recognized that a residential undergraduate college is both an academic and social community where students, faculty, and staff learn and live together.

Two recommendations were made:

1. Review decision-making processes and improve communication.
2. Develop initiatives to enhance our sense of common purpose.

Each recommendation’s status in September 2002 and May 2003 is reviewed below, followed by updated recommendations based on conversations with faculty and the Dean of the College’s Office, exempt staff, non-exempt staff, and CSA members representing the student perspective.

1. Review decision-making processes and improve communication.

Status as of September 2002:

• Five of the six actions listed in the update compiled by Steve Kelly cited improvements in Facilities’ communication procedures. The Facilities’ model uses information forums for specific audiences, regular updates in commonly-used campus communications (Currently@Carleton), and web-based, interactive communication.
• The sixth action was periodic retreats of TWM and Faculty Council.

Status as of May 2003:

• The Facilities’ model is viewed as exemplary.
• The FCPC (Faculty Curriculum and Planning Committee) advises the Dean of the College and provides a means of communicating faculty perspectives across divisions on issues such as the curriculum and tenure-track positions.
• The Faculty President is now a member of the Administrative Council, strengthening the communication between the faculty and administration.
• College committees continue to involve students, faculty, and staff in numerous issues and decisions; new issues are being assigned to existing committees rather than new committees or task forces being formed.
• Electronic communication has grown enormously in the past five years. Students find Caucus to be central to their academic and social lives. Administrative staffs do not have easy access to Caucus, which perpetuates the sense of segregation between academic and administrative offices. The Colleague database, now widely shared on campus, offers web-based advising and registration. Email has replaced many paper campus mailings.

Recommendations in May 2003:

• Use a web-based all-campus calendar to coordinate and communicate about events on campus.
• Coordinate various electronic communication systems (Caucus, Mulberry, GroupWise, Eudora), so that faculty, students, and staff have equal access to electronic communication.
• Consider wireless internet technology.
• Facilitate communication among divisions and departments and among faculty and staff about campus-wide issues, using Carleton’s web site as a central forum and information hub.
• Expand the Facilities’ communication model for use in other divisions.

2. Develop initiatives to enhance our sense of common purpose.

Status as of September 2002:

• Recommendation that convocation be refocused on more common issues.
• Common Time implemented in September 2001 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Status as of May 2003:

• Convocation remains the notable common purpose activity on campus. There is a sense that there are perhaps too many other activities that smaller clusters of people attend, in effect Balkanizing the community into specialized interests.
• Common Time is heavily used by faculty and staff, but misunderstood by students. It is a good time for meetings (including LTC and Athenaeum events), meeting friends, and working on joint projects. However, it creates overcrowded dining halls for students. It does not have a particular purpose other than to provide a non-class opening in the daily schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It has not slowed the pace of community life.
• Centrifugal forces (housing, partners’ jobs, the bright lights of the Twin Cities) that may pull faculty, staff, and students away from campus, seem not to be increasing significantly. Eighty-two percent of faculty lives within Northfield mail route areas, and the percentage is higher for staff. The faculty (and some staff) home equity financing program is working. Students’ lives continue to focus primarily on campus life.
• Northfield’s residential and commercial growth to the south, southeast, and east may change the physical relationship between the campus and the town. Eventually the Arb may be hemmed in by urban growth, and stores offering basic goods and services (supermarkets, etc.) may no longer be within easy walking distance of campus.
• Administrative exempt and non-exempt staff feels somewhat isolated from the academic side of the College, which is the core of the institution. Staff continues to explore ways to bridge the perceived gap between students’ academic endeavors and their lives in a residential college, including services provided by the Career Center and Wellness Center, ACT Center service learning opportunities, library and ITS instruction, and staff mentoring and involvement in curricular and co-curricular activities. There is a sense that staff contributions to student learning are undervalued.
• While staff do not expect parity in benefits, they seek equity in access and opportunity. Staff describe a widening gap between benefits for faculty and staff (professional development opportunities and parental leaves as two examples) that undermines the sense of common purpose and shared values. Exempt staff are currently developing a set of professional development recommendations, many of which may be applicable to non-exempt staff as well.

Recommendations in May 2003:

• Support the community-building capacity of Convocation by encouraging faculty, students, and staff to attend; supervisors could be more supportive of staff going to Convo, offices could be closed during that hour once a week; faculty could encourage students to attend by not scheduling meetings or advising sessions during that hour. Plan events, speakers, discussions that extend the discussion and sustain the ideas arising from convocations.
• Clarify Common Time, particularly for incoming students during New Student Week: when it is, what might be scheduled (or not), how it can facilitate balance, pacing, friendships, community building, etc. Encourage the LTC and other regular users to also schedule events at other times so as not to contribute to the scheduling overload during that time.
• Foster innovations that integrate staff’s knowledge and skills with traditional classroom learning, such as ACT’s faculty grants to develop a service learning component in existing courses or off-campus studies, the Career Center’ s credit internships, faculty workshops offered by staff from ITS, OCS, Cross Cultural Studies, etc., and the Chaplain’s spiritual reflection series.
• Support professional development for exempt and non-exempt staff.
• Foster the working relationship with the City of Northfield as the city grows and urban development surrounds the campus. Encourage and acknowledge faculty and staff who participate on civic boards and organizations. Look for opportunities to collaborate with the City and the school district.