Reconnecting @ Mission College

1. Reconnecting @ Mission College Moving From “I” to “WE” Dr. J. Laurel Jones Flex Day, Spring 2011

2. “I” means alone; “We” means together • Mission College: Sum of its Parts • Teaching and Learning • Support Services • Organizational Structure & Gov • Administrative Services • Students • District Services

3. What Does the New “We” Mean Today? • Lean Staffing and Increasing Responsibility • Unrelenting Demands and Expectations • Avalanche of Communication • Competing Demands on Time and Attention • Less Simplicity and Increased Complexity We know less about the work life of personnel in different work groups than at any other point in the history of community colleges……

4. What does “I” look like? • Future Thinking Replaced by Crisis Thinking • Complexity keeps people engaged in the silo and not in the whole • Loyalty and commitment is at the operational unit and not at the institution • Where is the good old “ WE?”

5. “WE” Translates to Interconnected • Mission College sectors are meaningfully joined or related to each other • Mission College creates internal connections that provide foundations of strength • Mission College creates opportunities for compromise • Mission College is moving forward in unison • Mission College is committed to symbiosis

6. Mission College Shapes the “WE”… • Interconnectedness is at the core of decisions and actions that are life affirming and good for the whole • Energy is created from thought; the college attracts energy as well • Celebration occurs and broader connections are desired and sought after by others • Climate changes from “What’s in it for Me?” to “What is Best for Us?” • Mission develops hope, resiliency and optimism • Our Mission is Your Future (present is a catalyst for the future)

7. Shapes the “WE” • Working together fosters a vibrant “core culture” • We reflect on the meaning of what we do in a larger context, a wider world We Believe in Mission College and We Spread the Word!

8. What Will Mission College Look Like as We Move From “I to We”? • We will be known as a learning institution that embraces change • We will move beyond continuous learning into continuous application • We will seek new opportunities to serve new stakeholders: we will be known for our love of discovery, development, and leveraging of resources

9. How Will Moving from “I to We” Feel? • We will feel innovative and creative • We will not feel limited by our resource capacity; we will feel wealthy in people • We will feel better by working on our internal capacity and not looking at what we don’t have • We will feel like partners to one another and we will be happy for each other’s successes • We will feel the success of our students first hand

10. “I to WE” College Priorities for Spring 2011… • Professional Development • Best Use of Institutional Resources • Donating to Ourselves/Giving Back • Becoming Part of the Community • Creating a Strategic Environment • College-wide Participation and Reflection • Increasing Inclusive Practices • Creating new Courses and Programs for Students

11. “I to We” Priorities • Creating and Managing Change: Proactive versus Reactive • Creating Vision • Creating College Culture • Creating Effective Leadership across the College • Meeting the Future with Grace • Becoming Mission College Emissaries to the Community

12. We Are MISSION COLLEGE!!