December 2008 Articles
Story ideas? Opinions? Questions, Compliments, or Complaints? Send us an email at facultyadvocate@gmail.com.
Living in Interesting Times by Glenn Hansen
Nursing Accreditation Is Really About…Nursing Students! by Dilyss Gallyot
Writing Teacher—Grasped by a Concern by Bob Dixon-Kolar
Accolades by Konkel & Hagman
What Now? Advocate for 2009 by Karin Evans
Living in Interesting Times by Glenn Hansen
I'd like to begin this month's issue of the Faculty Advocate by saying "Thank you." It
has been an honor and pleasure to represent the Faculty of COD. The last two years
have passed quickly, maybe because, as many say, "We live in interesting times." I move forward
into other roles in the Association knowing that you have elected great leaders. Nancy Stanko and
Lisa Higgins are a great and dynamic team; having worked with them both, I can't think of a better
combination to face the trials that are ahead. But the challenges ahead require EVERYONE'S
commitment.
What happened on November 20th deserves a special "Thank you!" Faculty turned out in numbers that worried the Board and President. The campus police were prepared for a demonstration that might have happened back in 1968, but we have evolved and use different tools in 2008. Unity is a powerful tool. We have an opportunity presented to us by the Board of Trustees to make a difference. During the last six months, the BoT and Interim President may have believed that we were orchestrating the protests and press coverage; what they fail to realize is that these responses are the natural consequences of their actions. There is now collaboration among faculty, students, staff, and many administrators. We are all united in our resolve, but as faculty we must acknowledge that other constituencies often are unable to speak. This is partly because the current administration/BoT has demonstrated that it is very willing to fire or reassign individuals—therefore, few feel free to speak openly and honestly without fear of retribution. Members of other constituencies have repeatedly thanked the Faculty for standing up for College of DuPage and being willing to openly voice our opinion, especially when it is contrary to the planned direction for the college. Faculty have a unique culture, and I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate our culture of open debate and disagreement with respect. We can value dissenting voices, come to agreement, and move forward. As we approach the issues that are ahead of us, we must continue to emphasize the importance of collegial debate and careful listening.
As a result of the Board Policy proposals, I have been contacted by numerous publications and, most recently, by the David Horowitz organization. I'm certain the BoT is frustrated by national coverage and our comments to the press. But it's the actions of the BoT that have captured the attention of the higher education community, without any help from us. (It's too bad their PR firm, at $15,000 per month, didn't give them good advice about how to stay out of the news.) Beyond the press coverage, we've had several contacts with AAUP, both on the state and national level; they are appalled by the Board Policy proposal and are ready to respond. Concerns have been shared with ICCB, IEA, and HLC. CODFA will continue to maintain national and state contacts—because we have a responsibility to our students and community to do so.
Much of the national attention is of course focused on the Academic Bill of Rights. If you have not checked out their site, visit the David Horowitz organization website. The relationship with hateful attitudes promoted on the website cannot be denied. This is an issue that the Board must confront; there has not been a public debate by the Board of the proposed manual. Their silence would indicate that they are in agreement with Trustee Atkinson's vision for COD. The Trustees have a responsibility to make their position on the Policy manual clear before any next steps occur.
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, there will be a meeting of Leadership Council with Trustees Atkinson and Carlin to discuss the next steps. Interim President McAninch is proposing a process that gives the Board some of the proposed policy changes and works through the protested changes. He is suggesting that the BoT approve any policy that does not have a specific objection registered. We (all constituencies) have been given until Dec. 15 to respond to the policies that did not receive any objections. We are reviewing these policies, but the bottom line is that we cannot accept any policies without seeing the procedures. We continue to defend the existing process for revision of the policies and procedures. If we don't return to the process defined in Board Policy and Procedure, we will have to work under two manuals simultaneously, we will lose the sense of institutional history that is captured in the existing manual, and we will have violated an important tenet of accreditation that requires collaboration.
