Bridging the Faculty-Staff Divide through an Epistemic Community

International relations theory defines an epistemic community as a transnational network of knowledge-based experts who help decision-makers to define and address the problems they face. These “scientists without borders” may be able to produce outcomes not easily realizable for national leaders operating in a state-specific political environment. Moreover, by redefining the boundaries of the social group, the network of thought partners gain a different psycho-social perspective that may open new opportunities for problem solving. For example, during the Cold War, American and Soviet scientists forged epistemic communities in the area of arms control in an effort to mitigate the adversarial relations between the governments of the two nations.

To extend a metaphor to higher education, the faculty community and the staff community at an institution can sometimes feel like two distinct nations. Traditionally, each community tends to have their own rules and their own leadership. Each community tends to draw a boundary circumscribed by the classroom, whether inside or out. The mission of the faculty tribe is student learning. The mission of the staff tribe is student persistence/completion. In the worst of times, the international relations between the faculty community and the staff community is perceived as a zero-sum game.

At my institution, I co-chair our Persistence and Completion Committee. From the outset, the committee included “transnational” actors from across the faculty and staff communities. Forming an epistemic community is not as easy as seating faculty and staff members at the same table, however. An epistemic community requires a common point of knowledge expertise. It requires framing an issue in such a way that diverse perspectives are focused on a shared goal. Through open and honest conversations over the period of our first 15 months as a committee, we came to construct a narrative of student success in which student learning, persistence and completion are interdependent. A student must persist to continue learning. A mastery of learning is completion. Student learning, persistence and completion happens inside and outside of the classroom. Though our tribal activities may specific, our global destiny is shared.  We became a trans-institutional network of knowledge-based experts who help decision-makers to define and address student success.

Like most human enterprises, interpersonal relationships were at the heart of our success in bridging the faculty-staff divide. We started with a small group of people from many different parts of the college and got to know each other. We each brought our perspective to challenging discussions. We built mutual trust and appreciation. We struggled together to create a wider and more inclusive frame of reference. And now the members of our epistemic community are well-positioned to return to their respective tribe and share our narrative of student success.

Cultural change at the institutional level is incremental. Not everyone will be swayed by our idealism of a common pool. But by bringing together a diversity of individuals to provide a trans-institutional reframing of our various roles in a shared endeavor, we move toward greater collaboration and more porous boundaries.

Observations from a First-Time Lobbyist

Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. is abuzz with activity, a frenetic and hectic movement of people. I was there speaking to U.S. Congresspersons about the importance of supporting educational access and success for low income and first generation students.

In Congressman Coffman’s high-walled office adorned with photos of veterans and diplomats, I told stories of student success. In a sunlit hall outside of Congresswoman DeGette’s bustling office, I invited her to attend a student roundtable. In the only space we could find available - a basement floor cafeteria - I told Senator Gardner’s legislative aid:  we need to invest in support programs in order to protect Pell.

It was surreal, almost an out of body experience. Governance is far from perfect, but I experienced nothing of the "gridlock" or stasis that you hear about in the media. Progress may or may not be happening as you see fit, but things are certainly happening. And the overwhelming message that I received from the numerous Congresspersons over six days in D.C. was plain and clear: the voice of constituents matters.

Public policy and appropriations play a huge role in impacting higher education and our students. There are a number of effective strategies for communicating your message:

•  Contact the District Office of your Congressperson and invite him or her to attend a roundtable discussion with your students at your campus. Pay attention to the particular interests of the Congressperson, which may be college affordability, student debt, specific student populations (first-generation, Veteran, minority), college completion, et cetera. 

• Identify the Congressperson's Legislative Aid responsible for Higher Education and form a relationship with this person. A phone call or e-mail is appropriate. State the value in supporting specific policies or appropriations for the Congressperson's constituents. 

•  Do not assume that a Congressperson is for or against your position based solely on his or her political affiliation. Again, pay attention to the particular interests of the Congressperson and use these to frame the value in supporting specific policies or appropriations.

• Do not get discouraged by a particular vote or decision by your Congressperson. Nothing happens in a vacuum on Capitol Hill and there are many - yes - political calculations. A Congressperson may support your position even if a particular action seems contrary to your position. 

• Connect with your professional organization or your institution's government relations office to visit Capitol Hill in person. When there, do not get discouraged if you find yourself advocating with a Legislative Aid (who may be half of your age). Legislative Aids meet directly with the Congressperson on a frequent basis. Your meeting with a Legislative Aid is the real deal; don't take your eye of the ball. 

• Position yourself as a content expert in Higher Education. Ask how you can support the policy-making process of your Congressperson. For example, is there a specific type of data that would be useful? 

• Speaking of data, be prepared with both quantitative data that demonstrate program effectiveness as well as qualitative data (e.g. student stories) that provide the context for how the program impacts the lives of constituents. 

• At the end of the day, your Congressperson is just that - a person. Feel confident in your ability to communicate with this person. Accept that each of us have limitations and that the ideal does not always align with the possible. Let your Congressperson know that you value his or her hard work to improve the lives of constituents. 

Education Technology: The Dialectic of Utopia and Dystopia

With advances in education technology, the future of higher education looks great or terrible, depending on who you read.

In one camp you will find the zealots. This tribe sees education technology producing a grand disruption in which massive online competency-based learning - unbundled from calcified institutions and guided by sophisticated privatized data science - creates robust educational outcomes determined strictly by merit at a fraction of the cost. A true utopia.

In another camp you will find the luddites. This tribe views such a vision of education technology as truly dystopic, as a fanciful illusion so enamored in political expediency and its own zeitgeist that it ignores the social and interpersonal structures long-proven to effectively educate students, in particular those most vulnerable (low-income, first-generation, and non-white students).

In the middle ground stands many others, taking careful stock of the unfolding dialectic.

The technological determinism of the zealot tribe asserts that because we can do something with technology, it is a foregone conclusion that a) the outcome will be better when using technology and b) technology is unstoppable.

The interpersonal determinism of the luddite tribe asserts that because humans are social learners, it is a foregone conclusion that a) the outcome will be better when using personal interaction and b) technology makes us less human.

The dialectic of thesis and antithesis between these two tribes enlivens the potential for evolutionary movement within higher education. Higher education has the opportunity to draw on the strength of its humanistic roots while moving creatively into the future through emergent technologies.

For the dialectic to lead to such a synthesis, those in the middle ground must be careful and balanced arbiters of both evidence and values. What constellation of practices most effectively produces specific educational outcomes? What constellation of practices most effectively enlivens the human experience?

Technology is a human enterprise. There is more to the human enterprise than technology. Education needs neither disruption nor restoration, but - somewhere in the middle - evolution.

Reframe: Leadership

"If you consider yourself a leader, you may want to turn around and see if anyone is following you. If not, then you are just going for a walk."

I will acknowledge that there is a certain amount of truth to the logic and pragmatism in this framing of leadership. Problems arise, however, when leadership becomes merely a quest to acquire followers. Now you are simply a public relations specialist with an ego.

To me, leadership is inspiring others to act toward a shared goal. Leadership is not about acquiring followers but rather realizing partners. It is not about a personal vision but rather shared dreams. And sometimes there is nothing more important and inspiring than a leader going on a long lonely walk into terrain that others dare not go.

At the end of the day, I see leadership possessing a certain Taoist quality. The Way that can be known is not the true Way. Leadership cannot be found if you seek it, only if you do not.