Community Colleges of Ventura County

FUTURES FORUM

Preliminary Minutes

February 25, 2000

Thousand Oaks Library

The meeting began just after 9:00 a.m.

Just before the day’s activities began, Elton Hall called upon Phil Westin, Eva Conrad, and Ruth Hemming to make an announcement. Phil discussed ACCCA (Association of California Community College Administrators) and the Harry Buttimer Distinguished Administrator Award that it presents once a year. Jim Walker was nominated some months ago. Last night in Pasadena the award was presented, and Ruth explained that it was done in an academy award style. Eva described the scene and announced that Jim was the recipient for this year. It is the highest award in the state for distinguished community college administrative careers. Futures Forum participants called on Jim to make a few remarks. He said that his family had accompanied him to the event, and that he found the recognition “overwhelming.”

Elton reviewed the agenda (attached to these minutes), and Cheryl Shearer conducted a community-building activity. Each participant pulled a piece of one of eight puzzles out of a bag. Then everyone had to find holders of pieces from the same puzzle. Within a few minutes all eight groups had found one another, matched their pieces, and completed the puzzle—except for one piece. Cheryl had held one piece from each puzzle. In subsequent responses to the exercise, individuals and groups expressed their sense of frustration with the inability to complete the puzzle (task) at hand, despite collaborative and efficient work. The analogy of missing pieces with limited viewpoints and failure to include all who are involved was not missed by the Forum.

Phil was asked to provide the introduction to a report on a visit to the Dallas County Community College and on DCCCD activities regarding teacher formation and renewal. DCCCD has embarked on a multi-year teacher formation and renewal program based on Parker J. Palmer’s ideas, as expressed in works like The Courage to Teach and on meetings with Palmer himself. While several CCVC faculty and administrators explored the Dallas experience with teacher formation, DCCCD faculty and administrators exhibitedinterest in our planning process and in how we arrived at a Comprehensive Planning Model. Karen de la Peña discussed the idea of teacher formation and renewal and expressed the deep impression the visit made on her. Mary Jones noted that some issues that have surrounded Futures Forum since its inception were raised in Dallas, especially in regard to the value of its activities. In Dallas there was a core of believers who now have concrete evidence that such renewal programs work. As a consequence of the impression DCCCD’s commitment made on CCVC visitors, a few of us will return to see its implementation in action. For its part, DCCCD was especially impressed with our values statement and with the fact that it was written down in a form that had achieved consensus. Mary expressed her hope that a similar program would be instituted here. Eva Conrad noted that all those who went had read The Courage to Teach and Let Your Life Speak, two timely books by Palmer. She said that we focused on what we actually can do to implement the abstractions in Palmer, and we found that the activities varied widely, formally and informally, but that the key was carving out time to talk to one another across job classifications and constituencies. There are lots of ways to make that special time, but without doing it, nothing much happens. When successful, she said, there is diffusion through the system of seeing each student as a person, and that affects how we see each of our fellow workers in the same light.

Elton announced that everyone in Futures Forum was slated to receive a copy of Let Your Life Speak, a book that discusses vocation in a broad context and reaches beyond teaching for its illustrations and examples. He then introduced the video, “Teaching from the Heart,” noting that though it uses in its presentation teachers from K12, everyone would recognize that the issues are equally applicable to the community college level and to anyone who deals with students, whatever the level of that work.

After viewing the video, produced in conjunction with Parker Palmer, Cheryl asked each table of participants to discuss examples of teachers (broadly defined, and not just teachers by profession) who had been there for each participant when it mattered. The discussions became revelatory—everyone remembered someone who had really mattered in his or her life—and emotional at times.

These discussions were not recorded in the way familiar to Futures Forum and to readers of Futures Forum minutes, because they tended to be quite personal and not appropriate for sharing beyond the group present to hear them in the context provided at the Futures Forum meeting. After these discussions, each table was invited to share something of what it learned.

Mary Jones noted the effect of some people on what we choose to do and how we do it. That realization led to a discussion of how we bring that energy, creativity and support of those remembered teachers into our activities here and throughout CCVC.

Scott Corbett reported that a much-remembered teacher does something that validates and supports us as individuals. They understood that part of the process was preserving the future for us, despite our youthful activities that might have destroyed it.

Phil Westin reported that in each case we selected someone who identified something in us that we did not know we had. The connection between such a teacher and each student is individual.

Char Arnold reported that there were similarities in our experiences: being empowered by a teacher, being filled with enthusiasm, being filled with the spirit of self. We often noticed humility in these teachers tied to the respect they had for their students, treating students as equals not in knowledge but in being human beings.

