This newsletter covers what happened in March and will give you a heads up on what to look for in April and the months following.

In this issue (please note the links below will only work when viewing this newsletter in a browser):

Leaders of educational transformation change their past practices through innovation and enhanced performance. At the same time, they strive to ensure equity and inclusion by valuing the contributions of those who historically were excluded. How do leaders harness the momentum to facilitate major organizational change?

“Real change, enduring change,
happens one step at a time.”

―Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Significant change demands that leaders and organizations be proactive. Change evolves through a series of stages to achieve a future vision. With the initial implementation of its strategic plan 2020-2025, the Academy seeks to model the mindset and bold actions that unlock the self-potential of its members. It is engaging in activities that support movement toward priority goals focused on performance-based learning and growth. Current priorities focus on elevating Process Education competence, integrating deliberately developmental principles, developing a new business model, strengthening communication initiatives, and increasing diverse membership.

As a growing deliberately developmental community, the Academy integrates new practices to become a performance-based learning organization, grows its cultural competence, and builds capacity by embracing new principles and practices. Team leaders, project leaders, and initiative leaders incorporate the aspirations, contributions, and accomplishments of others. As we make changes, we strive to empower each member to achieve their optimal performance level.

We invite you to be a part of the Academy’s developmental process of educational transformation.

Recent Board Meetings

Remember, you can find out the Board’s current work by checking the Academy Board Meeting Agendas and Minutes posted on the Academy members’ page:

February 2021 minutes (approved)

March 2021 minutes (not yet approved)

Summary of March Board meeting work:

In March, the Board

• Learned about Rock Solid Coaching Method and its link to Process Education

• Reported on update of plans for Summer Conference

• Introduced the concept of "Tribal Leadership"  (from Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King, Halee Fischer-Wright) to the board

• Unveiled a draft of Academy Membership Brochure

• Shared development of measurements for twenty areas of Process Education performance

• Continued discussion of progress in the Academy’s social media presence

The Next Board Meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 9, 2021 (10:30am to Noon CDT).

All Academy members are welcome to participate. You will be able to find the agenda for the meeting as well as the needed information to attend through Zoom on the Academy Member site.

The 2021 Virtual Annual Conference theme “Experiencing Growth in Times of Change” is coming into clearer focus each day as our date to meet online is now just 3 months away. The preliminary Conference Program has been posted to the Conference website. Confirmations have now been sent to all presenters. Your conference planning committee continues to meet bi-weekly to work on the finishing touches. We are excited about the opportunities for learning, growing, and fellowship that this gathering will create for all of our members and friends. 

Special features of this conference will include:

• Pre-Conference online orientation sessions for presenters and new members.
• Keynote presentations focused on the future growth of the Academy.
• Plenary Sessions devoted to the four threads of our theme “Experiencing Growth in Times of Change”: 
  • Social justice and institutional discrimination
  • The challenges of designing and delivering effective courses in an online environment
  • Making the campus experience inviting, personal, and meaningful
  • Topics that impact teaching and learning, educational practices, and leadership
• Workshops offering practical ideas for supporting the growth of all learners.
• Research presentations offering new theories about utilizing Process Education to lift all learners.
• Technology support sessions to assist presenters in using our online platform.
• The Academy’s Strategic Plan for growth and development 2021-2025.
  Hall of Innovation presentations.
  Conference Team interaction time.
• Social Hour opportunities for meeting other Academy members.
• New! A Pre-Conference Leadership Workshop will help participants lead change efforts at their respective institutions. Registration and detailed information about the Leadership Institute will be added to the website soon.

While we will continue to be meeting in a virtual mode in 2021, we will do so with focus, energy, and the dedication we share to growing the belief that all students have an unlimited capacity to grow and learn. Let us forge that future together and meet the challenges of change. Join us by registering now for this exciting opportunity.

The Leadership Workshop has been designed to help grow leaders throughout the organization to create visions and facilitate change from a variety of roles. The challenges that are confronting Higher Education require that most universities and colleges transform themselves. This is evident when analyzing strategic plans and their strategic initiatives. This event provides strong grounding in effective leadership, the change process within Higher Education, the development of leadership skills that integrate into this change process, and how to design and implement quality action projects with strong leadership.

• Develop an understanding of the importance of leadership in fostering transformational organizational change
• Create a passion for leadership and help individuals see their potential as leaders who accept the challenges, risks and opportunities of leadership
• Explore the concepts and dynamics of organizational change, developing an understanding of three key phases of organizational change
• Develop an understanding of one’s own leadership style and how to identify effective leadership styles
• Strengthen essential characteristics of effective leadership within context of various roles leaders play
• Broaden individual competence and excellence as leaders, change agents and problem solvers
• Empower a local community of leaders who will support one another in addressing a variety of strategic initiatives

Look for registration information soon!

You may have noticed a shift in the Academy's focus to self-growth the past few years. The self-growth community is quite active, self-growth institutes have been held with our conferences, and many recent research projects have dealt with self-growth as well. So what is all the fuss about? As Dr. Daniel K. Apple writes:

"The current focus of self-growth is not new.  A Faculty Guidebook module led by Cy Leise generated a foundational perspective that all Academy members would benefit from. This module provides structure, perspective, and mindset of what a person can do to move down a journey to greater daily self-growth in their life. You will walk away with at least three new insights about self-growth which you will value."