Ahead of us is a time of uncertainty. College of DuPage has a new President, and I'm hearing that he may already be preparing for January 5, 2009. It's rumored that he will be reviewing administrative positions before January. Preparations are underway for receptions on January 5th for the college community and another reception for faculty on January 12th. We should attend the reception and welcome Dr. Breuder to COD. As I have said publicly, we are willing to work together to move the College forward.
In closing, I want to emphasize the importance of our unity in the first four months of 2009. We are facing an election that the Trustees have been preparing for since last spring. Everyone's energies will be needed to see a change for COD. There are many things to do, something for every comfort level; it's actually fun to get out there and be involved. Our resilience to attacks will be required; the incumbents will say CODFA is trying to gain control of the board that controls their salaries. We must remain united in our calls for a board that governs, not administers; for the need to return COD to its position of high national regard; and, most importantly, for COD to be student- and community-centered in its policies and vision. Our message must set the bar high—and let the BoT fall short.
Now is the time. We can make a difference.
Nursing Accreditation Is Really About…Nursing Students! by Dilyss Gallyot
Our nursing faculty embarked on accreditation almost two years ago. Reflecting back on the process,
I thought of our many discussions of framework analysis,
theoretical rationale, and evidence-based practice. Some of the conversations were so theoretical that
I was reminded of my first philosophy class! I was not sure what really existed, or if we were really
measuring it.
Applying for accreditation required a self-study of the Associate Degree in Nursing program, illuminating areas for improvement and areas of strength. Faculty embarked on missions to find supportive evidence of how the nursing program fits into the mission and values of the college. A cross-section of departments was enlisted in the accreditation journey, from financial aid to the library shelves. We were on our way.
The college was undergoing many changes during this time; so was the nursing program. During the self-study period, the nursing faculty changed coordinators, and a full-time faculty member was reassigned coordination in another program, while another member retired without replacement. The program was down three full-time positions, but instructional staff persevered. The core faculty divided up sections of the self-study and began the eighteen-month process of many meetings and many revisions. In the end, we had a bound version of our self-study for examination and approval. We awaited the arrival of our accreditation visitors just weeks ago, in late October.
Crunch time. We "suited" for the game, and our students noticed the flurry of activity. They knew the visitors might ask them questions about the program. My remarks to the students were simple: they should be honest. I attempted to assure the students that they could not possibly keep us from getting accreditation, but they needed to be honest. No prepping, no last minute cramming, only truthfulness was required. What was I thinking?
The accreditors held a formal meeting with students. A small cadre of first-year students and one second-year student took time out of their schedules to attend. All I mentioned was being truthful. As I led them down the hallway, I had a lump in the pit of my stomach, much like a parent letting her child drive a car alone for the first time. I showed them to the room, introduced them to the visitors, and left. Our alumni were also contacted for a lunch with the accreditation visitors. I had no idea how things went.
Next came the faculty's turn on the spot. Sitting at the table with the accreditation folk felt like interviewing for a homeland security job. They asked many question and in many different ways. Once again I was in my freshman philosophy class. Did I answer their question? Was that what they were looking for? What did they want to hear? They were very cordial, but my head was a swirl of thoughts. Looking at outcomes, they asked the faculty. "Do the students know what criteria will cause them to fail?" I thought it was an odd question because I tend to focus on what is needed for success. How does one highlight what behaviors will cause a student to fail?
Final wrap up and recommendations: We got provisional accreditation. The accreditors told us how impressed they were with the students. The students knew what criteria would keep them in the program. They told the truth. The students knew all the right answers, while I was still trying to figure out what was being asked. I was so wrapped up in defining our theoretical framework and outcome criteria that I did not see what was right in front of me, the students. The self-study illuminated the reason we teach—they sit in front of us each and every day.
Faculty First-Person: Writing Teacher—Grasped by a Concern by Bob Dixon-Kolar
When a teacher calls a student aside to voice a "concern," bad news generally follows any variant
of that word. "I am concerned that you have not turned in your
homework." "It concerns me that you have been missing class a lot lately." Teachers of writing, myself
included, use the word "concern"—sometimes euphemistically—to describe problems we
encounter in student writing. "A concern I see is that your ten-page research paper is one long
paragraph."
