The capacity for growth and change within each institution must be nurtured to achieve fulfillment.
By Robert A. Scott, President, 天美传媒
Introduction
Our theme is developing institutional capacity for mission fulfillment without bricks and听mortar. By capacity we mean, generally, our potential for achieving strategic priorities.听Therefore, I think in terms of human capacity, including faculty, students, staff, alumni, other听advisors, donors, etc. I also think of programmatic capacity, which includes the academic听programs, degree granting and otherwise, used to assess societal needs and to organize听activities and resources to meet those needs in mission-compatible ways.
I also think in terms of services, the capacity to meet and satisfy student, faculty and staff听needs and interests and to ensure their greatest potential for success.
Other dimensions to capacity include partnerships at centers of activity beyond the core听campus. We must think of leverage as capacity, the leverage that comes from joining forces听with another organization to do what neither can do well on its own. We think of the calendar听鈥� clock capacity, making programs and services available at anytime, anywhere.
Finally, we must consider institutional capacity for reinvention and reimagining what is,听without denying heritage. We can do this by using a different metaphor. Imagine that a local听or regional chamber of commerce, embarked on a strategic planning exercise, wanted to听attract an entity that would employ highly educated workers, whose employees would engage听in the community, whose activities would be sensitive to the environment and contribute to听the economy, and whose end results would be those in which all could be proud. They would听be defining a university. Indeed, universities have been engines of economic development for听communities during the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, both on听their own and in combination with others.
天美传媒 Examples
天美传媒 has many examples of campus and community initiatives that expand capacity and听fulfill mission. For example, in terms of enrollment growth, we have a partnership with听ELS-Berlitz around the world for the recruitment of students, enhancing their English听language proficiency, and enrolling them in degree programs at the undergraduate and听graduate levels, increasing our share of international students. We also have a joint Doctor听of Audiology Degree with two other universities, providing a needed high-cost credential in a听cost-effective way.
We also partner with a Seminary offering degree programs at sites convenient for those听attending the religious institution who are unlikely to travel to campus. We also offer the听MBA to groups of physicians at a health system; have numerous articulation agreements with听community colleges; provide long-standing teacher preparation programs with the New York听City Department of Education; and educate graduate students in Social Work in a distant听county.
Other partners include clinical sites at hospitals, psychotherapy practices, social service听agencies, schools, municipalities, and businesses. A variety of internship programs at for-profit听and not-for-profit organizations add to our capacity for mission fulfillment, as do our听programs for voluntarism and mentoring. The innovative Adelphi Community Fellows听Program places specially prepared students in selected non-profit organizations for paid听summer internships, supported by donors, in response to important regional needs and听students鈥� need for meaningful employment.
A program called COACH (Count on Alumni for Career Help) brings alumni to the听University to talk with students about careers and possibilities, and students to their work听places to do the same.
We have convened a variety of advisory boards for individual programs, schools, and deans,听as well as the president. In this way, we expand our capacity for strategic thinking by听involving leaders in key industries and enterprises from beyond our campus borders. This听helps us become involved in local, regional, and international activities throughout the U.S.听and in other countries.
Several initiatives, such as the Long Island Institute for Non-Profit Leadership, the Institute听for Parenting, the Bridges Program for those with Autism, the Freshman Community Action听Program, the Levermore Global Scholars Program, the New York State-Adelphi Breast听Cancer Hotline and Counseling Center, the Office of Volunteer and Community Services, the听Center for Social Innovation, Vital Signs 鈥� the social health indicators project, the America听Reads/America Counts initiatives, and a television show on 鈥淓xploring Critical Issues,鈥澨齟xpand our capacity for mission fulfillment by working on big issues with other听organizations and enterprises.
An important but often over-looked opportunity for expanding capacity is represented by the听alumni of an institution. Instead of thinking of them as 鈥済raduates鈥� only, we can think of听them as potential life-long learning clients. After all, our 100,000 alumni have both听experience with Adelphi and an affinity; they represent major prospects for continuing听professional and cultural education on-line and at different sites, all leading to new ways to听define enrollment and mission fulfillment.
Through these ways, plus courses which blend in-person and telecommunications, as well as听other services on- and off-campus, we are able to serve the educational needs of the greater听population and extend our capacity to fulfill mission in ways we could never do on campus听alone, whether in advancing knowledge, skills, abilities, and values, or in expanding capacity听for economic development or intercultural understanding.
Impediments to be Overcome
Impediments to be overcome in order to develop institutional capacity include 鈥渟ilo听thinking鈥� by department and program leaders, which limits inter-disciplinary approaches to听complex issues; difficulty in setting priorities, resulting from poor planning and听communication; waiting for new resources when reallocation may be a better alternative;听viewing something as a problem instead of as an asset or an opportunity; and an absence of听leadership committed to a new vision.
Assessment of Effectiveness
We assess the effectiveness of our various programs, services, and initiatives through the听process of annual review of goals and progress, engagement of external reviewers, reviews of听licensure exam results, operations audits by our internal auditor, special questionnaires听administered by the Office of Research and Planning, surveys of employers and graduates,听and a variety of professional and regional accreditation reports, all to inform investments of听time and resources. Through these and other ways, including the leadership and听accountability required of the division heads and deans, we ensure maximum effectiveness of听initiatives in relationship to the University鈥檚 strategic plan, 鈥淎U 2015鈥�, and our mission.
Lessons Learned
Having reflected on successes and failures in developing institutional capacity for mission听fulfillment, I have found lessons to be applied another time. These include the need to define听quality controls in advance; the importance of picking a meaningful partner with compatible听values and vision; the value of turning what seems to be a problem 鈥渙n its head鈥� so as to see听it from a different perspective; the benefits of asking 鈥渨hat lessons can we learn from this听experience?鈥�; the essential need for a 鈥淒evil鈥檚 Advocate鈥� so as to consider unintended听consequences of actions; and to remember that at times it is better to seek forgiveness than to听ask for approval.
Reinventing Ourselves
The prospects for increasing the capacity of institutions are enormous. We can reimagine听and reinvent our institutions to be engaged in addressing interesting and important problems听in new and flexible ways, achieving distinctiveness without sacrificing heritage. This has听been the path for Adelphi鈥檚 renewal in the past dozen years. In the memories of institutions听are moments of transition, 鈥渉inges鈥� in Thomas Cahill鈥檚 term, between one time and another,听with each moment of change part of an evolution connecting what happened before with听what comes after, both central to transforming the future.
This notion of 鈥渉inges鈥� between history or heritage and building on strengths to address new听challenges is the foundation of strategic planning, the essence of which is consensus on听principles for decision-making and priorities for action. So, 鈥淎U 2015鈥� focuses on four听goals: academic distinctiveness; relevance in a changing world; student success in a in a听range of educational goals; and a sustained reputation as an excellent, yet affordable听university 鈥� a perpetual 鈥淔iske Guide鈥� 鈥淏est Buy鈥� 鈥� each building on strengths of programs听and relationships developed over 115 years. These include health to undergird a new听interdisciplinary program in Public Health; health informatics; increased internships in for-profit,听not-for-profit, and civic organizations; enhanced attention to student/faculty research听in basic sciences; and increased participation in studying in other cultures and countries.听Each goal represents a capacity on which to build even as the outcomes are new.
The capacity for growth and change is within each institution, but must be nurtured and听encouraged if we are to achieve optimal mission fulfillment, with or without new bricks and听mortar.
Thank you.
Speech given at the International Association of University Presidents, Triennial Conference,听New York, New York, June 19, 2011.
For further information, please contact:
Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications Director听
p 鈥� 516.237.8634
e 鈥� twilson@adelphi.edu