The module Dan is referring to is  4.2.2 Becoming a Self-Grower. As one of the editors of the Faculty Guidebook and founders of Process Education Dan has seen the evolution of the Academy in the 13 years since the 4th edition was first published. This experience bolsters the recommendation for reading this significant module as it presages the current movement. As with any insights you should contextualize these findings in your own self-growth journey and share with other Academy members. We truly are all in this together.

If you have a suggestion for Module of the Month then email me at matthew.watts@rrcc.edu

I have been appointed Academy Historian and I would like to share with you what is expected in the role and ask for some help. I have just turned over the role of Treasurer which I had filled since the start of the Academy in 2007. I have been active with Process Education since 1992 when I attended my first teaching institute. Here is a list of responsibilities and performance criteria:

Duties and Responsibilities of Historian

The Historian shall be responsible for preserving artifacts and significant documents that record the achievements of the Academy of Process Educators. In keeping with this responsibility, the Historian

1. Keeps track of achievements and major activities associated with the Academy
2. Archives photos and written reports to document events
3. Answers questions about Academy historical events through collection and evaluation of information from primary sources
4. Assists and contributes to annual conference exhibits
5. Collaborates with the Secretary in determining process for archiving all historical documents

Performance Criteria

• Organizer: collects, analyzes, and archives historical certificates, photos, and other documents that record historical events
• Communicator:  Effectively lays out the structure and process for documentation and storage of Academy historical papers, photos, etc.
• Documenter: organizes, maintains, and disseminates required records in accordance with organization’s by-laws and established standards, procedures, and schedules.

I would like some help deciding what is the best venue for providing access to the information I collect.

Would it be best stored on the members site in a searchable archive forum?

Would you prefer just to ask me your questions?

Some other solution?

Also, please consider sending me copies of old minutes, photos, and procedures if you are cleaning out your files. My address is 1036 N. Niles Ave, South Bend, IN  46617 or you can scan and email them to psmith@saintmarys.edu. I do have a complete set of journals and conference binders.

While we do not have a pre-scheduled professional development event this month, be on the lookout for any special events that may arise.

On March 23rd we held our 6th and final originally planned session from our series of Conversations on Systemic Racism and Bias. The 16 participants at the event generated thoughtful and vibrant discussion as we pondered plans and processes to support institution-wide efforts through faculty affairs that engage faculty in fostering an actively antiracist culture. Special thanks go to Dr. Geoff Bradshaw for facilitating this session based on the initiative he leads at Madison College. In addition, special thanks to Drs. Arlene King-Berry and Ingrid Ulbrich for initiating and organizing the series. The success of these sessions has generated action plans for a follow-on session or two prior to this summer's conference, as well as activities at the conference. These sessions will continue our growth in developing knowledge and skills we can use to actively work towards eliminating systemic racism and bias.

13 years ago...

Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi was the site of the 2008 Annual Conference of the Academy of Process Educators from July 16-18.  Held at the picturesque Eagle Ridge Conference Center, the conference featured an impressive hall of teaching innovations, engaging plenary speakers, informative workshops, a bus tour of Vicksburg and surrounding battlefields, and a delightful southern meal at the Walnut Hills Restaurant. Participants from two dozen higher education institutions joined in sharing of best practices, networking with other process educators, and planning future activities of the Academy.   
 
The theme for the 2008 conference was ‘Striving for Quality: Aligning and Implementing Continuous Improvement in Higher Education’. The program began with an interview of Dr. Clyde Muse, president of Hinds Community College, about the process of politicking in higher education. Dr. Muse began by defining politicking as beginning with your values, knowing your facts, creating a thoughtful plan, modifying the plan with stakeholder input, and patiently facilitating decision-making.  With the help of the session moderator, Dr. Daniel Apple, he ultimately articulated five principles for effective politicking: involve all stakeholders who stand to be impacted, listen carefully, respect opinions, have a plan, exercise leadership at key junctures, and get there first.

Dr. Steven Spangehl, director of the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) overseen by the Higher Learning Commission, echoed the importance of implementing good processes to produce good results. He described how accrediting organizations have shifted focus from measuring inputs (i.e., money, student scores, headcounts) to measuring outputs (i.e., student success, graduation rates, community engagement, and regional economic development). Dr. Spangehl stressed that processes need to be designed and good designs should make the process consistent, effective, and proactive rather than reactive.  

Eric Clark, executive director of the Mississippi Board of Community and Junior Colleges, outlined how the state has been able to close the gap in earnings differentials with the rest of the country over the last thirty years, in large part by focusing on measurable outcomes and making sure that financial investments in education justified these outcomes. The result is a racially integrated state that is the home of many new industries and manufacturing complexes.

Lt General Honoré who oversaw post-Katrina rescue and clean-up efforts in New Orleans, reminded everyone how much we still need to restack our values deck to realize a sustainable economy with adequate preparation for natural and social disasters.

The core of the conference was parallel workshop sessions that featured best practices and action research in curriculum design, facilitation, assessment, and faculty development. These included new methodologies, tools, and resources that will enrich the next edition of the Faculty Guidebook and the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Process Education.  Wisdom gained over many years of experience with process education as well as insights produced through conference interaction with those new to process education were inventoried in a final plenary facilitated by Dr. Daniel Apple and Dr. Betty Lawrence. Participants were excited to see many of these principles and teaching/learning methods already documented in on-line resources available at www.pcrest.com/LO.  

The theme for next year’s conference is ‘Measuring Success in Higher Education’.  The location will be Gaston College in Dallas, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte. Be part of the annual celebration of success in the classroom through process-centered education and meet enthusiastic as well as talented educators from all disciplines and all parts of the country!