I have recently come to view "concern" in a much more positive light, after meditating upon this quotation of theologian Paul Tillich: "Faith is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern." I'll leave the theology of that statement to my colleagues who teach religion. But as a writing teacher, what I welcome from it is the potent image of someone "grasped by a concern."
Like many instructors of English composition, I require my students to read essays written by masters of the essay form, artists such as Virginia Woolf and Ralph Waldo Emerson; James Baldwin and Joan Didion. Essayists like these illustrate what it means to be in the grip of a concern—of a perplexity or a yearning or an absurdity or a burden or a calling.
In certain writers there's no missing the fact that something has taken hold of them. Hear it in George Orwell in his essay, "Shooting an Elephant" when he says, "All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible." Hear it in Alice Walker in her essay, "In Search of our Mothers' Gardens" when she says, "Therefore we must fearlessly pull out of ourselves and look at and identify with our lives the living creativity some of our grandmothers were not allowed to know."
Essayists wrestle with concerns; they write their way out of them. At times they write for dear life…and then they are like Jacob wrestling with the angel. Do you remember that story from the Hebrew bible? Jacob and an unidentified man (who tradition later identifies as an angel) wrestle all night long. By daybreak, the angel is ready to stop, but Jacob, despite a dislocated hip, will not relent until the angel blesses him. Jacob prevails and receives his blessing.
After the mortal strain of writing, what blessing does the essayist receive? I suppose it differs with each author—A calming release of tension? The harmonizing of forces? Insight?
Not all wrestling is a struggle that pits earth against heaven. There's also the wrestling in our living room when our fourteen-year-old son gleefully tackles his little sister. She giggles and squawks as she wriggles out from his clutches. It's raucous fun. (Though it gives my wife and me frights: "Watch out for the coffee table!" "Hey, her arm doesn't bend that way!").
And, likewise, not all essays are written in thrall to a death grip. I am thinking now of comic writer David Sedaris and his essay "SantaLand Diaries." In it, Sedaris tells the true story of his job working as a Christmas elf at Macy's Department Store. It's wickedly, ridiculously, tears-in-your-eyes funny. Yet, I'd argue that even Sedaris is wrestling with a concern—a challenge to himself: How can I render the absurdity of this job to the n'th degree?
I am convinced that my writing students understand—just as the finest essayists understand-what it means to be in the grip of a concern. Life today is too fast-paced, complex and harsh for it to be otherwise. Besides, I hear the "gripping" stories they tell each other—and me. My overriding desire as a teacher of writing is to persuade my students that when something takes hold of them—engage it, grapple with it, write it.
Accolades by Mary Konkel & Ida Hagman
Helen Feng (History) & Julia diLiberti (Humanities)
At the Central Division Conference of the Community College Humanities Association in Omaha, Nebraska
this November, special thanks were given to Helen and Julia, Co-Vice Presidents of the Central
Division, for their contributions to a highly successful conference. And, since the reward for doing a
great job is always more responsibility, Helen and Julia were re-elected to serve another term as
Co-Vice Presidents of the Central Division. College of DuPage was also recognized as a "Supporting
College" for the Central Division Conference.
Mitch Fisher (Economics), David Goldberg (Political Science),
Deborah Klein (Criminal Justice) & Carol Riphenburg (Political Science)
On October 28, they participated in a panel discussion on the presidential elections at Beacon Hill
Retirement Community in Lombard. They each spoke about various aspects of the presidential race and the
challenges facing the new administration from the perspective of our respective fields. They will be
donating their speakers' fee to Hesed House and the People's Resource Center.
Deborah Klein (Criminal Justice)
Hot off the press is her book Court Transcripts: A Window on the Criminal Justice System
published by Kendall-Hunt Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa. It is a 16- page workbook which may serve as a
textbook supplement or as a stand-alone in criminal justice classes. While the transcripts are
intended to realistically portray criminal justice proceedings, all actions take place in the
fictitious venue of Columbia County, Illinois.
