The College that Cares

(Written for the CSI PACE newsletter, January 2009)

As we move into the annual cycle of development plans, performance appraisals, and budget formulations, we look to our future with both concern and hope for what the next year will bring. The state of the economy and the increasing competition from other education vendors, both public and private, leave us with a little apprehension about our place and strength in the marketplace. Our usual response to all of this is typically analytical, logical, and predictable. We reassure ourselves of the many strengths we possess and we march that information out to the potential consumers confidant that they will agree with us and make the obvious wise choice to “stay near and go far.”

Over the past few years, our college has moved to a decision-making model that depends upon and values data, technology, and business modeling. It has been a sometimes painful and frustrating evolution for some of us who operated quite comfortably in the highly humanistic model that existed previously. In my recent past, my requests were presented with enthusiasm, passion, hope, and a sense that it was the right thing to do. Today, if I propose a new program or service, I must have already done my homework and present the research that will support the request and predict its success. Both models were, and are, successful and appropriate for the times and situations we face and do not have to be exclusive of each other.

As we made this transition, all of us experienced the grieving, and celebration, of loss and gain. I confess that I was one who considered my years, or days, here were numbered. I was an old dog, comfortable in my ways and reluctant to be taught new tricks. I missed the days of the State of the College address where we joined Jerry Meyerhoeffer in the crowded Shields Building and he introduced new faculty, welcomed new babies, and playfully mediated the teasing. I remember fondly his fatherly reminders to us to be kind to our students, and to each other, as we grew rapidly. Like many of you, I have stories from our past that are full of laughter, of tears, of success, of failure. I don’t remember IDP’s, UDP’s, or RFP’s, and Jenzabar would have been a new pub on Blue Lakes. “MyCSI” was not a portal to the database, but a place where I worked, lived, and loved.

I am still an old dog, but one who has learned new tricks! I have written a business plan, balanced a budget, and presented a powerpoint! I twitter, facebook, myspace, text, google, skype, and blog. I know more about funding and budgets than ever before and I access them through Jenzabar and MyCSI, all by myself! The College has changed and so have I!

Throughout these times, some things are constant and consistent. I still wear funky suits and I am late to most meetings. My desk is a mess and my office is a shrine to my family. I love my students, I laugh and cry a lot, and I work with my best friends!

The College of Southern Idaho still attracts students because we have small classes and small prices, relative to the times. We continue to be responsive, innovative, and dynamic. We expand and improve, we digitize, we improvise, we strategize! But…….I remind you, and I know and value more than ever today, that our strength, our difference, our niche in the marketplace is that we care…for our students and for each other. We know it is OurCSI!