Dennis Cabral reported that the group sought common threads in their experiences, one of which was some level of trust established through the act of openness, though the way this is established varies widely. The group also discussed the influence of close relatives and friends, including those who were already dead before their influence was exercised. The discovery that we don’t talk to one another, but almost brutalize one another in being caught up in the bureaucracy of the moment, was painful. Networking, including networking for support, is important.

Floyd Martin reported that one theme was people whose interest seemed personal, and who moved us from one place to another (which would not have happened without them). He repeated Anthony’s story of his high school swim team, which consisted of a group of boys taken from bottom to top of the league by a coach who allowed every determined person to be on the team. Dan Berney drew attention to the hands on approach of these teachers.

Burt Peachy shared an experience from his visit last week to Texas. This particular group, in the course of six years, has moved all basic skills students to a consistent level of mastery. Their operative value is the belief that every student can learn, and they have a policy of zero tolerance for dropping out. So they have to discuss the hardest issues, and their results are spectacular. He hopes that our commitment to such a philosophy is renewed.

Kitty Merrill added that in Futures Forum we have these conversations, which are often likely to happen at the four locations. We need to look to Futures Forum to initiate some kind of retreats, so that communities of renewal emerge, though they cannot all start from Futures Forum itself.

Elton emphasized the importance of radiating the creativity, safety, and vitality of Futures Forum out to all the locations. He noted that this spring will involve planning ways to achieve this aim.

After lunch, Cheryl addresses the status of the Process Improvement Teams (PITs) and noted that Process Facilitators have been trained and are ready to facilitate PIT activities.

Phil reported on how impressed he was with CQIN (Continuous Quality Improvement Network) at the San Antonio CEO meeting two weeks ago. The participants discovered that while organizations are all working less than perfectly, many have established effective benchmarks that allow them to see how they are improving. Late in March, others will be involved in CQIN activities. CCVC will send three people to be trained to lead three teams of three to five people in the fall. Elton, Cheryl and Diane will go and be trained in the unusual operations of Disneyworld. Phil added that he has asked for a fourth spot, so that if we get it, each of the four locations can lead a team. These teams will study the creative approaches to organization and human resources employed by Disneyworld and study what might be applicable to CCVC and how CCVC might profit from such experience. The relationship with CQIN looks to be effective and valuable.

Burt reported on the 2000 Futures Assembly, established by a Florida group to look at best practices. CQIN has also developed awards to give to those who are involved with Baldrige implementation. Several of our people have undergone Baldrige Pacesetter training. Phil noted that the whole focus is on best practices, and every session and breakout was exciting as a college presented a carefully screened best practice in one or another area.

The participants divided into their task forces. Elton asked for a calendar and a plan of action from each task force and noted the connection between these and the comprehensive planning model.

Task Force Reports

Each task force reported on its work, progress and identified needs. (Since task forces needed the notes they made for immediate reference, they will supply notes to Elton in the next few days. When those notes are assembled, they will be included in these minutes. Until then, the minutes are titled “Preliminary Minutes.”)

Burt said that he uses a simple measurement for progress and success in activities like Futures Forum—the quality of conversation. He noted this criterion a year ago, observed the conversation then, and now the quality of conversation is quite different. His next vision is that by the time we get to the internal scan, we will be so bound together by our conversations that the internal scan and gap analysis will be informed by everything Palmer talks about. Goals, objectives, agreements—this are not easy goals. But if Palmer’s ideas can make that a civil process, we will be more than successful. He noted that he had heard cynical remarks over the year about this work, but this morning’s conversations show that we are indeed doing the work.

When the puzzle is missing a piece, it is frustrating, as we found during the community activity in the morning. We have a missing piece here in Futures Forum—it is the level of participation. It is difficult to bring everyone up to speed when meetings are missed, and attempting to do so slows the work. So we need a conversation about keeping the learning uniform and of a high level, because there are decisions to be made that will profoundly affect all aspects of CCVC.

We are far enough down the road now that we have to make the process work. We’re committed and can’t turn back.

As always, a plus/delta was held at the end of the day. This time, “delta” included items that remain to be done.

Plus: the conversations, the video, the location, Burt’s remarks, the process facilitator function, quality of people in this room, naturalness of calendar-building, more creative and entrepreneurial thinking, more networked communications, usefulness of information from those traveling as scouts, increased level of trust (revealed by today’s conversation about teachers who have influenced us).

Delta: What transformation is occurring and where do we need to be going? We might ask the question: what has happened to us since we started? Other deltas: value of the month, those absent who have real excuses should be acknowledged, need to be more open to asking for funds, post values at each location prominently so everyone can see them.

The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.