Keith Krasemann and Eva Maria Räpple (Philosophy)
At the Central Division Conference of the Community College Humanities Association in Omaha, Nebraska
this November, they were awarded the Exemplary Humanities Project Award for their NEH grant titled:
"Philosophical Ideas and Artistic Pursuits in the Traditions of Asia and the West."
Werner Krieglstein (Philosophy/Religious Studies)
In November, he was awarded the Distinguished Regional Humanities Educator Award at the Central Division
Conference of the Community College Humanities Association in Omaha, Nebraska.
Jackie McGrath (English)
On November 1, 2008, she completed the Lake Travis Dam 5K swim in Austin, Texas with a time of 1:19:46.
She was second in her age group (but readily admits there were only four other swimmers in her age
group). Fine dam swimming Jackie!
Tom Montgomery-Fate (English)
His interview with Scott Russell Sanders "The Language of the Spirit: an Interview with Scott Russell
Sanders" was published in The Association of Writers & Writing Programs' Writer's Chronicle
(September 2008). Numerous other shorter pieces appeared in The Chicago Tribune and aired on NPR and
Chicago Public Radio.
In October, the Creative Writing Committee sponsored a successful conference: The Language of Nature: Imagining a Sustainable World. Highlights of the conference included readings and lectures by four visiting writers/scholars, a panel of naturalists on Suburban Sprawl, an open mike environmental read-in for students, and a presentation by one of the nation's leading green architects. More that 500 students and community members attended the conference events.
Mary Newman (English)
She is a December 2008 graduate of Northern Illinois University, having just earned her doctoral degree
(Ed.D.) in Literacy Education, specializing in Reading.
Eva Maria Räpple (Philosophy)
On October 17, 2008, she delivered a paper entitled: "Word and Visuality: the Modern/Post-modern Self"
during the14th Conference of the International Society for Religion, Literature, and Culture. The
theme of the conference, which was held in Århus, Denmark, was "Breaking the Norms: Reception,
Transformation and Transgression in Religion, Literature and Culture.
Terry Vitacco (Photo Technology)
Terry's Photojournalism and Portrait students' work on the latest Easter Seals Exhibition was
highlighted in a November 4, 2008 newpaper story in The Doings-Hinsdale. They have been
doing this project for 9 years and have had very positive feedback from the community. Check out the
COD Photography Easter Seal Site to see
some of the great work her students have done. Easter Seals is now directing new client families to the
site.
Accolades submissions can be sent to Ida Hagman or Mary Konkel. We want to hear about your personal accomplishments, as well as academic ones. Tell us about your educational achievements and degrees, publications, program development, awards, athletic achievements, musical/theatrical accomplishments and more. Go ahead, inform on your colleagues! Raise that fist with us and give our colleagues the "Woo Woo Woo Hoos" they deserve.
What Now? Advocate for 2009 by Karin Evans
We have a lot of fun putting the Faculty Advocate together every month. It's thrilling,
really—what a great way to find out what we are thinking about,
what we care about, what we are doing as faculty that makes COD the incredibly special place it is. COD
is the place we are all fighting for when we stand up at the BOT meeting. It's the place that we love
when we wear a t-shirt that shows our school spirit. It's the place that we nourish when we do something
above and beyond for a student. I speak proudly of my work here at the college. There is nothing in this
world I would rather do to earn an honest living than teach at COD.
Please help us advocate for the greatness of COD faculty. If you send in one idea for a story about faculty that we could run in 2009, along with a suggestion of someone who could write that story (Hey! Volunteer yourself!! It's really not hard to do!), we'll put your name in a drawing for a $20 Borders gift card. It's sitting on the shelf in my office, and it's callin' your name.
You can email us any time…. But don't wait too long. The drawing for the gift card will be at noon on December 15, so we can get it to you before the holidays!
